Barbara
Giordani

Barbara Giordani was born in Bologna, where she graduated in Ancient History from the Alma Mater (University of Bologna). She lives and works in Rome.

She is a member of the Unione Italiana Casting Directors (UICD), the International Casting Directors Association (ICDA), the Casting Society of America (CSA), the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the European Film Academy (EFA).

Since 1997, she has worked as a Casting Director for film and television, both on Italian productions and on international co-productions.

In 2023, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting in a Drama Series for ‘The White Lotus’.

In 2022, she was nominated for an ARTIOS AWARD for the casting of ‘Fargo’ (Season 4).

In 2020, she was nominated for a BAFTA for the casting of The Two Popes (directed by Fernando Meirelles).

Nominated for a Nastro d’Argento on several occasions, in 2016 she won the Nastro d’Argento Special Mention ‘Cast of the Year’ for ‘Perfect Strangers’ (directed by Paolo Genovese).

She has worked with directors including Edward Berger (Conclave), Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer 3), Steve Zaillian (Ripley), Mike White (The White Lotus, Season 2), Danny Boyle (Trust), George Clooney (Catch-22), Paolo Genovese, Rolando Ravello, Giovanni Albanese, Massimiliano Bruno, Volfango De Biasi, Gabriele Muccino, Vincenzo Marra, Alberto Negrin, Carlo Vanzina and Rolando Colla.

THE CASTING DIRECTOR’S JOB

The casting director is the ‘actor expert’.

What goes into making a film?
A film is a culmination; it is the result of a multitude of creative actions that must come together like a symphony, and the work of the Casting Director is one of these actions.
There are no schools where you can learn the craft of the Casting Director; what is needed is a personal aptitude and a passion for ‘talent’; a knowledge of theatre and cinema; and the ability to identify and discern, where others do not, the famous ‘X Factor’.

• A brief history of the origins of the casting director profession.
• Differences and/or similarities between the profession in Italy and the profession in other countries (both European and non-European).
• How to become a Casting Director.
• What a Casting Director does. From reading the script to auditions for specific roles.
• Relationships with the director and the production team: the Casting Director must possess both production skills and knowledge and artistic skills and sensitivity.
• Relations with actors’ agencies.
• A Casting Director must always keep up to date, both with the Italian scene and with the international scene.
• Casting director associations in Italy and abroad. Relationships, similarities and differences.

The series of lectures will also include a number of practical exercises:

• Reading a screenplay
• Character analysis and preparation of the cast list
• Sample emails for actors’ agencies
• Identifying potential candidates on the websites of the major actors’ representation agencies
• Selection of scenes for auditions and preparation of excerpts
• Sample emails for inviting actors to auditions
• Examples of presenting the cast to the director and producer.

Brief essential reading list:
First of all, a note: to become a Casting Director, the best ‘textbook’ is to go to the cinema, watch Italian and foreign TV series, go to the theatre – in short, to be an omnivorous viewer.
Having said that, there are a couple of books that anyone who loves cinema should read:

• ‘PANE E CINEMA’ – Luciano Vincenzoni – ed. GREMESE Ed.
• “Hitchcock on Film” François Truffaut – IL SAGGIATORE Publishers