And in the interest of moving forward, onward, upward… I shall promote this cool new thing I’m so thrilled to be a part of. More info as available.
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Free Casting Director Panel at Loyola Marymount University, Tuesday 30 November 2004, 7pm, St. Roberts Hall. Brought to you by Diane Benedict and the Department of Theatre Arts.
Panelists: Chemin Sylvia Bernard, CSA; Michael Donovan, CSA; Michelle Morris Gertz, CSA
Moderator: author and casting director Bonnie Gillespie
Chemin Sylvia Bernard, CSA, has worked in casting for more than 20 years. Currently, she is casting a new Nickelodeon series called Head to Toe (about a girls’ soccer league). In April, she completed casting the feature film Fat Albert for 20th Century Fox Features. Other recent feature films include Biker Boyz and Chasing Papi. Past films cast were Cool Runnings, Deep Cover, and The Inkwell. Her previous television credits include several hit UPN series: Moesha, The Parkers, In the House, Martin, and Homeboys in Outer Space. In addition, she cast Where I Live and Tall Hopes. She cast Jamie Foxx on In Living Color. She is the owner of Chemin Bernard Casting, a company whose signature of excellence, integrity, quality, and vision is stamping a lasting impression on the entertainment scene.
Michael Donovan, CSA, has cast 40 films, nine television series, over 1000 commercials, and numerous critically-acclaimed productions for the theatre. Michael is proud to have cast the most recent Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle winner for Best Production, Raisin, at ICT in Long Beach. A double nominee for the Artios Award (given by the Casting Society of America for Outstanding Casting), Michael has cast for the Falcon Theatre, the Colony Theatre, Arkansas Rep, the Theatre at Boston Court, Shakespeare Festival/LA, and many others. Michael is currently casting two independent films and several theatre projects, including an upcoming tour of the musical Aida.
Michelle Morris Gertz, CSA, has over 30 movie credits to her name, in a career spanning comedy, drama, action, and children’s genre. Some of Michelle’s film credits include The Bourne Identity, American Pie, American Pie 2, Legally Blonde, Big Fat Liar, and Donnie Darko. She was also part of the first season of HBO/Live Planet’s Project Greenlight movie, Stolen Summer, and she recently worked on the third season of the show for Bravo with Project Greenlight 3, and cast the film Feast, a Dimension horror flick. She has won a variety of casting awards and nominations for her projects. She previously served as Director and VP of Feature Casting for Universal Studios. She most recently completed casting Mr. & Mrs. Smith starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Bonnie Gillespie is an author and casting director. Her books include Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews, Self-Management for Actors: Getting Down to (Show) Business, and the forthcoming Actor Qs: Inspiration from Working Actors. She has cast the SAG indie films A Dull House, Consider As True, Perfect, The Moor, and Each To Each. Bonnie recently wrapped Nashville and Atlanta casting for The Entertainer starring Wayne Newton for E! Entertainment Television. She provides career consulting services to actors and is a frequent guest-speaker at universities across the country. Bonnie is co-founder and co-host of Hollywood Happy Hour and co-founder of the Flickering Image Short Film Festival.