Galaxy Quest is a 1999 American satirical science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. It stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mitchell. A parody of and homage to science-fiction films and series, especially Star Trek and its fandom, the film depicts the cast of a fictional cult television series, Galaxy Quest, who are drawn into a real interstellar conflict by aliens who think the series is a documentary.
The Casting Society, formerly known as Casting Society of America (CSA), was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 as a professional society of about 1,200 casting directors and associate casting directors for film, television, theatre, and commercials in Canada, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa, and the United States. The nonprofit organization announced the name change from Casting Society of America to Casting Society on February 10, 2022. The society is not to be confused with an industry union. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represent most of the major casting directors and associate casting directors in Hollywood. Members use the post-nominal letters "CSA" when credited for their work.
Dreamgirls is a 2006 American musical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name, Dreamgirls is a film à clef, a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and its superstar act the Supremes. The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit girl group known as "The Dreams" and their manipulative record executive.
Mali Finn, born Mary Alice Mann, was an American casting director. She cast numerous actors in successful films, including Edward Furlong, Brad Renfro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Russell Crowe.
Mark Johnson is an American film and television producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the 1988 film Rain Man.
Randy Stone was an American actor, producer, and casting director. He was a co-founder of The Trevor Project.
Johanna Ray is an American casting director and film producer, sometimes credited as "Joanna Ray". She has been nominated for five Artios Awards, and won once in 1990. She has worked with Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Julia Roberts, and Nicolas Cage, among others.
Tammara M. "Tammy" Billik is an American Hollywood casting director who has cast hundreds of roles in television. Her best-known casting decision is when she and veteran casting director Marc Hirschfeld cast Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy for Fox Broadcasting's cult hit, Married... with Children.
John Papsidera is a casting director based in Los Angeles, California, known for his work across film and television, especially his work with some of the industry’s most successful directors, including Christopher Nolan, Ruben Fleischer, Jason Reitman, Roland Emmerich, and James Gunn. He has received sixteen Artios Awards nominations and has won four times. He has also been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy awards and has won twice.
April Webster is an American casting director, based in Los Angeles, California, known for her work in film and television. Webster has worked with some of the most successful directors, including several projects with J. J. Abrams.
Avy Kaufman is an American casting director for film and television.
Marcia S. Ross is an American casting director and film producer. She is best known for casting such films as Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, and The Princess Diaries. Her production credits include the documentaries Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life and Nasrin.
The Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Big Budget Feature (Drama) is an award handed out annually by the Casting Society of America. The award, in its current incarnation, was first awarded in 2009, when the category made the distinction of award comedic films with larger budgets, and studio backing. Previously, since the second awards ceremony in 1986, the category had only held the distinction of Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Drama. The award honors the casting directors of higher-budgeted, in comparison to independently-backed, films that the voting body believes featured the best casting.
Howard Feuer was an American casting director known for casting theatrical productions and hit movies.
Sarah Halley Finn is an American casting director and producer. Finn has cast over 100 feature films and is best known for casting the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. She also cast and co-produced Oscar winning Best Picture Everything Everywhere All at Once, the most awarded film in movie history. It won three out of four acting categories at the 95th Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress – a feat only achieved twice before, and not since 1976. Other works include Oscar-winning films Black Panther; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; and Crash; all of which earned Finn the Casting Society of America’s highest honor, the Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting. Those films also won the prestigious SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 2023 Finn was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Casting and won the Artios Zeitgeist award for her work on Everything Everywhere All At Once. In 2022, she received two Primetime Emmy nominations for her work casting WandaVision and The Mandalorian.
Shayna Markowitz is an American casting director, who is the recipient of the inaugural BAFTA Award for Best Casting in 2020 in recognition of her work on the film Joker. She works across film and television, and casting director credits also include Dash & Lily (2020), The Best of Enemies (2019) and Ocean's 8 (2018), amongst others.
