Elizabeth Barnes, CSA

Liz (she/her) is known as a matchmaker of talent who identifies and champions the right actor for each role she casts. With 20+ years of experience across diverse genres, she brings keen discernment and calm perspective to the casting process. Recognized by her peers with four prime-time Emmy nominations and Casting Society Artios nominations, she is most proud of assembling a team of excellent casting professionals with whom she collaborates.

 

Info

LOCATION: Los Angeles

LANGUAGES: English, Chinese (Mandarin), ASL (basic)

GUILD / UNION / ASSOCIATION: The Casting Society of America, Teamsters 399, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences

 

How We Work

The team at Elizabeth Barnes Casting works together to make casting the best part of your production process.

  • We value our relationships with actors, storytellers, talent reps, our production colleagues, and our casting peers. Our office is a safe space for honest, respectful communication.

  • We love outrageous ideas and trying new things in pursuit of creative casting.

    We seek to honor the vision of the writers, producers & directors with whom we choose to collaborate.

    There are no wrong answers. Even the most outrageous ideas may lead us to something brilliant.

    We are open to meeting new actors, holding more auditions, hearing fresh ideas.

    We will fight for ideas we believe in, when the time is right.

    Years of experience allow us to discern when to keep looking vs. when to adjust the specs of a role to fit the available talent.

  • Actors are our creative partners, so we create an environment in which they can do great work.

    We thoughtfully provide material and consider prep time.

    We speak respectfully to and about actors.

  • Every actor we choose to put on screen helps tell a story. We seek the “best actor for the job” while recognizing this may not be the actor with the fanciest resume or the most experience.

    We seek to include more actors from the Global Majority.

    We proactively include and accommodate actors with disabilities and with all body types.

    We are willing to look outside the usual channels (agents/managers) to find and nurture new talent. We recognize there are barriers to entry for many populations, so we may have to dig deeper and help actors navigate the world of production.

    Each member of our casting team has different favorite movies/genres/shows, and attends different live shows. We collaborate and share ideas to widen the talent pool.

  • We make it easy for you to focus on the creative casting work by handling logistics behind-the-scenes. Creative casting decisions must be followed up by appropriate deal-making and scheduling, and occasionally by the lighting of the “casting candle.”

    Our studio and network clients appreciate our attention to every small logistical detail. We save you time and money by drawing on our vast experience with challenging production schedules & huge cast lists.

    You can be assured that the casting pieces of your production puzzle will be in place.