Calling all ghost, monster, demon, scream queen/king hopefuls! It's spooky season, and this panel of casting directors will talk about the ins and outs of casting horror film and tv. What are some of the crucial decisions that go into casting horror? How can actors can hone their skills to audition for and perform in horror, as victim, monster and everything in-between? How does casting work differently for franchises and remakes? Join Dean Fronk ('Left Behind,' 'House of 1000 Corpses'), Nancy Nayor ('The Exorcism of Emily Rose,' 'Ouija'), Mary Vernieu ('My Best Friend's Exorcism,' 'Cruella'), Lindsay Graham Ahanonu ('My Best Friend's Exorcism,' 'Mother!'), Rich Delia ('Game Night', 'Scream 6') and #1 horror aficionado and moderator Perri Nemiroff to explore these questions and many more!
***Member participation encouraged! Feel free to submit questions in advance here. The form will also be available during the program.
PANELIST BIOS
Dean Fronk joined Donald Pemrick in 1996 to form Pemrick/Fronk Casting (PFC). Since then they have over 500 films to their IMDB credit- small budget to big budget independent films, working for Warner Brothers, Sony, Fox, Miramax, HBO, Showtime and Universal- and motion capture video games like 2K’s NBA2K, WWE2K and the MAFIA series. His primary focus is family entertainment. He cast 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer' and the 'Island of Misfit Toys' and has worked with young talent the likes of Shia LaBeouf, Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johanssen, Leighton Meester, Haley Joel Osment and Josh Hutcherson. A true horror geek, he cast many titles like Rob Zombie's 'House of 1000 Corpses' and 'Children of the Corn IV' starring Naomi Watts. Recently, PFC has done 'The Gabby Petito Story' for Lifetime, Netflix #1 'Fatal Affair' starring Omar Epps and Nia Long and Netflix’s new Christmas film, 'Christmas With You' starring Freddie Prinze Jr. Speaking of Christmas films, you can’t turn on Lifetime or the Hallmark Channel during the holidays without seeing their names at the start of so many holiday films. Dean has done location casting in many different countries as well as the states. He teaches audition technique and thoroughly enjoys working with actors!
Casting Director Mary Vernieu has cast over 400 features during her expansive career. With an eye for talent in both actors and filmmakers, she has developed and enjoyed long-standing working relationships with many acclaimed directors. After welcoming Lindsay Graham Ahanonu in to the Betty Mae family in 2005, they have collaborated with enormously talented visionaries such as Darren Aronofsky, Craig Gillespie, David O. Russell, Rian Johnson, David Ayer, Ric Roman Waugh, Oliver Stone, Bradley Cooper, and Speck + Gordon. In 2013, Mary and Lindsay won an Artios Award for the casting of 'Silver Linings Playbook' and have since been nominated together for 'A Star Is Born,' 'American Hustle,' 'I Tonya,' and 'Dolemite Is My Name.' Mary has also received Artios Awards for 'Euphoria,' Quibi's 'Free Rayshawn,' and 'Knives Out' and nominations for 'Deadpool II,' 'Cruella,' and 'Bird Box,' among others. Mary and Lindsay were nominated for the 2021 BAFTA Award for Best Casting for Emerald Fennel’s 'Promising Young Woman.' In 2022, they received an Emmy nomination for their work on the lauded limited series, 'Pam & Tommy.' Mary’s company, Betty Mae, is named in a loving homage to her mother and grandmother.
Nancy Nayor began her casting career at Universal Studios, where she served as Senior Vice-President in charge of Feature Film Casting, working with prominent filmmakers such as Stephen Spielberg, Ron Howard, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, and Sam Raimi. After holding this position for over a decade, Nancy opened Nancy Nayor Casting and consistently casts projects for top studios and distributors from Netflix and Amazon to Sony, CBS, Warner Bros, Miramax, Focus Features and more.
Her work includes a range of genres, with notable titles such as the classic comedies 'Road Trip' and 'The Whole Nine Yards,' genre thrillers such as 'Exorcism of Emily Rose' and 'The Grudge' for Sony and 'Ouija' and 'The Boy Next Door' for producer Jason Blum, as well as the YA films, 'Before I Fall' for Awesomeness and 'The Perfect Date' for Netflix. Among her projects currently in post, Nancy cast '65' starring Adam Driver for Columbia Pictures, 'The Mother' starring Jennifer Lopez for Netflix and director Niki Caro and 'Boy Kills World' for producers Sam Raimi and Roy Lee. She recently completed casting on 'Lisa Frankenstein' for Focus Features and producer Mason Novick, directed by Zelda Williams, and written by Diablo Cody. Her newest film to hit theaters, 'Barbarian,' has been gathering global attention and garnered a prominent spot on Variety’s recent list of BEST HORROR MOVIES OF 2022.
Nancy Nayor Casting has offices in Los Angeles and New York and Nancy as well as extensive expertise in international searches across Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.
Rich Delia is a Casting Director based in Los Angeles and the owner of Rich Delia Casting. Rich is a proud member of the Casting Society of America, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television. He is a 9 time Artios Award Nominee, winning in 2015 for the film ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ and in 2022 was nominated for a BAFTA award for the film ‘King Richard.’ Additional credits include the upcoming DC films, ‘The Flash’, ‘Black Adam” and ‘Shazam 2’, ‘It’ and ‘It Chapter 2’, ‘Game Night’, ‘Short Term 12’, ‘The Disaster Artist’ and ‘Happiest Season.'
Perri Nemiroff is a senior producer at Collider where she hosts and produces the interview series, Collider Ladies Night. She's a proud graduate of Columbia University's Film MFA program and a member of the Critics Choice Association. In addition to her work at Collider, Perri also hosts the Noovie Pre-Show segment, Perri's Picks, which can be seen on the big screen before trailers in theaters nationwide.
