Disney Television Studios Sets Execs To Head Casting At 20th TV, ABC Studios & Fox 21

Patrick Hipes

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Disney Television Studios has finalized the leadership structure in its labels’ casting divisions, with SVP Stephanie Levinson promoted to head 20th Century Fox Television’s team, VP Jonathan Bluman to run ABC Studios’ division, and Lindsey Kasabian to oversee for Fox 21 Television Studios.

The trio, who will lead casting efforts of all series and pilots at their respective companies, will report to Sharon Klein, EVP Casting for Disney Television Studios and FX Entertainment. FX EVP Michael Katcher also reports to Klein.

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“With the volume of programming we are producing and as my responsibilities have expanded, it became clear that we needed seasoned casting executives leading our efforts at each studio,” Klein said. “Stephanie was the first person I thought of to take on a leadership role in this new casting structure. She’s a fantastic executive with superb taste, poise and judgement and has earned the respect and admiration of everyone from showrunners to agents to executives.

Levinson has been 20th TV’s primary casting executive on series including NBC’s This Is Us, ABC’s Modern Family and Ryan Murphy’s The People v. O.J. Simpson and The Assassination of Gianni
Versace for FX; she helped bring aboard Sterling K. Brown to This Is Us after seeing dailies of his performance as Christopher Darden in People v O.J.

Bluman, previously a talent agent at Paradigm and then Endeavor/WME, most recently served as VP Talent & Casting in the ABC Entertainment/ABC Studios casting department, where he worked on series like ABC’s The Rookie, Hulu’s Dollface and Amazon’s The Wilds.

Said Klein: “I’ve known Jonathan since his days in New York as an agent, and he brings a lot of the skills from his former career to this role, from deal making to talent relations. He has done great work for ABC for the past three years for both network and studio, so he was the perfect choice for this new studio role.”

At Fox 21 TV Studios, Kasabian has served as the principal casting exec on Showtime’s Homeland and helped land Rupert Friend for the series. She also covers Nat Geo’s Genius, which recently cast Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin, as well as FX’s Emmy-winning Fosse/Verdon and Pose. She’s now working on FX’s The Old Man with Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow and Amy Brenneman.

“Lindsey is another protégé of mine who has been the point person for Fox 21 for several years and was more than ready for this additional responsibility,” Klein said. “She commands respect and has a great eye for not just marquis talent but for the actor coming up who is poised to break out.”

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