Casting Directors Lament State Of Production In Los Angeles: “I Haven’t Worked Since Last June”

deadline.com:

The mood at Wednesday’s 40th anniversary Artios Awards may have been celebratory, but several casting directors acknowledged that Hollywood’s ongoing contraction is continuing to have a negative impact on their profession.

Before the awards show at the Beverly Hilton that paid tribute to the casting work on Wicked, A Complete Unknown, Emilia Pérez and Conclave, CDs privately lamented about the state of production in Los Angeles and how opportunities remain scarce. “It’s been a hard time for a lot of folks in our industry,” Casting Society President Destiny Lilly (The Color Purple, Only Murders in the Building) tells Deadline. “There was the strikes and the recent fires which have been really devastating for people in this community.

And there are still ripples from the pandemic. I think across the industry we’ve heard that there are fewer jobs and that affects casting professionals as well.” Other members of the board of the Casting Society, which is responsible for the Artios Awards, have not been immune from the recent decrease in production. “I haven’t worked since last June,” admits the Emmy-winning Steven Tylor O’Connor (13 Reasons Why, The Healing Powers of Dude). “All I heard last year was ‘stay alive until 2025.’ In a former life I used to be a manager at a bank, so I heard that and was like, ‘great, I’m not going to spend any money and I’m just going to save, save, save.’ But not everybody’s in a position to do that, and I’m now starting to stress about needing to work again.

January was a nightmare month for all of us.” “It’s been horrible,” adds board member/veteran CD Felicia Fasano (Better Things, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). “Survival of the Thickest was the last full show I did which ended in December of 2022.