What does a casting executive do? Casting professionals Grace Wu (NBC), Cesar A. Rocha (Netflix) and Jason Stamey (Hulu) join us for a conversation about how casting works at a studio or network level. Moderated by casting director Candido Cornejo.

PANELIST BIOS

Jason B. Stamey is an Emmy-nominated Casting Director who currently serves as the Vice President of Casting for Hulu Originals. Prior to his career in casting, Jason spent his days performing aboard cruise ships, in musicals and at cabarets. Upon moving to Los Angeles, he began working with Over the Moon Productions where he performed in 'RENT: Downtown L.A.' and assistant directed 'Spring Awakening.' It's there he found his love for casting and quickly landed a job at the Sarah Finn Company in 2013 where he spent close to a decade. Some of his most notable work can be seen in the 23 time Emmy-nominated 'Wandavision', 'The Falcon & The Winter Soldier,' 'Hawkeye,' 'She-Hulk,' 'Avengers: Endgame,' 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 & 2', and the upcoming feature 'One True Loves.'

Cesar A. Rocha is currently the head of series casting at Netflix, a group newly formed in 2021. He and his team oversee casting for all US Netflix series such as WEDNESDAY, NEVER HAVE I EVER, BEEF, THE NIGHT AGENT, GINNY & GEORGIA, and others. He has been at Netflix for four years where he prior worked on International series. 

Cesar began his casting career at Telsey + Company where he worked on theatre, film and television projects. He lives in Pasadena with his partner Kevin and their two rescue pups Jack and Parker. 

Grace Wu serves as Executive Vice President, Entertainment Casting, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming in a role that was created for her in 2021. In this post, Wu is responsible for overseeing both scripted and unscripted casting and talent across the division’s entertainment platforms, including NBC, Bravo, E!, Oxygen, SYFY, Universal Kids and USA Network as well as streamer Peacock.

In her expansive role, Wu reports directly to Entertainment Content Chairman Susan Rovner. During her tenure at NBCUniversal, she has supervised the casting of NBC series such as 'American Auto,' 'This Is Us,' 'New Amsterdam,' 'Freaks & Geeks,' 'Friday Night Lights,' and 'Parenthood.' Wu has been instrumental in casting specific talent, including Olivia Wilde in 'The Black Donnellys,' Ryan Eggold in 'New Amsterdam' and Busy Philipps in 'Freaks and Geeks.'

Most recently, Wu held the position of Executive Vice President, Casting, for NBC Entertainment. Elevated to this capacity in 2009, Wu was responsible for overseeing the day-today casting on current scripted series and pilot productions Wu joined NBC in 1999 as Manager of Casting, rising to Senior Vice President in 2006. Wu began her career in entertainment casting as an assistant on the feature film 'In & Out,' starring Kevin Kline. She transitioned into television when she joined Liberman/Hirschfeld Casting, where she worked on such critically acclaimed shows as 'Seinfeld' and 'The Larry Sanders Show.'

A native of Los Angeles, Wu received a BA degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley.

Candido Cornejo is a proud Latinx trans casting professional with over 10 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She has worked with prestigious casting offices including veterans Ronnie Yeskel, Fern Champion, Scott Genkinger, & Pam Dixon. Prominent credits include ‘The Hatfields & McCoys’, the Freeform hit show 'The Fosters’, and the Artios award winning production of ‘Zoot Suit’ for the CenterTheatre Group. Candido is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, particularly for the Latinx and trans/nonbinary communities. As of recent, she has completed casting for “The Answer To My Prayer” executive produced by Eddie James Olmos and Nancy De Los Santos, and two films for the “Launchpad” season 2 for Disney+ where she launched a worldwide search for a 2 Spirit Teenager for the first ever of its kind shown on a major platform.

Please note: no soliciting (including giving out headshots, reels, business cards, scripts) or asking for email addresses from guest speakers.