Tipsy Casting

Kaelyn Hutchins began her career in entertainment as a Programming Intern at the Newport Beach Film Festival, where she was promoted to Features Programmer. She then transitioned into talent management, starting as an assistant at Jordan Lee Talent. Building on that foundation, Hutchins spent nearly nine years as a Talent Manager at Principal Entertainment LA, where she developed her expertise in representing a range of talent. After her tenure there, she moved to Strand Entertainment (formerly Silver Lining Entertainment) as a Talent Manager, where she worked for a little over a year and a half, continuing to represent notable clients like Annie Gonzalez (Flamin' Hot), Maya Lynne Robinson (The Unicorn), Kelen Coleman (The Newsroom), and Carolina Moreno (Acapulco). Now, Hutchins has joined Neon Kite as a Talent Manager, bringing her wealth of experience and dedication to the next chapter of her career.

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Jess & Jenn dive into how slow moving the industry is these days and our take on how it's not only affecting actors but also Casting Directors.

That leads us into an interesting discussion about the current Teamster deal that is on the table for casting directors and what they won and where we see more of a need to create a more equal playing field so all casting directors can have a chance to work and gain health insurance.

Then we dive into this amazing 90s nostalgia that is coming over the industry with the resurgence of everyone's favs, Adam Brody and Joshua Jackson.

Lastly we preview what we have in store for the rest of Season 2 of Tipsy Casting along with what you can look forward to with our annual 12 Days of Giveaways in December! If you want your small business to be highlighted during this time please drop us a note to be in consideration!

Cheers!

For the past thirteen years, Brittani Ward has built an impressive career, working on projects of every size. Extensive casting associate work under Emmy-award winners (Barbara Fiorentino, Amber Horn, Danielle Aufiero, Laray Mayfield, and Julie Schubert) includes one season of every Marvel/Netflix series, 50 Shades of Gray Darker and Freed, Death Note, two Jason Statham-led features, and prestigious television pilots and series.

As an independent casting director, Brittani found her niche in high-level casting strategy relative to film financing, which has segued into producing. In 2022, she partnered up with Angie Gaffney to produce feature film Single Car Crashes (which she also wrote and directed; won the 'Best New Vision' jury award at its World Premiere at Cinequest), Desire Lines (won the Special Jury award in the 'Next' section at Sundance), another feature (in post-production), and several proof-of-concept web series and shorts.

Today, Brittani lives with her husband and their daughter in Chicago. Brittani is a fierce proponent of diversity & inclusion, and prides herself on being intuitive, discerning, constructive, and accessible.

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Jess and Jenn dive in with the extremely talented and resilient Producer, Aletha Shepherd. Aletha is the founder of the production company Shot of Tea.

Aletha is a dedicated producer renowned for her inclusive storytelling and stands as the winner of the prestigious Women of The Future Award 2023 for Arts & Culture. Her commitment to crafting compelling narratives extends to amplifying undiscovered voices and talents, nurturing stories that foster diverse and driven teams to create top-tier entertainment experiences.

This year, Aletha delivered her first TEDx talk, titled *‘Why Diverse Creators Are Better for Film,’* (linked below) where she highlighted the critical role of diverse perspectives in shaping the future of cinema. Transitioning to producing after a tenure at United Talent Agency (UTA), where she shadowed leading Directors and Producers, Aletha wrote and produced her acclaimed short film *'Safe Bet,'* honored with the Best Short Short award at the LA Indie Film Festival.

Her debut feature film *'Everything & The Universe,'* a queer Rom-Com featuring talents like EJ Bonilla, Nicolette Pearse, Chelsea Gilligan, and Luke Roberts was recently picked up by Brick Lane Entertainment and is poised to make waves in the film markets. Building on this momentum, Aletha and Jenn are now set to begin shooting her next feature, *'Into the Deep Blue,'* starring India Amarteifio and Damian Hardung.

In this episode we dive into:

• Jess recaps her first Emmy after party experience!
• How Aletha started her career modeling and in pageants and transitioned into acting.
• She talks about her experience moving to LA and what the positives and negatives she faced in her 3 years there
• Moving back to London and re-engaging in the acting scene in the UK.
• Auditioning for LAMDA and RADA
• And ultimately starting her production company and making the bold move to start producing.
• Jenn and Aletha dive into their project "Into The Deep Blue" That they are producing together and what is on the horizon for Aletha and their company!
• Aletha shares her experience of having casting on her side when creating and pitching films and their invaluable input

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Jess dives in on her brief TIFF experience and the incredible time celebrating her film that premiered the first Saturday of the festival. And Jenn dives into her recent revelation and the importance of setting boundaries!

• Jessica's first time at TIFF
• The SKETCH premiere
• Leaving toxic people in your rear view mirror
• The importance of setting boundaries

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