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Join a virtual panel of casting directors, including Twinkie Byrd, Carla Hool, Danielle Pretsfelder Demchick, and Angelique Midthunder, to discuss casting and diversity: what diversity means in the current environment, how casting directors are approaching it from different points of view, and how to move forward in terms of creating inclusive casting practices. Moderated by Candido Cornejo.
If you'd like to submit questions in advance for the panelists, please do so here. This form will also be available during the program.
PANELIST BIOS
Tracy Twinkie Byrd is a 30 year entertainment industry veteran. Known for casting films such as STOMP THE YARD, NOTORIOUS, FRUITVALE STATION, SPARKLE, and most recently BEATS on Netflix, Twinkie has pivoted to add Executive Producer and Director to her list of talents. Her award winning Sankofa style Directorial debut, THE COUNTER:1960, received Standing Ovations at BENTONVILLE, Marthas Vineyard and Diversity in CANNES film festivals. It won award Best Director, Best Cinematography, Audience Award and Best Supporting Actor awards.
Twinkie is the Exec. Producer of the LIFETIME original movies KIRK FRANKLIN'S A GOSPEL CHRISTMAS and THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS starring Naturi Naughton, Luke James and Lorea Turner.
She is also the Exec Producer of USC feature Film VOODOO MACBETH, the story of the 1936 Federal Theater Production and the All Black Cast of Macbeth. The story centers around distinguished actress/produce Rose McClendon mounting Shakespeare's Macbeth while asking a young Orson Wells to Direct.
Twinkie is now a Producer/Co Producer for two (2) Sundance selections, TO LIVE, DIE AND LIVE directed by Qasim Basie and YOUNG WILD FREE, directed by Thembi Banks.
Tracy Twinkie Byrds’ second act is one to watch.
Danielle Pretsfelder Demchick, CSA (she/her/hers) is an advocate manifesting change in how the real world is reflected in today’s media. Her focus is on elevating underrepresented and misrepresented communities, and with disability being the most underrepresented and misrepresented facet of our population, her passion for disability inclusion in media is always front and center in her work. She has been an active member of the New York casting community since 2004. Nickelodeon was her casting home for over 14 years, where she tapped into her love of developing young talent. From live action and animation, scripted and unscripted, long form and short form, and even podcasts, she has and loves to cast it all! Some highlights from her Nickelodeon years include THE ASTRONAUTS, THE BARBARIAN AND THE TROLL, BLUE'S CLUES & YOU, BUBBLE GUPPIES, DORA THE EXPLORER, DRAMA CLUB, WALLYKAZAM, and WELCOME TO THE WAYNE.
Since her departure from Nickelodeon to open her own casting office in April 2022, some of her favorite credits include RespectAbility's Disabled Children's Content Creator's Lab (sponsored by Netflix), AMERICAN GIRL: CORINNE TAN, THE FIRST AMERICAN GIRL OF THE YEAR film, which tells the story of the first Chinese American Girl, for HBOMax and Marvista Entertainment, MATT ROGERS: HAVE YOU HEARD OF CHRISTMAS? for Showtime and YOU ARE SO NOT INVITED TO MY BAT MITZVAH for Happy Madison Productions (coming to Netflix in mid 2023!) She continues to cast Viacom Kids & Family content, and also has several independent films and consulting projects she can’t wait to share more about!
Prior to Nickelodeon, she worked in independent film casting. Select credits include ADAM (2009), HOLLY ROLLERS (2010), NEW YORK CITY SERENADE (2007), and WHERE GOD LEFT HIS SHOES (2007). She also spent a year at Innovative Artists learning the agency side of the business, learning from the absolute best of the best.
The co-VP of Advocacy for the Casting Society of America, her work elevating underrepresented communities has been barrier breaking. She has led open calls for Trans & Non-Binary Actors, Performers with Disabilities, MENASA (Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian), Veterans, Senior Actors, Native American and Indigenous Actors, Black Actors, Asian Actors (over 7,000 actors submitted.) She is currently overseeing CSA's newest initiative, Mi Gente!, for Latine actors.
She serves on the board of both the Casting Society of America and Casting Society Cares, where her focus is on Training & Education. She serves as a faculty advisor for RespectAbility, the talent and casting consultant for GAMUT management, which works exclusively with talent with disabilities, and she is on the Actor's Fund's Looking Ahead Advisory Board. In addition to her work in casting, she is currently pursuing a master's degree in Disabilities Studies at the City University of New York. She is also a trained childhood bereavement group facilitator. She prides herself on being an ally to artists and aspiring talent of all abilities.
Award-winning Casting Director Carla Hool was born in Mexico City. She has been working in the entertainment industry for 20 years. As of today, she has worked in more than 140 films and television series.
Carla began her career as a casting director on the film MAN ON FIRE for director Tony Scott. Since then she has been responsible for casting such notable films as COCO, FLAMING HOT, CHUPA, STARTS AT NOON, NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE, MISS BALA, SIN NOMBRE, ICEBOX, THE 33, A BETTER LIFE, 2HEARTS, DESPICABLE ME 2, CHE, VANTAGE POINT, INNOCENT VOICES, NACHO LIBRE, APOCALYPTO, BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA and RAMBO: LAST BLOOD among many others. Some of the TV shows she has cast are NARCOS and NARCOS MEXICO for Netflix, LOS ESPOOKYS and EASTBOUND & DOWN SEASON 2 for HBO, GENTEFIED, RISING DION S2 and SELENA for Netflix, NOW AND THEN and EL ZORRO for Apple TV, COYOTE and HALO for Paramount Network, EAST LOS HIGH for Hulu, THE BRIDGE SEASON 2 for FX.
She has collaborated with directors Jacques Audiard, Claire Denis, Tony Scott, Eva Longoria, Chris Weitz, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Catherine Hardwike, Lee Unkrich, Alejandro G. Inarritu, Jose Padilha, Jonás Cuarón, Guillermo Navarro, Carl Franklin, Jody Hill, David Gordon Green, Luis Mandoki, Jared Hess, Pete Travis, Richard Shepard, Emilio Maille, Marvin Lemus, Lance Hool, and Carlos Cuaron amongst many others.
Carla is widely considered to be one of the most knowledgeable internationally focused casting directors in the film and television industry. She lives and works full-time in Los Angeles but continues to work on international projects casting every type of role. She has strong casting affiliations in Mexico, Central and South America, and Spain. Carla is strongly committed to opening doors for Latino actors. Her main focus is creating opportunities for them to display their diverse talent in any role, not only in the stereotypical roles in which they have been traditionally cast. Carla was nominated and won the prestigious Artios Award for the animated feature film COCO. She was also nominated for an Artios Awards for the Netflix Drama series NARCOS as well as NARCOS MEXICO. She received THE INDUSTRY PIONEER AWARD from NALIP in 2019 and won the “2022 Feature Casting Director of the Year - Heller Award”. Early this year she was nominated, alongside Sarah Finn, for Outstanding Casting in the “BIG BUDGET – DRAMA” category of the 38th Artios Awards for their work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Carla was welcomed into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as a new member in 2020.
Angelique Midthunder began her career in casting in the mid-1990s after working internationally as an actress and discovering more of an intrigue for the casting process than for being in front of the camera.
In addition to casting every character type, Angelique has developed a special niche for casting Indigenous roles and prides herself on preserving authenticity and integrity in cultural casting while recognizing the value of creative freedom.
In 2010 she was nominated alongside Richard Hicks and David Ruben for an Emmy for “Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special” for GEORGIA O'KEEFE. In 2017, she was nominated alongside Jeanne McCarthy for an Artios Award for location casting on CAPTAIN FANTASTIC and in 2023 she was nominated for another Artios Award for casting the groundbreaking FX series RESERVATION DOGS.
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.
