Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Nicole Paré Ein
The NYWIFT community is happy to welcome Nicole Paré Ein! With 25+ years in the entertainment industry, she got her start working alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City and Ed Harris in the critically acclaimed film Pollock. Since 2005, she has explored various roles at Avalanche Creative Services where she is currently helping lead as the Vice President of Operations. In this interview we discuss her longevity at the company, the importance of resourcefulness, and the memorable moment when she was stuck inside an elevator with an iconic television actress!
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Maura Garnett
Welcome to NYWIFT, Maura Garnett! Fresh out of NYWIFT’s internship program, where she played a crucial role on our Muse Awards volunteer team, Maura now joins the NYWIFT community in our Next Wave program. Maura Garnett is a writer/director who is a recent School of Visual Arts graduate. She specializes in directing and casting. Currently, she's in post-production on Treading, about a young woman's quest for belonging in the city, leading to a series of bad dates. Her film Disoriented, about a life-altering phone call, is on the festival circuit. Playtime, addressing date rape and sexual assault, has earned acclaim at over 30 festivals, including Global Indie Film Festival and New York Movie Awards. Aspiring casting director Maura has interned with Stephanie Klapper Casting and Emmy-winning Avy Kaufman. Now, she's a casting assistant for 5-time Emmy nominated Mark Saks. Maura shares what she has learned working alongside some of NYC's top casting directors, how she creatively approaches tough subject matter, and what's coming up on her professional horizon.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Tanis Parenteau
Welcome to NYWIFT, Tanis Parenteau! Tanis Parenteau is Métis/Cree from the Métis Nation of Alberta. She is an actor, producer, and casting director. Her work focuses on uplifting Native voices telling contemporary and futuristic Native stories. As an actor, she has appeared on Billions, House of Cards, Designated Survivor, FBI: Most Wanted, Gossip Girl, and Tribal, and she has performed at The Public Theater, Signature Theater, 59E59, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Tanis has produced eight short films, has a short form digital series in post-production, and is developing multiple Native-led features and series. She is an associate casting director at tbd casting co in NYC. Her latest project, the short film Glenburn 12 WP, is fiscally sponsored by NYWIFT. Tanis spoke to us about her dedication to uplifting Native voices, how working in casting has influenced her performing, and the best advice she’s ever received.
READ MORENYWIFT @ Tribeca: In Conversation with Casting Director Bess Fifer
As an independent casting director based in New York, NYWIFT member Bess Fifer has played a key role in shaping numerous careers across film and television. Her commitment to authentic, diverse, and inclusive casting has made her an in-demand collaborator, an Artios Award Winner, and an Emmy Nominee. Fifer specializes in ground-breaking independent features, such as Lingua Franca and The Light of the Moon, and hugely popular television shows, including Severance, It’s Bruno!, and Escape at Dannemora. Fifer’s latest project – The Seeding – will be scaring up audiences at the 2023 Tribeca Festival. Fifer talked to us about her process casting the film.
READ MOREWhat’s in Your Toolkit: Destiny Lilly
Destiny Lilly is a casting director working across theater, film, and television. While casting is a creative job, it also requires strong admin - lists, databases, and an impeccable memory. Destiny offers a peek inside her casting toolkit.
READ MORECynthia’s Picks: Sarah Finn, Ava Duvernay, Olivia Wilde
Sarah Finn: Casting Director Sarah Finn may the true superhero of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – she cast more than a thousand actors in almost every single Marvel film since the first Iron Man– including all of the stars. It was a unique challenge that required thinking how the cast members might overlap in the...
READ MORECynthia’s Picks: Latinx Stars, Expanded Opportunities, Listen In
Latinx Stars: The Hollywood Reporter wisely points out…amid the call for diversity in entertainment, particularly inclusive casting, why don’t we have more Latinx movie stars? Part of it, of course, comes down to unconscious bias – which we all need to work on identifying and correcting. Expanded Opportunities: The Academy has voted to expand the...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Casting News, Women’s History, Boxed In
Casting News: Tony Award Nominee Eva Noblezada (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables) led the cast of Diane Paragas’ musical drama film Yellow Rose along with Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga (Once On This Island, Miss Saigon). The film, which wrapped production in Texas last month, received the NYWIFT Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant. Women’s History: This...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Vicious Cycle, #BYkids PSA, Questionable Casting
Vicious Cycle: The LA Times published a great piece on how “Hollywood’s man problem may be a matter of simple math,” taking an in-depth statistical look at Hollywood’s gender imbalance and how it paves the way for discrimination and harassment. #BYkids PSA: BYkids, a global movement that uses storytelling through film to inform, engage and...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Casting Couch, Create NYC, Sherry Lansing
Casting Couch: The Guardian sheds light on the all-too-common phenomenon of the “casting couch culture,” featuring important insight from NYWIFT member Meissa Hampton. This has to stop, and kudos to Meissa and all the other women who speak out about it. Create NYC: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom...
READ MORE10 Takeaways from the NYWIFT “Casting Comedy: Funny People On-Camera” Panel
NYWIFT member Mellini Kantayya shares the top 10 nuggets of wisdom from NYWIFT's panel on TV comedy casting. Learn whether or not to ad-lib, button it, stalk (answer: definitely no), and self-tape.
READ MOREStarless Moonlight’s Lesson on Making Your Production Shine Brighter: Q & A with Casting Director Angela Mickey
After Moonlight won the Oscar for best picture, casting director and NYWIFT member Angela Mickey had some insights on what independent filmmakers and can learn from its casting.
READ MOREWeekly Film & TV News Roundup
Mad Men photo via theguardian.com. Dear Mr. President, we agree! (Video) Congratulations, Kathy Kelly-Brown, NBC’s new SVP of Global Talent Booking. NYC will certainly benefit from this. Elizabeth Vargas’ return brings winning ratings for 20/20. Universal’s Donna Langley will be the “second most powerful woman in Hollywood” until at least 2017. Casting Director Allison Jones “discovered” our favorite TV/film nerds. Do what...
READ MORENYWIFT Panel Recap: Fox Audience Strategy & Casting in the New America
The panelists from Fox — Dante Di Loreto, Zola B. Mashariki, Shana C. Waterman, and Seth Yanklewitz — had much to contribute on the subject of diversity in casting, offering forward-thinking, creative solutions. The conversation, moderated by Keli Goff, was centered on, but not limited to race; topics of gender, age, and disabilities were also discussed. The panelists addressed the...
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