Tom Crowfoot, Author at The CDG

February 27, 2023

Winners Announced: The CDG Casting Awards 2023

Supported by Spotlight and Headline Sponsor EON Productions The Casting Directors’ Guild are delighted to announce the winners for the 2023 CDG Casting Awards, in partnership with Spotlight. Now in its fifth year, the CDG Casting awards seeks to reward and celebrate the incredible work achieved by casting teams across Film, Television, Theatre and Commercials. This year, a new category was added to champion the success of those casting children across all media types. There was also a special award recognising Ian Smith’s ‘Contribution to Casting’, sponsored by Conway Van Gelder Grant.

This year’s ceremony was held at Ham Yard Hotel and hosted, for a second time, by Jennifer Saunders. This year’s presenters included Bella Ramsey, Asim Chaudhry, Richard E. Grant, Rob Brydon, Harry Trevaldwyn, Laura Donnelly, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Toheeb Jimoh, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Gemma Chan.

“It’s been a real privilege for Spotlight to be supporting The CDG, once again, for the 5th annual CDG Casting Awards. Whilst casting is a broad and varied profession across many different art forms, what unites the members of this often overlooked role in the industry is the passion, expertise and creativity required to bring incredible casts together. These awards are not superficial, they are here to remind us of the irreplaceable role of this profession in artistic and commercial successes. A huge congratulations to all the winners this year!”.
Matt Hood, Managing Director at Spotlight.

The 2023 categories and winners can be found here

March 16, 2022

A lovely acceptance speech from Ariana DeBose at this year’s BAFTA’s!

March 2, 2022

2022 CDG CASTING AWARDS WINNERS

The Casting Directors’ Guild are delighted to announce the winners for the 2022 CDG Casting Awards, in partnership with Spotlight. Hosted by the brilliant Jennifer Saunders, the intimate industry ceremony took place at Ham Yard Hotel in London on Tuesday 22nd February. Now in its fourth year, the CDG Casting awards seeks to reward and celebrate the incredible work achieved by casting teams across film, television, theatre and commercials. This year’s presenters included high-profile names from across the industry including; Adjoa Andoh, Emily Barber, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie Demetriou, Sope Dirisu, Clint Dyer, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ncuti Gatwa, Victoria Hamilton, Tommy Jessop, Adrian Lester, Ralf Little, Pixie Lott, Ambika Mod, James Norton, Jessica Plummer, Giles Terera and Marisha Wallace.

You can download the full list of the winners here.

January 27, 2022

The Stage – NT casting boss: No excuses for exclusionary casting after pandemic.

Increased online auditions during the pandemic means there is now no excuse for failing to cast inclusively, the National Theatre’s head of casting has argued.

Alastair Coomer, who leads the casting department at the NT, said producers and venues – particularly large organisations – should be ensuring that they reach out to actors based in all parts of the UK by offering online auditions. Coomer said having the option of casting remotely also means producers and casting directors must address historic accessibility failings.

Read the full article on The Stage here.

January 24, 2022

Star Makers: Casting is the invisible artistry of filmmaking

Movies rely so heavily on a perfectly chosen actor in the leading role. Considering how important it is to get this right, the casting directors who do this are often overlooked. Here, writer Anna Bogutskaya meets some of the most crucial casting directors in modern cinema, and looks back on the people who paved the way for them.

Click here to view this article click HERE

January 18, 2022

Casting Directors’ Guild Awards in the Press

Read the full stories on:

Screen Daily here

Whats On Stage here

and Deadline here

January 17, 2022

2022 CDG Casting Awards

The Casting Directors’ Guild are delighted to announce the nominees for the 2022 CDG Casting Awards, in partnership with Spotlight. Now in its fourth year, the CDG Casting awards seeks to reward and celebrate the incredible work achieved by casting teams across Film, Television, Theatre and Commercial. This year, The CDG are also thrilled to welcome Netflix as a brand new category sponsor, a testament to the continued success and demand for limited series.

You can download the full list of nominees and categories here

July 2, 2021

CDG PRIDE MONTH – Interview with the casting team behind IT’S A SIN.

The CDG EDI Group spoke with Andy Pryor, Ri McDaid-Wren and Ray Böhm, the casting team behind ‘It’s A Sin’, and discussed (among other things) discovering new talent and the cast’s incredible chemistry.

Read the full interview here

April 6, 2021

Q&A with 4 of the casting directors from this years’ BAFTA Best Casting nominees

BAFTA Q&A with 4 of the casting directors from this years’ BAFTA Best Casting nominees including CDG member Shaheen Baig nominated for Calm with Horses:

Watch it here

January 22, 2021

The Casting Directors’ Guild announces new committee members, and the formalisation of an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion group

The Casting Directors’ Guild is delighted to announce two new committee members, Jane Anderson and Stuart Burt, and the formalisation of an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) working group, to promote and prioritise these values in the casting profession, both within the Guild itself, and the work of its members.

On the central committee, Jane Anderson and Stuart Burt join ongoing members Victor Jenkins (Chair), Jessica Ronane (Vice Chair), Andy Brierley and Kate Ringsell.

The EDI Group (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion) was started two years ago on an informal basis, to seek out ways to be proactive in promoting these values within the casting profession. The group has now been formalised, consisting of twelve CDG members taking on varying areas of responsibility. Some of the bigger projects they have underway include:

Creating a paid casting internship for people who are currently under-represented
Professionally auditing audition spaces for accessibility
Initiating a system of diversity data monitoring within the CDG
Meet and greet events for D/deaf and disabled actors to meet casting directors
Increasing representation in the CDG’s social media output
Finding ways to help members understand and encourage the use of sensitive terminology in regards to different identities

The EDI are working alongside the CDG committee to update the Guild’s Code of Conduct, and have built working relationships with the Personal Managers Association (PMA)’s Diversity Group, and the Independent Commission for Race Equality launched by Equity.

Victor Jenkins said: “I am proud to be heading into my 4th year as Chair of the Guild, and I’m very excited to have Jessica Ronane as Vice Chair, and a committee made up of fellow experts in our field.

The very nature of our jobs means that our work happens away from the public eye, behind the camera, in the wings, ensuring that the artists we work with have safe, private spaces to create. That being said, as our industry grows and changes, the Casting Directors’ Guild renews its commitment to being as accessible, transparent, and accountable as possible. We are living through a time of great change and we feel fortunate, as a front facing organisation, to be charged with steering our working practices for the benefit of all.

With all that in mind, we look forward to a productive, busy & restorative year.”

The third CDG Casting Awards in partnership with Spotlight will take place on Tuesday 16 February 2021 during an online ceremony, to recognise casting achievements across Film, TV, Theatre and Commercials from the last year.

ENDS

For press enquiries please contact:

Francesca Maguire, franmaguire10@outlook.com / 07747 605971

Notes to editors:

The Casting Directors’ Guild is a professional organisation of Casting Directors in the film, television, theatre and commercials communities in the UK and Ireland who have joined together to further their common interests in establishing a recognised standard of professionalism in the industry, enhancing the stature of the profession, providing a free exchange of information and ideas, honouring the achievements of members and standardisation of working practices in the industry. The CDG upholds the highest ethical standards and advocates for the fair treatment of performers in the casting process.

The CDG Committee includes:

Jane Anderson (new)

Stuart Burt (new)

The EDI Group includes: