Television Comedy Casting

4:00-5:30 pm -- Fashion Theater
Get cast in a TV Comedy with advice from the Casting Directors of  "Modern Family," "Parks and Recreations," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Cougar Town," "Scrubs," and lots of TV pilots.

Want to be a sitcom star? Or even get a one liner on your favorite funny show? These top TV comedy casting directors discuss how to get on their radar, what they're looking for in an audition, and more. Moderated by Jessica Gardner, Features Writer, Back Stage.

Speakers
-- Jeff Greenberg, Casting Director, "Modern Family," "Frasier"
-- Dorian Frankel, Casting Director, "Parks and Recreations," "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
-- Brett Benner, Casting Director, "Cougar Town," "Scrubs"
-- Tim Payne, Casting Director, Payne / Ystrom Casting

SPEAKER BIOS

Jeff Greenberg
Jeff Greenberg, a native of Los Angeles, won the 2010 Emmy Award for outstanding casting for a comedy series—as well as three Artios Awards (the Casting Society of America's highest honor) for outstanding achievement in casting—for the hit comedy "Modern Family" after having guided the casting chores for such iconic shows as "Frasier" (11 seasons, six Emmy nominations, five Artios Awards) and "Cheers" (seven seasons).

Other television credits include "Up All Night," "Ugly Betty" (Emmy nomination), "Wings" (eight seasons), "Eli Stone," "My So-Called Life," "Early Edition," "NewsRadio," and dozens of others.

His feature credits include "A Night at the Roxbury," "Father of the Bride Part II," "Look Who's Talking," and "Die, Mommie, Die!" Greenberg is the recipient of 26 Artios Award nominations.

Dorian Frankel
Dorian Frankel grew up in Teaneck, N.J., and majored in theater at Mount Holyoke College. Her love of comedy was nurtured during many years as an improviser.

She started in casting as an assistant to Allison Jones and has worked as an associate for Eyde Belasco, Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer, and Bialy/Thomas on features including "Talladega Nights," "Knocked Up," "Superbad," and "Semi-Pro" and in television on such shows as "The Office," "Arrested Development," "Eli Stone," and "The Unit."

As a casting director, her credits include "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Parks and Recreation," and the Chris Elliott series "Eagleheart," as well as the features "My Uncle Rafael" and "Let Go."

Brett Benner
With his partner Debby Romano, Brett Benner casts the critically acclaimed ABC comedy "Cougar Town," as well as the long-running CW drama "One Tree Hill" and recent ABC comedy entry "Man Up!"

He has been nominated for an Emmy three times for his work casting the series "Scrubs" and also won an Artios Award for best comedy pilot casting for the show. He is a graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.

Tim Payne
Tim Payne, a native Texan has lived in Los Angeles for the last 20 years.  His casting career began at Liberman/Patton Casting where he was involved in casting "King of Queens" (4 seasons), "Grounded for Life" (four seasons), pilots for "Las Vegas" and "Boomtown"  among other various projects.

After several years, he started his own company and began casting the Showtime series "Huff" (2 seasons). Last year, he partnered with Lisa Ystrom and they are currently casting "The Lying Game" for ABC Family and "Suburgatory" for ABC.