The Power of TV: Casting Call to Action

The Power of TV: Casting Call to Action

Advancing inclusion requires ongoing learning, intentional leadership and allyship, and a long-term commitment to transformation. Join us for a conversation about the power of casting to drive diversity in storytelling. The Power of TV: Casting Call to Action features industry leaders who are driving inclusion in television casting, and explores what it takes to achieve greater equity in the industry.

Participants

• Beth Bowling, CSA, Casting Director
• Kim Coleman, CSA, Casting Director
• Dr. Ninochka McTaggart, Associate Vice President of Research & Insights, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
• Grace Wu, Executive Vice President, Casting, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming

Moderator

• Jazz Tangcay, Senior Artisans Editor, Variety

Presented in partnership with STARZ #TakeTheLead

This is a public event of the Television Academy Foundation. Television Academy Members and the public are invited to attend.

Participants

Beth Bowling, CSA

Beth Bowling, CSA is an award-winning casting director who has received Emmy nominations for her work on Mad Men, Mr. Robot and currently The Flight Attendant. She has also cast such groundbreaking shows as Hightown, Blue Bloods, Divorce, You, Dr. Death not to mention the original Gossip Girl and many, many more.

Kim Coleman, CSA

Kim Coleman is a Los Angeles-based Casting Director known for her work in Film and Television. She is a two-time Emmy nominee for her casting work on the acclaimed Emmy-nominated television show American Crime (ABC) created by John Ridley and most recently Emmy-nominated drama series Lovecraft Country (HBO) . Some of her past television credits are Dear White People, She's Gotta Have It! (Netflix) , Snowfall (F/X) pilot, The Good Doctor (ABC) pilot and season 1, Greenleaf, The Haves and the Have Nots, If Loving You Is Wrong (OWN), and Survivor's Remorse (Starz). Her latest television work includes series Genius: Aretha (Nat/Geo), Lovecraft Country (HBO), The Good Lord Bird (Showtime), Wu-Tang: an American Saga (Hulu), The Upshaws, Madam C.J. Walker, Family Reunion (Netflix), Black Mafia Family, Run the World, Heels (Starz), Delilah, Kings of Napa (OWN), and Woke (Hulu).

She has received 3 Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America for excellence in casting for her work on Dope, Dear White People and most recently, Spike Lee's Oscar winning film BlacKkKlansman. Her most recent feature films include I Wanna Dance with Somebody (TriStar Pictures), Da 5 Bloods, They Cloned Tyrone, Hustle, End of the Road (Netflix), Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros.), Fatherhood (Sony), Harriet (Focus Features), Night School, Little, Beast, Praise This (Universal), Cheaper by the Dozen (20th Century Studios). She also casts all television and feature films for the prolific writer, producer, director Tyler Perry.
 
She is a Television Academy governor for the Casting Director's Branch as well as a newly elected governor of the Casting Director's Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is on the Academy Museum Inclusion Advisory Committee and the Task Force Committee representing Casting Directors.

Dr. Ninochka McTaggart

Dr. Ninochka McTaggart is the Associate Vice President of Research & Insights at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and has been at the institute since 2016. She received her PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Riverside and a B.A. in International Relations and Sociology from the University of Southern California. She is a Diversity and Inclusion Specialist with comprehensive expertise on issues of race, gender, inequality, and popular culture. Her research interests include examining qualitative representations and stereotyping in mass media and popular culture. She is a published author, curator, public speaker, educator and consultant.


She served as guest curator of the exhibit, "Don't Believe the Hype": L.A. Asian Americans in Hip Hop" at the Chinese American Museum in 2018. Her research has been featured on KPCC, KCET, CGTN America and in L.A. Weekly. She has published in Sociological Inquiry and contributed to Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia and The Oxford Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature and Culture. She recently wrote a book with Dr. Eileen O'Brien entitled White Privilege: The Persistence of Racial Hierarchy in a Culture of Denial. The book focuses on how race intersects with other systems of power in order to maintain white privilege in American social institutions. She has served as a consultant for various organizations to create and implement strategies and initiatives that promote awareness and understanding of issues of inequity. She is driven by her strong commitment to advocating for the equitable treatment of all marginalized groups.

Grace Wu

Grace Wu currently serves as Executive Vice President, Casting, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, in a role which was created for her in early 2021. In this post, Wu is responsible for overseeing both scripted and unscripted casting and talent across the division's Entertainment platforms, including broadcast network NBC, six cable networks: Bravo, E!, Oxygen, SYFY, Universal Kids, and USA, as well as streamer Peacock.

In her expansive role, Wu reports directly to Entertainment Content Chairman Susan Rovner.

Most recently, Wu held the position of Executive Vice President, Casting, for NBC Entertainment. Elevated to this capacity in 2009, Wu was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day casting on current scripted series, as well as pilot productions, for the broadcast network.

During her tenure at NBC, she supervised the casting of such network series as Freaks & Geeks, Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, New Amsterdam, and This Is Us. Wu joined NBC Casting in September 1999 as Manager of Casting, rising to Senior Vice President, Casting, in 2006.

Wu began her career in entertainment casting as an assistant on the feature film In & Out, starring Kevin Kline. She transitioned into television when she joined Liberman/Hirschfeld Casting, where she worked on casting for the critically acclaimed Seinfeld, MadTV and The Larry Sanders Show.

A native of Los Angeles, Wu received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley.

Moderator

Jazz Tangcay

Jazz Tangcay is the Senior Artisans Editor at Variety and covers all crafts below-the-line. She is also on the Awards team analyzing the Emmys and Oscar races. Prior to joining Variety, Jazz worked at Awards Daily, where she covered film and TV, and wrote reviews and analysis on the Emmys and Oscar races. She is also a member of the Gold Derby experts.