or


[06/15/06 - 12:00 AM]
NBC Entertainment and NBC Universal Television Studio Announce New Executive Casting Assignments

[via press release from NBC]

NBC ENTERTAINMENT AND NBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION STUDIO ANNOUNCE NEW EXECUTIVE CASTING ASSIGNMENTS

Grace Wu Becomes Senior Vice President, Casting, NBC Entertainment, While Steven O'Neill Is Named as Vice President, Casting, NBC Universal Television Studio

Emmy Award-winning Casting Director Jennifer McNamara Becomes Vice President, Casting, NBC Entertainment in New York; Casting Executive Brian Dorfman Also Joins NBC as Vice President, Casting, NBC Entertainment, in Burbank.

BURBANK/UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. � June 15, 2006 � Grace Wu has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Casting, NBC Entertainment, while veteran NBC casting executive Steven O'Neill has been named to take Wu's former position as Vice President, Casting, NBC Universal Television Studio.

In other NBC casting department changes, Emmy Award-winning casting director Jennifer McNamara ("Sex and the City") will become Vice President, Casting, NBC Entertainment in New York � O'Neill's former assignment � while ABC Entertainment/Touchstone Television casting executive Brian Dorfman also joins NBC as Vice President, Casting, NBC Entertainment, in Burbank.

The announcements were made today by Marc Hirschfeld, Executive Vice President, Casting, NBC Entertainment, and Nancy Perkins, Senior Vice President, Casting, NBC Universal Television Studio.

Hirschfeld spoke of Wu, McNamara and Dorfman:

"I'm excited to have Grace Wu returning to the network after her two-year stint at NBC Universal Studio. During the NBC Universal integration, Grace demonstrated her creativity and leadership skills under Nancy Perkins. As my Senior Vice President, she will be supervising the day-to-day casting on both the NBC current series as well as being network casting exec for USA and SCI FI projects. She'll also work closely with me and the network development team as we head into pilot season.

"It was a real coup to have landed Jen McNamara as my new Vice President of Casting at NBC New York. She is one of the best and most well-respected casting directors currently working there. She did a terrific job casting our new '30 Rock' pilot starring Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, and she'll continue to cast the series in addition to supervising casting of the 'Law & Order' dramas, 'Kidnapped' and 'The Black Donnellys,' as well as finding and auditioning new emerging talent on the East Coast.

"I've always respected Brian Dorfman's work at ABC/Touchstone and I'm thrilled he's joining our NBC West Coast team as Vice President Casting. He's got impeccable taste in talent, strong management skills and great relationships with agents, managers and talent. I really feel like I've assembled my 'Dream Team.'"

Said Perkins of O'Neill and Wu: "Like the whole community, I'm delighted to have Steven back in Los Angeles and can't wait to work side by side with him. And as much as I'll miss having Grace at the studio I'm happy we'll get to keep working together when she's back at the network. How lucky am I?"

Wu will report to Hirschfeld. Prior to becoming Vice President of Casting for NBC Universal Television Studio, Wu was appointed Director of Casting, NBC Entertainment, in October 2000 and earlier served as Manager in 1999. During her network term, she supervised casting for "Friends," "3rd Rock from the Sun," "Just Shoot Me," "NewsRadio," "Ed" and "Freaks & Geeks."

Previously, while at Liberman-Hirschfeld Casting Agency, Wu worked on casting for "Seinfeld," "MadTV" and "The Larry Sanders Show."

O'Neill, who reports to Perkins, will be responsible for overseeing all of the studio's vast network and cable television projects.

O'Neill returns to the West Coast after nine years in New York as Vice President, Casting, where his duties included oversight of network, studio and cable channel casting on the East Coast. After joining NBC in 1993 as a Manager, Casting, he was promoted to Director one year later before heading to New York. Earlier in his career, he was a casting executive at Touchstone Television and began as a casting assistant at the CBS network in New York.

McNamara, a two-time Emmy winner for her work casting the fourth and fifth seasons of "Sex and the City," reports to Hirschfeld. She also has served as casting director on NBC's new Fall comedy "30 Rock" (starring Tina Fey), "The Street," "Hope & Faith," among others.

In addition, McNamara has been casting director for many feature films, including "Boys Don't Cry," "Gone Baby Gone" (New York casting), "Mr. Gibb," "Southern Belles" (which she also produced), "Thumbsucker" (New York casting), "Super Troopers" and "Unconditional Love." She also worked as a casting associate on "The Cider House Rules," "Shakespeare in Love" and "Good Will Hunting."

Dorfman comes to NBC from ABC Entertainment/Touchstone Television, where he has been Vice President, Casting for Comedy, since July 2002. He also will report to Hirschfeld. While at ABC, Dorfman also was Executive Director of casting for Comedy.

Prior to his tenure at ABC, Dorfman served as a Casting Director at Warner Bros. Television, where he worked on the comedy "Two of a Kind and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Earlier, he served at the studio on staff as an associate casting director on the series pilots for "Trinity" and "The Adversaries." He began at Warner Bros. as a casting coordinator from 1996-97.





  [june 2006]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· 30 ROCK (NBC)
· ED (NBC)
· FREAKS & GEEKS (NBC)
· FRIENDS (NBC)
· HOPE & FAITH (ABC)
· JUST SHOOT ME (NBC)
· SEX AND THE CITY (HBO)
· STREET, THE (FOX)
· WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? (CW)





[12/13/24 - 01:00 PM]
NBC Announces Its New Year's Eve Lineup
Look for its annual "A Toast to 2024!" special in primetime with "The Day Drinking with Seth Meyers New Year's Special" in late-night.

[12/13/24 - 11:33 AM]
NBC to Air First Episode of Critically Acclaimed Peacock and Sky Drama Series "The Day of the Jackal" on Monday, Dec. 30
In the US, "The Day of the Jackal" ranked #1 on Peacock's Top 10 TV Shows on its platform and was a Top 5 streaming original drama in the US for its opening weekend (according to Nielsen data).

[12/13/24 - 09:07 AM]
"Malcolm in the Middle" Is Back for Four Brand-New Episodes on Disney+
From 20th Television and New Regency, the new episodes will see the return of original cast members Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, Bryan Cranston as Hal, and Jane Kaczmarek as Lois.

[12/13/24 - 08:01 AM]
OWN Announces Early Renewal for Hit Unscripted Series "Belle Collective"
"Belle Collective" is airing all-new episodes Friday nights at 8 PM ET/PT as it heads towards its two-part reunion specials.

[12/12/24 - 12:54 PM]
Season 2 of "Lucy Worsley Investigates" Premieres Tuesday, January 7, 2025 on PBS and Streaming on the PBS App and PBS.org
"This series combines some of the juiciest episodes from British history with a real deep dive into the work historians do, interrogating the sources," says Worsley.

[12/12/24 - 11:18 AM]
CNN Uncovers "Kobe: The Making of a Legend" in New CNN Original Series, Premiering Saturday, January 25 at 9PM ET/PT
The three-part series traces the story of Kobe Bryant from his childhood in Italy to his athletic superstardom and provides an intimate look at his post-NBA aspirations as a storyteller and as a father.

[12/12/24 - 10:30 AM]
FOX Announces New Season of "Farmer Wants A Wife," Renewing Hit Dating Competition Series with Kimberly Williams-Paisley Joining as Host
The all-new season of love is set to premiere Thursday, March 20 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

[12/12/24 - 10:00 AM]
"Tracker" Exceeding 18 Million Viewers and "Matlock" Nearing 17 Million Viewers in Live Plus 35-Day Multiplatform Viewing
Since the new season premiered in September, CBS primetime series are averaging 10 million viewers, up +3% compared to last season, in live plus 35-day viewing across CBS, Paramount+ and the CBS app.

[12/12/24 - 09:36 AM]
Video: "Whiskey on the Rocks" - Official Trailer - Hulu
The series is a playful take on what truly happened during the dramatic days at the turn of the month between October and November 1981, when the Soviet submarine U-137 ran aground in the Karlskrona archipelago.

[12/12/24 - 09:29 AM]
Animated Comedic Thriller "Common Side Effects" Premieres February 2 on Adult Swim
The half-hour series follows Marshall and Frances, two former high school lab partners who share a secret: Marshall has discovered the world's greatest medicine, a mushroom that can heal almost anything.

[12/12/24 - 09:10 AM]
Video: "RuPaul's Drag Race" Unveils Trailer and Guest Judges for Splashy New Season Premiering on Friday, January 3rd at 8:00 PM ET/PT on MTV
The star studded line up of guest judges include Doechii, Sandra Bernhard, Julia Schlaepfer, Paul W. Downs, Hunter Schafer, Quinta Brunson, Jamal Sims, Law Roach, Adam Lambert, Betsey Johnson, Whitney Cummings, Sam Smith, Jerrod Carmichael, June Diane Raphael, and Tracee Ellis Ross.

[12/12/24 - 09:02 AM]
"Tamron Hall" Hits Season Ratings High Growing by 17%
During the week of November 18, "Tamron Hall" grew in all key measures week to week, +9% among total viewers, +6% in household rating, +16% and +17% respectively with the highly coveted women 18-49 and 25-54 demographics.

[12/12/24 - 09:01 AM]
Game Show Network Announces Its Holiday Programming Schedule of Fan Favorites
Its holiday programming schedule will feature marathons of fan favorite gifts old and new for the remainder of the year.

[12/12/24 - 09:00 AM]
A24's "The Front Room," "Look Into My Eyes," and "A Different Man" Begin Streaming Exclusively on Max This January
The films will be available on successive Fridays beginning January 3.

[12/12/24 - 09:00 AM]
Prime Video Reveals First-Look Images and Premiere Date for Upcoming Biblical Drama Series "House of David"
"House of David," from visionary filmmakers Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn, will premiere on February 27, on Prime Video with three episodes and one episode weekly thereafter in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.