Renowned American casting director Ellen Lewis, with many legendary American films and TV series under her belt, having teamed up with some of the most iconic film directors in the history of cinema such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Jim Jarmusch, will honor the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival with her presence, sharing with the audience the secrets of her craft. The top-notch casting director will deliver a masterclass on Friday November 8th, at Pavlos Zannas theater, titled “The Art and Craft of Casting”. The masterclass will be open to the public, on a first-come-first served basis.
Ellen Lewis’s career kicked off in 1982, initially working alongside the famous casting director Juliet Taylor. In the end of the 1980s, Lewis met Martin Scorsese, with whom she has been closely collaborating for 35 years now, having assumed the casting in some of the greatest moments in his filmography such as Goodfellas, Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence, Casino, Gangs of New York, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street, Silence, The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon et al.
She has also been a steady partner of Jim Jarmusch ever since 1995, having worked in several of his films such as Dead Man, Only Lovers Left Alive, Paterson, whereas she will serve as the casting director also in his upcoming film titled Father, Mother, Sister, Brother. Ellen Lewis has also taken part in many more outstanding films, among which stand out the following: Scent of a Woman, A League of their Own, Forrest Gump, HBO film Angels in America, The Devil Wears Prada, Mamma Mia!, Her, Revolutionary Road, Ready Player One, also having performed co-casting in the series The Queen’s Gambit and the pilot episode of the series The Leftovers.
In the course of her impressive career, Ellen Lewis has won numerous awards and honorary distinctions. Among others, she has snatched three Emmy Awards in a total of six nominations for her work in the TV series Angels in America (co-cast), Boardwalk Empire and The Queen’s Gambit, while she has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award and has been a seven-time Artios Award winner in a total of 22 nominations.
Within the framework of the event, she will make mention of the most important moments in her career, her working alongside distinguished film directors and actors of the American cinema, the unseen aspects and details around the craft of casting, while also discussing the challenges and the future of her profession and the film industry overall.
