Panel 2: SAG-AFTRA PRESENTS: AGING UPFRONT: CASTING AND WRITING FOR MATURE ACTORS

SAG-AFTRA PRESENTS: AGING UPFRONT: CASTING AND WRITING FOR MATURE ACTORS

This panel will explore finding and using qualified actors who can support and enhance your projects. Q&Q to follow. 

PANEL 2: SATURDAY October 19th– 1pm-3pm

VENUE: LA Live – Regal Cinema , 1000 West Olympic BLVD., Los Angeles 90015 (3rd Fl-screening room) Auditorium 12

WELCOME SPEECH: Jackie Joseph – National Chair of Seniors Committee at SAG-AFTRA

Denise Carlson (Moderator)

Denise Carlson is a producer and development executive with 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. Under her D’veloping Pictures banner Denise made the movie BAD HAIR DAY, which premiered on Disney Channel in February of 2015.  She is currently developing CROSSING THE SAGAMORE, WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE, and WEDDING’S EVE, among others.  She is also developing the series UNCHAINED with Ted Kotcheff.  

Denise was at Disney Channel for nine years as the Director of Original Movies, responsible for overseeing the development and production of 47 television movies, including the megahit HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, as well as other highly successful films such as WENDY WU and THE CHEETAH GIRLS movies. 

 Currently Denise also teaches producing at the New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus, and she is proud to be a member of the LA Femme board.

Rachel Feldman

Rachel Feldman has directed more than 60 hours of broadcast film and television. This season, Feldman directed ABC’s THE ROOKIE, multiple episodes for CBS of BLUE BLOODS & CRIMINAL MINDS, as well as the pilot and full season of a new streaming series for MGM. 

Feldman will be directing LILLY, a feature film she wrote, based on the remarkable life of Fair Pay activist Lilly Ledbetter. The screenplay was an Athena List selection, and the recipient of the Ravenal Foundation Grant from NYWIFT.  Feldman’s pilot KINKS won 2 WGA Best Spec Pilot awards, and was the only American selection for the 2019 Cannes Series In Development Pilot Program.

Feldman has directed and written movies for Lifetime and The SYFY Channel. Her award-winning shorts have aired on HBO, Showtime, and PBS. Feldman was chair of the DGA Women’s Steering Committee and has taught directing in the MFA program at USC School of Cinematic arts. She is repped at Verve with Amy Retzinger and Evan Pioche. 

You can discover more at www.rachelfeldman.com and follow her on Twitter @WomenCallAction

Marcia Ross

Marcia Ross produced the documentaries Every Act of Life, The State of Marriage, Father Joseph and The Savoy King. Additionally she has an over 3 decade career as an independent casting director and casting executive, serving 16 years as EVP for Casting at Walt Disney Motion Pictures, and 5 years as VP for Casting and Talent Development at Warner Brothers TV. Some of her film and television credits include Clueless, Cujo, thirtysomething, Murder in Mississippi, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Princess Diaries, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, The Lookout, Enchanted Oblivion, and Parental Guidance. She has received career achievement awards from the Casting Society of America and the Hollywood Film Festival.

Shari Karney

Shari Karney is a civil rights attorney, on air legal pundit, author, executive producer, and talent.  The captivating NBC movie “Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story†starring Melissa Gilbert, which Karney Executive Produced, followed Karney’s story involving sexual abuse as a child to championing the rights of women and children as an attorney that changed the law for survivors of sexual abuse.

Karney was also lead attorney and talent, on the syndicated court show, “Power of Attorneyâ€Â 

A widely respected legal expert, analyst and commentator on breaking civil rights news cases, she has appeared on Oprah, ABC PrimeTime, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, HLN, TruTV, CI, Discovery Channel, Lifetime, Fox Television, Inside Edition, CBC (Canada), and hundreds of other television and radio news programs. She has written and given on air commentary about the Brock Turner campus sexual assault case,  worked on legislation with Kamilah Willingham (featured in the documentary about campus sexual assualt), “The Hunting Ground,†as well as given expert commentary and opinion on the Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Kevin Spacey sexual assault cases. 

Ivonne Coll

People’s Choice Award winner and Golden Globe nominee Ivonne Coll is a theater, television, and film actress from Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Her film debut as “Redheaded Yolanda” in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather II helped her discover her passion for acting, becoming one of the first Latin actresses to cross over and work consistently in Hollywood. 

Her award-winning variety show in Puerto Rico, Una Chica Llamada Ivonne Coll (A Girl Called Ivonne Coll) (1972-74) provided the perfect opportunity to showcase her many talents which included singing, dancing and acting. She represented Puerto Rico in the Miss Universe Pageant in 1967. In 1972 she was the star of the USO Tour Puerto Rico Sings for the troops stationed in Vietnam. In 1988 Coll had the stellar role in Cuqui a Woman Like You produced by WAPA TV. 

Ivonne Coll had the fortune of training in drama among others with Lee Strasberg, comedy with Lucille Ball and musical theater with David Craig. 

Broadway credits include Tony Award Nominated Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Joseph Papp’s Shakespeare on Broadway: Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, and Goodbye Fidel. 

Regional Theater performances include playing the title role in Mother Courage at Berkley Repertory Theater and La Jolla Playhouse. Other regional work include Chicago’s Goodman Theater, Princenton’s McCarter Theater, Mark Tapper Forum, San Diego Rep, Arizona Theater Company and San Jose Rep Theater. 

Awards received include: the People’s Choice Award, (Jane The Virgin) TCA’s Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming (Switched at Birth), Eternity Award Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival, ACE Award NY Hispanic Media (Orinoco), Puerto Rico International Short Film Festival Best Actress (De Pura Cepa), Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Performance San Diego Critics Circle (Adoration of the Old Woman), Agueybana de Oro Best Supporting Actress (Coralito). 

Award nominations include: Golden Globe (Jane The Virgin), Jefferson Award as Best Supporting Actress (Electricidad) Actor’s Equity Association and Best Actress (Mother Courage) by the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle. 

Film credits among others include: Waking the Dead, (Polygram), Lean on Me (WB) Instinct (Touchstone Pictures), Into Deep (Miramax), The Pest (Tristar), A Rainy Day (Universal) and Hemingway & Gelhorn (HBO.) 

Coll is currently starring as a series regular on Jane The Virgin (CW.) Other television credits include Switched at Birth (ABC Family) Teen Wolf (MTV) Glee (Fox) East Los High (Hulu), Nip Tuck (FX), An American Family (PBS) Six Feet Under (HBO), NYPD Blue (Fox ), The Practice (Fox), ER (NBC), Heroes (NBC), Crossing Jordan (NBC), Judging Amy (Fox), Saturday Night Live (NBC) Cold Case (CBS), Joan of Arcadia (CBS), LA LAW (Fox), Wings (CBS), Without a Trace (CBS), and CSI (CBS.) 

Film and theater critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune calls Ivonne Coll “A formidable actress†as she continues to deliver breakthrough performances on television, film and theater. 

Ivonne Coll is a proud member of the Television Academy. 

Cathya Jentis

Caytha is a successful independent writer/producer who started filmmaking in her early forties while driving carpools in suburbia as a mother of two.  Her stories are typically female centric character driven heightened reality comedies. She has written and produced features, a short form scripted series and an award winning stage play.  Her last feature that she also directed, “Bad Parents,” can be seen on HBO. She plans to be in production on her fourth feature this December. Caytha has an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA and a BS in TV/Film from Syracuse University.  She began her career as a literary agent in New York. Caytha was recently profiled by the Writers Guild East and recognized as an age disrupter by AARP. She has appeared on many panels and podcasts including the prestigious MA Conference for Women and is a member of WGAE, PGA and NYWIFT.  

Lee Purcell

Lee Purcell is a 2x PrimeTime Emmy nominated actress, soon to be seen starring in the feature film CAROL OF THE BELLS, a groundbreaking film about a woman with a disability (played by an actress with that disability) and a staggering 70% of the cast and crew were developmentally disabled.

Lee has performed several Shakespeare plays, including MacBeth, Richard lll, live on stage in England. In addition, Lee has starred in numerous film and television productions opposite some of Hollywood’s biggest, current and classic stars, including Nicholas Cage, Chadwick Boseman, Malcolm McDowell, Orson Welles, Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas, just to name a few.

As an ingenue, Lee’s career and life was forever changed when she was chosen by film icon Steve Mcqueen to star in her first ever film as a high school student opposite Michael Douglas. McQueen continued to mentor the young actress, for which she will always be grateful.

Lee is a voting member of the by-invitation-only, prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (OSCARS) and has served on various committees there. She is also a member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (EMMYS). Lee currently serves on the Board of the actors union SAG-AFTRA, an elected position.

Lee has been involved with many charitable organizations throughout her career, and some of her charity work has included Heart of a Horse, Veterans Entertainment Team, Big Brothers, Special Olympics, and Paralyzed Veterans of America among many others.

Maria Conchita Alonso is one of the biggest names in the Latin market. She is a Film star, Theater and TV Actress, animal and political activist and a singer/song/writer that has contributed to the entertainment industry in over 70 films, 10 telenovelas, multiple plays, 15 movies of the week and miniseries and in over 100 episodes of television on HBO, Showtime, NBC, ABC, CBS, Hallmark and Lifetime to name a few. Has been nominated and won many awards in the Spanish speaking world as well as in the US.