Stewart/Whitley Expands Into Film and TV Casting (EXCLUSIVE)
Click here to read the full article.
Duncan Stewart and Benton Whitley are expanding their New York-based casting office Stewart/Whitley and opening a film and television arm.
Casting director Joey Montenarello will head up this new department. He brings with him nine years of film and TV casting experience, much of which comes from his time spent at Barden/Schnee Casting. His credits include working on the Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight,” the first season of “Jessica Jones” and the pilot episode of “13 Reasons Why.” In addition, Sam Yabrow, formerly of Abrams Artists Agency, is joining as a full-time casting director for the Stewart/Whitley theater department, and Luke Schaffer takes over the reins as casting assistant.
The company recently won the Casting Society of America Artios Award for casting, New York Broadway theater, musical for its work on “Hadestown.” Other shows include “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” “Pippin” and “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.”
Upcoming TV projects for the office include New York/London casting for “Tiny Pretty Things” (Netflix), based on the bestselling young adult novel, and New York casting for “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (NBC), the pilot of which premiered last month. On the film side, the office is collaborating with indie filmmakers like Ash Christian, Clay Liford and Kris Isacsson on new projects slated to shoot this summer, while they also continue to cast “New Americans,” which focuses on a Bhutanese refugee community in Syracuse, N.Y.
“We are thrilled with the new direction that our office is taking and have wanted to break into the film/TV casting arena for quite some time,” said Whitley.
“We’ve been happily casting Broadway and international musicals/plays for the last eight-and-a-half years, and now the timing is right,” Stewart said. “And what’s more, our team is right and ready.”
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
