Join us for a LIVE conversation with Artios Award-nominated casting directors for film: Nikki Barrett ('Elvis'), Sarah Halley Finn ('Black Panther: The World of Wakanda', 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'), Avy Kaufman ('Tar', 'Spoiler Alert'), Douglas Aibel ('White Noise,' 'Armageddon Time'), and Gayle Keller ('Bros,' 'The Bubble'). Moderated by Jazz Tangcay, Variety.

Please feel free to submit questions in advance for our panelists here. The form will also be available during the program.

PANELIST BIOS:

Casting director Avy Kaufman has worked with esteemed directors like Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Robert Redford and others to cast movies such as TAR, LIFE OF PI, LINCOLN, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and THE SIXTH SENSE.

In 2005, Avy was honored as Casting Director of the Year at The Hollywood Film Festival. In 2018, Avy received a British Independent Film Award Nomination for AMERICAN ANIMALS and was the recipient of the Robert Altman Award for SUSPERIA at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Additionally, she received a BAFTA Nomination for KING RICHARD in 2022.

On the television side, Avy has received Emmy Nominations for EMPIRE FALLS, THE NIGHT OF, THE LOOMING TOWER, MARE OF EASTTOWN and DOPESICK. She is a Two-Time Emmy Winner for her work on SUCCESSION, winning a third for her work on the pilot DAMAGES.

Kaufman is featured in Helena Lumme’s book GREAT WOMEN OF FILM and was recently honored with a place on Variety’s New York Woman’s Impact list for her excellence in the field of Film and Television Casting.

Avy is based in New York City, and is a proud mother of two sons.

Douglas Aibel has been active as a film casting director and also as artistic director of the Vineyard Theatre in NY. Over 100 Film casting credits include MARRIAGE STORY, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA,,  SPLIT, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, DEAD MAN WALKING, MOONRISE KINGDOM  and television credits include SERVANT, SUCCESSION, MOZART IN THE JUNGLE and THE STAIRCASE. Recipient of special Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and OBIE awards for his work in the theatre as a producer. Graduate of Vassar College.

Nikki Barrett has been casting Australian and international film and television for over 20 years. Her work includes acclaimed features such as 'Elvis,' 'Thirteen Lives,' 'The Power of the Dog,' 'Ticket to Paradise,' 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' 'The Babadook,' 'Nitram,' 'Hacksaw Ridge,' 'I Am Mother,' 'Peter Rabbit,' 'The Nightingale,' 'The Proposition,' 'Maos Last Dancer,' 'The Sapphires,' 'Somersault,' 'The Railway Man' and 'Candy.' Television work includes the upcoming series, 'Boy Swallows Universe,' 'Bay Of Fires' and 'Black Snow.'

Sarah Finn is a ground-breaking Casting Director and a creative force in the industry.  Many of her films have left an enduring cultural imprint, as well as broken box office records.  With over 120 feature films and multiple awards to her credit, she is perhaps best known for casting the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe beginning with Iron Man in 2008.  She has also been recognized for the Oscar-winning films Black Panther; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; and Crash.  Those films all won the prestigious SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and earned her the Casting Society of America’s highest honor, the Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting.  In 2021, she received two Emmy Nominations for WandaVision and The Mandalorian.

Sarah’s collaboration with the MCU includes 36 films and 16 streaming shows, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as the latest release.  Over the last decade, some of those films include originals and sequels for Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Guardians of The Galaxy, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther and Captain Marvel.  Along the way, she has been responsible for finding and assembling casts with some of today’s biggest stars.  She is now engaged in launching the next phase of films including The Marvels, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Blade, Captain America: New World Order, Thunderbolts and more, culminating with the final Avengers sagas.

In addition, she has been in charge of casting and serving as a Consulting Producer on Marvel’s entire slate of Streaming projects for Disney+ for the past three years.  These include, among others, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye and What If…?, plus the upcoming projects Iron Heart, Echo, Secret Invasion and Agatha: Coven of Chaos.  

As a collaborator in the Star Wars universe, she cast the hit series, The Mandalorian, created by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni with Lucasfilm for Disney+.  Now in its third season, she’s also serving as Consulting Producer for all the Star Wars series she is casting and is currently at work on a range of new projects like Ahsoka Tano and Skeleton Crew.

Sarah’s other recently released projects include the critically acclaimed Everything, Everywhere All at Once from The Daniels for which she is also a Co-Producer. The film is garnering rave reviews for its breakout cast and star, Michelle Yeoh.  Earlier this year saw The Gray Man from the Russo brothers at Netflix and the Lionsgate/Showtime historical series The First Lady, in which she serves as Casting Director and Co-Producer.  Upcoming films will be Extraction 2, Godzilla vs. Kong 2, and The Electric State.  Sarah is a Producer and Casting Director for the independent film One True Loves, currently in post-production, based on the novel by best-selling author Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Sarah’s past credits include a wide range of film genres: Jon Favreau’s comedy, Chef; Oliver Stone’s drama, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; indie favorites such as Martin McDonough’s Seven Psychopaths and Shane Black’s The Nice Guys; sports films Miracle, Coach Carter and She’s the Man; animated classics The Little Prince, and The Jungle Book; monster-verse icons Godzilla and Kong, and action favorites such as Fast & Furious and Kick-Ass.

A graduate of Yale University and member of AMPAS (Executive Committee, Casting Branch), Sarah has served on the Executive Board of Women in Film and is on the Board of Advisors for the highly acclaimed Master Class educational series.  

 She is married to musician and educator Mike Finn, and they have three children.