A casting associate is the casting director's right hand: they go through submissions, schedule and often run auditions, and on many projects they choose the actors for supporting roles. We asked nine casting directors who does what in their offices, and the associate kept coming up as the person who decides whether you reach the casting director at all.
On this page
The casting associate works directly for the casting director (CD), one step above the casting assistant. Kym describes the associate as the person who takes on whatever the CD delegates, which can mean setting up the whole session, casting the supporting roles, or filtering a pile of 2,000 submissions down to a hundred so the CD doesn't have to look at them all.
Casting director Victoria Burrows told us an associate is "technically able to cast": if she and her casting partner were out of town, the associate could step in and do the job. That's the key difference from an assistant, whose work is mostly scheduling and paperwork. For the full office ladder from intern up, see our post on casting office staff positions.
It depends on the office, but the casting directors we asked described a mix of technical and creative work.
Faith Martin summed up the split simply: the assistant is more logistics, the associate is more creative, and may come along to the main meetings with the producer and director.
Often, yes, at least for the first cut. Kym explains that on bigger projects the CD might want to see 50 actors, so the associate and assistant choose the 100 most suitable and the CD picks from those. If the associate doesn't put you in that first pool, the CD never gets the chance to say yes.
On TV the associate may cast whole roles. John Frank Levey hands four or five of an episode's dozen parts to his two long-time associates. In a members' Q&A he went further: it's more important for actors to have a relationship with them than with him, he said.
Quite possibly, and they may be the only one there. Kym says that for supporting roles or an early round, your first audition might be with just the associate and the assistant. Casting director Carmen Aiello listed the associate among the people at a director's callback, alongside the producer, director and casting director.
The associate might also be the one reading with you or running the camera. In John Frank Levey's office, one of his team does the reading in sessions and the other runs the camera, while he plays "the front of the house". So the person reading opposite you may well have a say. Treat them that way.
No. Of the eight casting directors who described their current team, six had at least one associate. Dave Newman said it's mostly him and one colleague, with casual help brought in when the budget allows. Lisa Zambetti once had an associate and an assistant on a long-running series, but since the pandemic she has been working on her own, sending out her own appointments and confirmations.
Titles blur too. Victoria Burrows said some people work as associate and assistant at once, so when you research an office, look at the whole team, not just the name on the door.
Very often, which is Kym's main point: associates move around and move up, so respect everyone in the office.
Casting executive Matt Skrobalak told us he worked up through assistant and associate jobs. At one point two casting directors split a series episode by episode, and he and the other director's associate traded the show every eight or nine days. The two associates later went out on their own as an independent casting team.
Harriet Greenspan was working in production on a TV show when the casting director quit mid-season. The associate took over, and Harriet was moved into casting to help. Michael Testa went from unpaid intern to casting assistant to associate at the same in-house casting department. Daniel Schwab, introduced on SAS as an associate casting director, said he sent his resume to every office in town with no reply, until a friend in casting put in a good word for an opening.
Honestly, slowly, and with a reason to be in touch. CastingAbout founders Blair Hickey and Brian Wold suggest writing to one person rather than blanket-mailing the whole office, and if you're starting out, that person is often the associate. They're building their career too, they said, and are more likely to read their mail.
A casting associate works directly under the casting director, above the casting assistant. They go through submissions, schedule and run sessions, and often cast supporting roles.
The associate is the more senior, creative role and can often cast in their own right. The assistant mostly handles scheduling, paperwork and getting sessions ready.
Often for the first cut. On bigger projects the associate may choose a pool of actors from the submissions, and the casting director picks from that pool.
Casting experts we asked suggested writing to one person in an office, often the associate if you are starting out, and only when you have something real to say.
Often. Several casting directors we asked worked their way up from intern or assistant to associate before running their own offices.
The associate is often the person running the first session you walk into. Your Free Audition Room Guide helps you walk in ready for it.
Kym's free class: the ten steps, in order, from first class to first booking. Free, just pop in your email.
Get the free classKym's free class for actors who've been at it a while and want things moving again. Free, just pop in your email.
Get the free classWant the whole library? Start your 7-day free trial and watch every answer on this page.