Filming in New York: Getting Cast in Gotham

10:00-11:30 AM -- Grand Ballroom
New York is the setting and location for many top films and TV shows. This panel features top casting directors on these projects with advice and insider information on getting seen and cast in New York. Moderated by Simi Horwitz, Features Writer, Back Stage.

Speakers:

-- Kimberly Hope, Casting Director, Hope Casting, TV: "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"
-- Paul Schnee, Casting Director, Barden/Schnee Casting, Film: "Pineapple Express," "The Visitor," "World Trade Center," TV: "Gravity"
-- Marc Hirschfeld, Casting Director, Marc Hirschfeld Casting
-- Julie Tucker, Casting Director, Tucker/Meyerson Casting
-- Erin Maya Darke, Casting Associate, Chrystie Street Casting

SPEAKER BIOS

Kimberly Hope, Casting Director, Lynn Kressel Casting, Hope Casting
Kimberly Hope is in her fifth season as casting director for USA/NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." In addition, she is currently working on two NYC-based independent features and she continues to freelance as New York casting on studio films.

Prior to taking over the full-time episodic casting on "Criminal Intent," Kimberly worked as Lynn Kressel's associate on many feature films (indie and studio), pilots, MOWs, and miniseries. She began in casting working extensively in the indie film world—where she worked on over 15 films, many of which found great success on the festival circuit (Sundance, Toronto, Tribeca, etc.)—and in theater with the Provincetown Repertory Theatre and the Cherry Lane and Rattlestick theaters.

She has worked with the Sundance Institute, casting the Reading Series of its Screenplay Lab. Before entering casting, Kimberly was a manager at a New York–based boutique management company, where she represented celebrity and developmental talent.

She is a member of the Casting Society of America, Teamsters Local 817, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Women in Film and Television, Step-Up, and IFP.

Paul Schnee, Casting Director, Barden/Schnee Casting
With partner Kerry Barden, Paul Schnee's recent and current feature-film credits include casting for the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, "Winter's Bone"; the forthcoming "The Help" for DreamWorks, based on the best-selling novel and starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Allison Janney, and Bryce Dallas Howard; "Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding," directed by Academy Award nominee Bruce Beresford and starring Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Kyle MacLachlan; "Higher Ground," the directorial debut of actor Vera Farmiga, starring Farmiga, Bill Irwin, Joshua Leonard, Norbert Leo Butz, and Donna Murphy; "Conviction," with Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, and Minnie Driver and directed by Tony Goldwyn; "Son of No One," directed by Dito Montiel and starring Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Tracy Morgan, Ray Liotta, and Katie Holmes; "Flypaper," starring Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd, and Tim Blake Nelson; and "Every Day," with Helen Hunt, Liev Schreiber, and Brian Dennehy.

Other forthcoming films include the reboot of "Conan"; "The Big Bang," starring Antonio Banderas; Paul Haggis' "The Next Three Days" (New York casting), starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, and Olivia Wilde; and the directorial debut of Academy Award–winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, "What's Wrong With Virginia," starring Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, and Toby Jones.

For television, Kerry Barden received an Emmy nomination in 2000 for his casting of Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon in HBO's pilot of "Sex and the City," and both Barden and Schnee received an Emmy nomination in 2007 for ESPN's miniseries "The Bronx Is Burning." In 2008-09, the casting team cast "Cupid," starring Sarah Paulson and Bobby Cannavale, for ABC Studios/ABC and the first season of Comedy Central's "Important Things With Demetri Martin."

Marc Hirschfeld, Casting Director, Marc Hirschfeld Casting
Emmy Award winner Marc Hirschfeld was appointed executive vice president, casting, NBC Universal Television Entertainment, in June 1999 and served in that capacity through December 2008. During his tenure, he was responsible for overseeing casting for all NBC Entertainment, Sci Fi, Bravo, and USA Network scripted programs.

Additionally, he consulted on unscripted programming, specifically in the area of hosting and celebrities for NBC prime-time reality programming as well as for NBC News and special projects. As the senior executive in charge of talent at NBC, Marc was responsible for on-air diversity in all of NBC Universal's scripted series and spearheaded all NBC network talent diversity initiatives and programs.

Most recently, Marc has overseen the original casting of such NBC series as the Emmy Award–winning "The Office" and "30 Rock," "Heroes," "My Name Is Earl," "Friday Night Lights," and "Southland," among others. On the cable side, he supervised the casting of the USA Network hits "Psych," "Burn Notice," "In Plain Sight," and "The Starter Wife" and USA's newest hits "Royal Pains" and "White Collar." At Sci Fi Network, he shepherded the original casting of "Eureka," "Warehouse 13," and the "Battlestar Galactica" prequel "Caprica."

Prior to joining NBC as executive vice president of casting, Marc spent 12 years establishing Liberman/Hirschfeld Casting, which he founded with partner Meg Liberman, as one of the nation's largest and most successful casting agencies. Marc received multiple Emmy nominations for casting the NBC comedy series "Seinfeld" and in 1998 won the Emmy for outstanding casting of a miniseries or a movie for his work on "From the Earth to the Moon."

Since his departure from NBC Universal, Marc has returned to his casting roots and cast six pilots during 2009-2010, including "Miami Medical" for Bruckheimer Television/Warner Bros. for CBS, scheduled to air in April 2010; "The Whole Truth" for Bruckheimer TV and ABC, starring Joely Richardson and Rob Morrow; "The Bridget Show," starring Lauren Graham, for Sony/ABC, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld; "Sherri," starring Sherri Shepherd, a half-hour comedy series for Lifetime; and "Hitched" for CBS, starring Eugene Levy, Kurtwood Smith, Kristin Kreuk, and Jack Carpenter.

Marc also has a casting consultant business and supervises all scripted and unscripted talent and casting for Starz Networks and CMT.

Julie Tucker, Casting Director, Tucker/Meyerson Casting
Julie Tucker and Ross Meyerson's current shows include "Rescue Me" (FX), "Damages" (FX), "Nurse Jackie" (Showtime), "In Treatment" (HBO), "The Big C" (Showtime), "Running Wilde" (Fox), and "White Collar" (USA). They are currently doing the New York casting for the feature film "Man on a Ledge" and recently completed "One for the Money."

Past television projects include "Fringe" (Fox), "Canterbury's Law" (Fox), "Army Wives" (Lifetime), "Warehouse 13" (Syfy), "Book of Daniel" (NBC), "Love Monkey" (CBS), "Dresden Files" (Syfy), and "Beautiful People" (ABC Family). They have also cast the MOWs "America" and "The 12 Men of Christmas" (Lifetime). They have done the New York casting for numerous pilots, including "Dexter" (Showtime), "True Blood" (HBO), "Drop Dead Diva" (Lifetime), "Cashmere Mafia" (ABC), and "Jezebel James" (Fox).

Julie did four seasons of "Law and Order: SVU" (NBC) and won her first Emmy Award, along with two Artios Awards, for the New York casting on the pilot of "Six Feet Under" (HBO). Ross and Julie were awarded an Emmy and Artios for the casting of "Damages" as well as an Artios Award for "Rescue Me."

Erin Maya Darke, Casting Associate, Chrystie Street Casting
Erin Maya Darke works for Chrystie Street Casting ("Precious," "The Wrestler," "Mercy" for NBC, "Twelve," "Happythankyoumoreplease"). Casting credits include the films "We Need to Talk About Kevin," with Tilda Swinton; Joel Schumacher's "Trespass" "Second Child" by Sebastian Silva; and "Foreclosure," with Michael Imperioli. She has also cast for Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Summer Shorts Festival at 59E59 Theaters. She is currently working on several films, including Jason Reitman's "Young Adult" and Adrian Lyne's "Silence."

Simi Horwitz, Features Writer, Back Stage (Moderator)
Simi Horwitz has been at Back Stage for 13 years. Her beat is theater, film, and television. She regularly writes profiles of newsworthy personalities in the arts and covers behind-the-scenes trends, in addition to reviewing movies and conducting video interviews for the Back Stage website.

Simi won the William H. Donaldson Editorial Achievement Award, a corporate prize, for her Back Stage piece "Ambivalence, Ambiguity, and Culture Shock: The Immigrant's Experience in Theatre." The story looks at how immigrant theater artists have to reinvent themselves—their expectations and career tactics—in order to make it in American theater.

Prior to joining Back Stage, Simi was a feature writer for Theater Week for eight years and a frequent contributor to the Washington Post's TV Week.