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Who discovered Diane Keaton and put her in Annie Hall? Who found Dustin Hoffman and made sure he played Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy? Who saw Jason Schwartzman and made sure Wes Anderson knew about him for Rushmore? Casting Directors, that’s who. 

When the 98th Oscar ceremony airs on March 15, the first Academy Award for Achievement in Casting will be given in nearly 100 years of Academy history. Five films, laden with stars and fascinating new discoveries, are nominated — Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent and Sinners. 

The Kitchen Sisters and four-time Academy Award winner Frances McDormand take us behind the scenes and into the lives and work of this first-ever batch of nominees and into the mysterious and fascinating world of film casting.

The Academy Award Nominees for Achievement in Casting:

Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another

Nina Gold – Hamnet

Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme

Gabriel Domingues – The Secret Agent

Francine Maisler – Sinners

Everyone’s a Casting Director was produced by The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva) in collaboration with Nathan Dalton and Brandi Howell. Mixed by Jim McKee. Hosted by Frances McDormand.

Special thanks to Ellen Lewis, Juliet Taylor, Debra Zane, Kim Taylor-Coleman, Richard Hicks, Cassandra Kulukundis, Jennifer Venditti, Nina Gold, Gabriel Domingues, Francine Maisler, Molly Rose, Bernie Telsey and Allison Jones.

Project interns: Hannah Kaye, Chloe Pullman. Thanks to Katie Mingle and Megan Botel.

Thanks to all the Casting Directors who have inspired and collaborated with The Kitchen Sisters: John Lyons, Ellen Chenoweth, David Rubin & Debra Zane, Vickie Thomas, Laura Rosenthal, Lora Kennedy & Linda Lowy, Amanda Mackey & Cathy Sandrich, Mary Gale Artz & Barbara Cohen, Juel Bestrop & Mary Vernieu, Deborah Aquila, Aleta Chappelle, Heidi Levitt, Jeanne McCarthy, Mindy Marin, Margery Simkin, Carrie Frazier and many more.

Deep thanks to Francis Ford Coppola and Barbet Schroeder, who gave Davia the opportunity to join their casting departments. And to Fred Roos for his mentoring and inspiration. Oh, the people he discovered and nurtured.

Thanks also to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Film at Lincoln Center, The A24 Podcast, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Somos Hollywood podcast, SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Coolidge Corner Theatre, The Hannahcast, Paul Lancour & KQED

Funding for The Kitchen Sisters Present… comes from The National Endowment for the Arts, Every Page Foundation, The Fertel Foundation, The Robert Sillins Family Foundation and Listener Contributions to The Kitchen Sisters Productions.