Lindsey Kasabian Named Head Of Casting For Freeform

Denise Petski
·2 min read

Lindsey Kasabian, who most recently led casting efforts at Touchstone Television (aka Fox 21 Television Studios) as Vice President, has been named Senior Vice President of Casting for Freeform. Kasabian replaces Elizabeth Boykewich, who departed the Disney cable network as head of casting and talent earlier this month as part of the regime change at the net last May.

Working closely with Freeform President Tara Duncan, Kasabian will be responsible for identifying and helping to select the acting talent for all ongoing series and pilots at the cable net. The new assignment is effective immediately.

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“Lindsey is a gifted executive who has distinguished herself as someone producers and executives trust, and Tara and I knew she was just the right person to help lead Freeform’s casting going forward,” said Sharon Klein, EVP of Casting, Walt Disney Television, to whom Kasabian will report. “She is a champion of actors and not only finds exactly the person the producers are looking for, she’ll bring in the person producers didn’t even know they were looking for and end up falling in love with on sight, which is the test of a truly creative casting executive.”

Said Kasabian, “I’ve been so impressed with Tara’s vision for Freeform so the chance to be a part of it was incredibly exciting. There is an energy to the network of risk taking and enthusiasm that is palpable and invigorating. I am so grateful to my longtime mentor Sharon Klein for this opportunity and to Tara for inviting me to join her on this ride.”

Kasabian served as the principal casting executive on Showtime’s hit Homeland and was key in securing Mandy Patinkin, Damian Lewis, and Rupert Friend among others for its eight-season run. She also covered Nat Geo’s anthologies Genius (Geoffrey Rush, Antonio Banderas and Cynthia Erivo) and The Hot Zone (Julianna Margulies, Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim). She oversaw the casting of FX’s critically acclaimed Fosse/Verdon, Pose and most recently The Old Man with Jeff Bridges. Recently Kasabian worked on Dopesick for Hulu starring Michael Keaton, Rosario Dawson and Kaitlyn Dever.

Her first collaboration with Freeform was the pilot Single Drunk Female, starring Sofia Black D’Elia and Ally Sheedy, which was just picked up to series.

She’s worked alongside numerous creators including Lena Waithe (The Chi), Howard Gordon (Tyrant), Joel Fields (The Americans), Elwood Reid (Barkskins), Ken Biller (Legends), Glen Mazzara (Damien), Nathaniel Halpern (Tales from the Loop), Hart Hanson (Backstrom), Alex Cunningham (Chance) and Veena Sud (Seven Seconds and The Stranger).

Kasabian started at the former 20th Century Fox Television in the fall of ’06 as an assistant in the casting department.

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