Casting Society Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Virtual Artios Awards Ceremony

variety.com:

Wilson Chapman editorThe Casting Society celebrates its 40-year anniversary this year just as the entertainment industry is marking the diversity and authenticity in the many roles in film and TV from “CODA” and “West Side Story” to “Bridgerton.” In honor of this landmark, the society’s leaders hoped to organize an in-person ceremony for the Artios Awards, their annual event honoring work by casting directors across film, television and theater.

But when the Omicron surge showed the pandemic isn’t close to being over, CSA leadership realized it needed to pivot to a remote ceremony. “Our hope and desire was that we would be able to do this spectacular in-person celebration,” says Kim Williams, the vice president of casting at Disney Television Studios and the president of CSA. “But we decided for the health and safety of everybody it would be better to pivot to a virtual celebration, and we’ll celebrate the culmination of our 40th, fingers crossed, if the pandemic agrees with us next year.” The 37th annual Artios Awards will be held as a virtual ceremony on March 23.

The ceremony was initially scheduled to take place on March 17, and according to Williams, the change was made to give time to organize a larger event, as the initial date was intended for a smaller, member-only celebration.

The presenting partner for the Artios Awards is Casting Workbook, a company that helps provide casting software to productions.