SYNOPSIS
This class will include a Q&A and a prepared reading session with New York based Casting Director, Danielle Pretsfelder Demchick.
Participating actors will prepare perform a scene of their choice from film or tv, two minutes in length or less. Additional details will be sent upon confirmation of registration.
ABOUT DANIELLE
Danielle Pretsfelder Demchick, CSA (she/her/hers) is a casting director and 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, airing on Netflix, and Well-Versed for Nickelodeon. She continues to cast Viacom Kids & Family content and has some exciting projects there she cannot wait to be able to tell more about! She has also been fortunate to collaborate with Netflix, Sony Pictures Television Kids, Disney, PBS, and Sesame Workshop.
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 recently oversaw CSA's 2023 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 and previously as the talent and casting consultant for GAMUT management, which works exclusively with talent with disabilities. She is also 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 and is a trained childhood bereavement group facilitator. She prides herself on being an ally to artists and aspiring talent of all abilities.
