Television Drama Casting

12:00-1:30 pm -- Fashion Theater
Four amazing Casting Directors -- with credits that include "Dirty, Sexy, Money," "Shameless," "Gossip Girl," and "Bones" -- teach you how to break into TV.

Want to know how to break in to television dramas? From co-stars to series regulars and from pre-read to network test - top casting directors discuss all sides of television procedurals casting. Moderated by Jessica Gardner, Features Writer, Back Stage.

Speakers

-- Mary Jo Slater, Casting Director
-- John Frank Levey, Casting Director
-- David Rapaport, Casting Director
-- Rick Millikan, Casting Director

SPEAKER BIOS

Mary Jo Slater
Broadway producer Emanuel Azenberg opened the door to Mary Jo Slater's first casting opportunity, Neil Simon's "Chapter Two." From that moment on, she knew that casting was what she wanted to do with her life.

After casting several Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, she branched out into television, taking on the casting job on the ABC daytime drama "One Life to Live," a job she enjoyed for nearly 10 years, also earning her her first Casting Society of America award. She worked with the legendary Lynn Stalmaster on features such as "The Name of the Rose," "9½ Weeks," and "Out of Africa."

In 1986 a call came from MGM Television in Los Angeles with an offer to become vice president of talent under the leadership of David Gerber. This was an offer she couldn't refuse. She relocated her family to the West Coast. While at MGM, she cast and oversaw pilots, movies, and series.

Some proud casting accomplishments include William Friedkin's "Twelve Angry Men" for Showtime, starring Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott, and James Gandolfini and receiving a C.S.A. nomination; the DreamWorks feature "The Contender," starring Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, and Gary Oldman and also receiving a C.S.A. nomination; the CBS miniseries "Elvis," the ABC series "Commander-in-Chief," starring Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland; the Morgan Creek feature "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" the independent features "Come Early Morning," starring Ashley Judd and premiering at Sundance, and "Slipstream," starring Anthony Hopkins; and the ABC pilot of "Dirty, Sexy, Money."

John Frank Levey
John Frank Levey has been recognized for his casting work with seven Emmy nominations. He has received four Emmy Awards for his casting work, two each for "ER" and "The West Wing."

Over the years, he has received many nominations and awards from the Casting Society of America and in 2009 was honored with CSA's Hoyt Bowers Award for lifetime achievement. He is working on "Shameless" for Showtime and "Southland" for TNT. Levey has been hailed for his work with actors with disabilities.

David Rapaport
David Rapaport started his career in his hometown of Boston, Mass., working under casting director Kevin Fennessy in local casting on such films as "The Perfect Storm," "Me, Myself & Irene," and "Outside Providence."

After graduating from Emerson College, Rapaport moved to California to work under the legendary casting director Mali Finn. Together they collaborated on more than 50 films and television series, including "8 Mile," "61*," "Gideon's Crossing," "The Matrix Reloaded," "The Matrix Revolutions," and "North Country." He learned from such distinguished directors as Ryan Murphy, James Cameron, Gus Van Sant, and David Gordon Greene.

Rapaport made a name for himself by casting the pilot for "Gossip Girl," for which he was honored with a nomination for the prestigious Artios Award. He has since collaborated on several films, including "Vacancy," "The Strangers," "Prom Night," "Quarantine," "The Final Destination," "Armored," "The Apparition," "Evidence," and "LOL."

Rapaport also has extensive experience in television, casting the series "Masters of Horror" (Showtime), "Fear Itself" (NBC), "Rockville CA" (WBTV), "The Hard Times of RJ Berger" (MTV), "My Generation" (ABC), and four seasons of "90210" (the CW), and he continues to consult on "Gossip Girl," now in its fifth season on the CW.

In addition, Rapaport cast the pilots for the "Gossip Girl" spinoff (the CW), "My Generation" (ABC), and most recently, David E. Kelley's "Wonder Woman" (NBC). Rapaport is a proud member of the Casting Society of America.

Rick Millikan
Rick Millikan is casting the seventh season of the hit Fox series "Bones," starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel; "The Finder," a spinoff from "Bones" starring Geoff Stults and Michael Clarke Duncan; and ABC Family's "Melissa and Joey" with Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence.

Other credits include the CBS drama "Shark," starring James Woods and Jeri Ryan; "The Guardian" with Simon Baker and Dabney Coleman; "CSI: Miami" with David Caruso; "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" with Melissa Joan Hart and Caroline Rhea; and the long-running comedy "Married With Children."

His most widely acclaimed credit, however, is casting all 201 episodes of the renowned series "The X-Files," starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Millikan began his casting career in 1987 as a casting assistant on the hit TV show "Dynasty."

From there he became a casting executive at MGM/UA Television, where he cast such television series as "In the Heat of the Night" with Carroll O'Connor and Howard Rollins and "The Young Riders" with Josh Brolin.

After a two-year stint as director of casting at Columbia Pictures Television, he opened his own casting office, where he began casting "The X-Files." Other credits include movies-of-the-week "Christmas on Division Street," with Hume Cronyn and Fred Savage, and "I Still Dream of Jeannie," with Barbara Eden.