One of the most crucial elements in creating commercials is…finding the right actor for the part! NYWIFT takes an agency-eye view of this intricate process with in-house casting directors and creative directors from top advertising agencies. Directors, producers, actors, people with products to market, and anyone who would like to have a clearer understanding of the commercial casting process, please join us for this interesting and informative discussion!
Kimberly Kietz is a VP, Producer, at Grey Advertising. With a range of projects big and small, Kietz is responsible for making it happen. Her day-to-day job can range from discovering the perfect animation company to wrangling celebrity talent. She started her career at Grey right out of college, and after a brief stint at G-Whiz, returned to Grey in 2008. Over the years, she has worked on a range of accounts that included Hasbro, P&G, ConAgra, and GSK. She currently heads up all production on the E*TRADE account, where she just completed her third year of the talking-baby Super Bowl commercials.
Nina Pratt began her career in casting in LA, where she worked on film and TV projects. She has been at Grey Worldwide for 14 years, casting hundreds of voice overs for such clients as Proctor & Gamble, Olive Garden and the famous E*Trade baby. Pratt was the staff casting director at The Ensemble Studio Theater, working with playwrights such as David Mamet. Along with her partner Kim Moarefi, she did the casting for The Exonerated, for which she received a 2003 Artios Award. She recently cast HBO’s Bernard & Doris, and is currently producing a feature with her producing partner, Holt McCallany.
Rachel Reiss is a casting director at Liz Lewis Casting Partners where she casts film, TV, and commercials nationwide. Recently she completed comedy feature film, Wifed Out starring Eve and Marc Maron, and has cast numerous commercials and voiceovers including Publix, Trojan, Time Warner Cable, Coke, AT&T, and Kindle. Rachel cast for TV Networks including Food Network, Bravo, A&E, Spike, and Discovery. She can be found teaching actors and comedians at Actor’s Connection, One on One, Laughing Buddah Comedy Club, CnC Studios, and more.
Nancy Hill (moderator) has served as President and CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's), the national trade association representing the advertising agency business in the US, since 2008. A veteran of agencies on both coasts, she has worked for Lowe New York, BBDO, Goldberg Moser O'Neill (which became Hill Holiday), TBWA\Chiat\Day, and Doner/Baltimore. Her background is steeped in technology experience from work with clients like Cisco, Microsoft, LucasArts, Sybase, Sony and Verizon. Honored as a Woman to Watch by Advertising Age in 2008, she has been named by both the Arthritis Foundation and the Girl Scouts of New York as a Woman of Distinction.
Produced by Jennifer Carpenter and Ylana Kellar
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NYWIFT programs, screenings and events are made possible, in part, by public funds from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York State Legislature.
Last updated: May. 30, 2012 
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