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Spotlight
The Spotlight Prize 2023 finalists on stage clapping after their showcase

Image credit: Joanna Nicole Photography

We’re thrilled to announce this year’s esteemed panel of judges for the Stage and Screen performances at the Spotlight Prize.

It’s once again time for our annual showcase – the Spotlight Prize – which gives drama school and university graduates the chance to demonstrate their talents to a room full of industry professionals. 

It’s the perfect opportunity to stand out to casting professionals or catch the eye of an agent, and this year we have 22 finalists nominated by their drama schools competing for the coveted Stage and Screen prizes.

Our 2024 judging panel adds once again to our past roster of former judges, which include actors Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville, Susan Wokoma, Rosalind Eleazar, Gemma Chan, Rosamund Pike, Hayley Atwell and Paapa Essiedu, and casting directors Nina Gold, Lucy Bevan, Fiona Weir and Shaheen Baig. 

This year, we’re delighted to reveal the following are the judging panel for the Spotlight Prize 2024:

Stage Judges

Our stage judges this year are a range of talented and experienced actors and casting directors. They will watch the Spotlight Prize finalists’ live performances on the night of the showcase and agree on one finalist to award the Best Actor (Stage) prize to. This year’s Stage judges are:

Danny Sapani

Image credit: Klaus Kalde

Danny Sapani is an accomplished and versatile actor whose work spans film, television and theatre. He can currently be seen in Guy Ritchie’s feature The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and was the male lead in Girl earlier this year, which premiered at Sundance and was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. He will next be seen on the big screen in The Amateur opposite Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan and Laurence Fishburne.

Danny is best known for his acclaimed role of ‘Sembene’ in Penny Dreadful, and was a regular in Killing Eve (Season 3). His other screen credits include: Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Trance, The Siege of Jadotville, The Bastard Executioner, Doctor Who, Harlots, Blackout, The Fear and Misfits.

Danny also has an impressive stage career. He has just finished a run of Between Riverside and Crazy, directed by Michael Longhurst at the Hampstead Theatre. Other theatre credits include: King Lear (Almeida), Les Blancs (National Theatre), Home, Medea, Macbeth, Anderson’s English, The Overwhelming, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, Julius Caesar (The Shakespeare Globe), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Wig Out, Big White Fog, Radio Golf, His Dark Materials, To the Green Fields Beyond and The Lion.

Fra Fee

Image credit: Dean Ryan McDaid

Fra Fee is an Irish actor and Royal Academy of Music graduate, well known for his roles across film, television and stage. 

Film credits include: Rebel Moon, The Laureate, Cinderella and Les Misérables. Television credits include: Dalgliesh, Marvel’s Hawkeye, The Spanish Princess and Heart and Soul. Theatre credits include: ‘Emcee’ in Cabaret (Kit Kat Club), Translations (National Theatre), The Ferryman directed by Sam Mendes (West End and Broadway), As You Like It (National Theatre), The Last Five Years (Lyric Belfast), Romeo & Juliet (Gate Theatre Dublin), and Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre). For his role in The Ferryman, Fra won the 2018 WhatsOnStage award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play. 

In 2024, Fra can be seen as ‘Andy’ in Lost Boys and Fairies (BBC).

Harry Blumenau, CDG, CDA

Harry’s current credits include: Your Lie in April (Harold Pinter Theatre), Kinky Boots (Curve Theatre/UK Tour), Why Am I So Single? (Garrick Theatre), Burlesque (Manchester Opera House/Glasgow Theatre Royal) and Babies (The Other Palace).

His theatre credits include: Unbelievable (Criterion Theatre), The SpongeBob Musical (Southbank Centre/UK Tour), Derren Brown’s Showman (Apollo Theatre), My Beautiful Laundrette (Curve Theatre/UK Tour), Death Note (London Palladium/Lyric Theatre), Dirty Dancing (Dominion Theatre/UK Tour), Babies (Lyric Theatre), Treason (London Palladium/Alexandra Palace/UK Tour), Choir of Man (USA Tour), Starcrossed (Wilton’s Music Hall), Blippi (Lyric Theatre), Disruption and On The Ropes (Park Theatre), Cinderella (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Fanny (Watermill Theatre), The Girl on the Train, Once, Private Lives and Million Dollar Quartet (Barn Theatre), Aladdin (Lyric Hammersmith), American Idiot (Arts Theatre/UK Tour), Footloose (Peacock Theatre/UK Tour), Dark Sublime and Silk Road (Trafalgar Studios), Our House (UK Tour), One Man, Two Guvnors (Derby Theatre/Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch), Glory Ride, Soho Cinders, Mythic and The Knowledge (Charing Cross Theatre) and concert productions of Your Lie in April, Wild About You, Chess, Kinky Boots and Treason (Theatre Royal Drury Lane). 

TV credits include: Prince Andrew: The Musical (ensemble casting) and Derren Brown’s Showman. Film credits include: Tomorrow Morning, A Family Affair, Beast/Type/Song and The Hermit.

Jatinder Chera

Jatinder’s theatre credits include: G (Royal Court), The Comeuppance (Almeida), The P Word, Sleepova, A Playlist for the Revolution, The Real Ones (Bush), The Flea, Samuel Takes a Break, Multiple Casualty Incident (Yard) and Sweat (Royal Exchange).

Louisa Harland

Image credit: Wolf Marloh

Louisa is well known for playing the title role of ‘Nell Jackson’ in the Disney+ series Renegade Nell, and the beloved ‘Orla’ in the multi award-winning Derry Girls (Channel 4/Netflix). 

Before training at Mountview, Louisa appeared as a series regular in Love/Hate for RTE alongside Aidan Gillen and Robert Sheehan. Further screen credits include: Channel 5’s The Deceived, Discovery’s Harley and the Davidsons, Woody Harrelson’s feature film Lost in London and Jack Rooke’s award-winning comedy Big Boys. In 2022, the third and final season of Derry Girls aired to wide-spread critical acclaim. 

On stage, Louisa starred in the one-woman show Cotton Fingers with National Theatre Wales, performed in a sell-out run at the Royal Court of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. – a collection of new plays by Caryl Churchill, and starred as ‘Agnes’ in Dancing at Lughnasa at the National Theatre, directed by Josie Rourke. 

Most recently, she starred in David Ireland’s play Ulster American alongside Woody Harrelson and Andy Serkis, and in Long Day’s Journey Into Night in the West End opposite Brian Cox, both directed by Jeremy Herrin. Louisa played a leading role alongside Jack Rowan in the comedy/horror feature film Boys From County Hell and will next be seen in Joy, directed by Ben Taylor, with Bill Nighy and James Norton.

Lucinda Syson

Lucinda Syson started her career in casting after graduating in French and Linguistics. Her training as a casting assistant was under Priscilla John on studio films like Alien 3, City of Joy and Seven Years in Tibet. Her early work as a casting director includes classic films such as The Fifth Element and Snatch. With the support of producer Iain Smith, she had the luck to work with the late Tony Scott on Spygame, which had a huge influence on her career.  

She continued working with incredible directors like Christopher Nolan on Batman Begins, Inception and The Dark Knight, and Alfonso Cuaron on Children of Men and  Wonder Woman. She received an Artios nomination for Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 film Kick-Ass

More recently, she has entered the world of television on series like The Sandman, Foundation and The Diplomat, and just completed casting on the film The Magic Faraway Tree.

Nikki Amuka-Bird

Image credit: Unknown

Nikki is a BAFTA-nominated actress, recognised for her work in BBC’s NW, who’s currently leading the thriller, I, Jack Wright. She recently finished working on Here for Robert Zemeckis, alongside Tom Hanks, and is currently a co-lead alongside Cate Blanchett in the upcoming A24 feature Rumours, which premiered at Cannes in 2024. 

Nikki is the lead in independent thriller Jericho Ridge, as well as M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin. She previously worked with Shyamalan on Universal’s Old. She can be seen in Citadel for Amazon, and returned for the second series of Armando Iannucci’s Avenue 5 as one of the leads, alongside Hugh Laurie, for HBO. 

Further credits include: Persuasion for Netflix, The Outfit, Disney’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, BBC mini-series Gold Digger, The Laundromat, Hard Sun, Quarry for Cinemax/HBO, The Children Act and Jupiter Ascending

Nikki’s extensive stage credits include leading roles at the National Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, RSC and at the Donmar Warehouse in Ibsen’s The Lady From the Sea.

Olissa Rogers, CSA

Olissa Rogers is an Emmy award-winning casting director working on a freelance basis. She began working in the industry back in Germany in 2008. She worked there until 2016, mainly on TV. 

In 2016, she met casting director Jeremy Zimmermann, and went to be casting assistant for him on several films until 2018. She then moved on to become casting assistant to Kharmel Cochrane for commercials and TV/film projects. 

In March 2019, Olissa was approached by Theo Park and was working on big TV projects (e.g. Ted Lasso) as her associate, where she was until October 2019. From November 2019 until February 2020, Olissa was one of the casting associates to Amy Hubbard. Olissa has also worked for Fiona Weir as one of her associates from June 2020 to April 2022.

Rachel Freck, CDG

Rachel Freck is an Emmy Award-winning casting director. Her credits include: The Office (Golden Globes, BAFTAs/RTS), Little Dorrit (Emmy for Outstanding Casting for a mini-series), Howards End (BAFTA nomination), all seasons of W1A and Twenty Twelve (BAFTA/RTS), Richard Curtis’ adaptation of Esio Trot (Int. Emmy), four seasons of Him and Her (BAFTA/RTS), Peter and Wendy (Int. Emmy), Victoria Wood’s Housewife 49 (BAFTA/RTS), Sky Atlantic’s Hunderby (BAFTA/British Comedy Award), Green Wing (BAFTA/RTS) and Peep Show (Seasons 1 and 2) (RTS/BAFTA). 

Her recent television credits include: four seasons of Trying (Apple), Ten Percent (for Amazon/Sundance Now), Mrs Wilson (PBS-BAFTA-nominated), all seasons of Tin Star, Sexy Beast, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Flack

Other notable credits include: Love Nina, Defending the Guilty, the BAFTA-nominated Holy Flying Circus, Grandma’s House, Life in Squares, The Long Walk to Finchley, Casanova, Nativity 1 and 2, Toast, Confetti, BAFTA award-winning The Mark of Cain and Your Christmas or Mine 1 and 2. 

For animation, she has just finished casting That Christmas – a feature adapted from Richard Curtis’ children’s books for Locksmith Animation (Netflix). She also cast the voices for the BAFTA and Oscar award-winning short animation The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.

Verity Naughton, CDG

Verity’s most recent work includes being co-casting director on King & Conqueror (CBS) and doing young person casting on The Hills of California (Sam Mendes, Jez Butterworth). 

Other work includes: UK casting on The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Bal Maiden (NFTS) and Jester (NFTS). As casting associate, credits include: The Beautiful Game (Netflix), The Book of Clarence (Legendary), HALO (Paramount+), All the Old Knives (Amazon), The First Lady (Showtime, Lionsgate), Stephen (Hat Trick, ITV), Riviera (Archery Pictures), Berlin Station (Anonymous Content) and Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix). 

In theatre, Verity has cast projects for the Globe, the Royal Court, Southwark Playhouse, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Almeida Theatre. Having originally specialised in young person casting, Verity has cast children in a wealth of West End shows and on screen, including: Enola Holmes (Netflix), The Pursuit of Love (BBC), Frozen the Musical (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), The Sound of Music (Chichester Festival Theatre), Leopoldstadt (Wyndham’s Theatre), Medea (Soho Palace Theatre), Small Island (National Theatre), The Ferryman (Royal Court and Gielgud Theatre), School of Rock (UK and International Tour) and Beauty & The Beast (UK Tour).

Screen Judges

The Best Actor (Screen) prize was added to the Spotlight Prize in 2016, and since then we’ve always assembled a world class panel of industry experts to watch the finalists’ monologues and choose a winner. This year’s Screen judges are:

Andy Brierley, CDG

Andy set up Andy Brierley Casting in 2010 and The Casting Office in 2017. Credits include projects for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Netflix, Paramount+, NBC/Peacock, HBO Max, Warner Bros, Starz and Paramount Pictures. 

Current and forthcoming projects include: The Undeclared War (Channel 4/Peacock/NBCU), Death Valley (BBC, starring Tim Spall), The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (Warner Bros, starring Brian Cox), This Time Next Year (Blackbox/Signature), Concordia (Intaglio/Beta Film), D-Day: The Unheard Tapes (BBC/Wall To Wall) and his tenth series of Silent Witness (BBC).

Anna Dawson

Anna is a Scotland-based casting director who has worked across film, TV and theatre for over a decade. 

Her credits include: Float (BBC), BAFTA award-winning The Brilliant World of Tom Gates (Sky) and upcoming features Midwinter Break for Film 4 and Lesley Paterson’s Hidden. Series co-cast with Simone Pereira Hind include: The Island (BBC), The Chief (BBC) and the upcoming adaptation of The Railway Children. Theatre credits include: Macbeth for the RSC, Life is a Dream (Wils Wilson), Dracula (Sally Cookson), Macbeth – An Undoing (Zinnie Harris). 

In 2021, Anna co-created and developed a tool with Tagmin, Spotlight’s agency solution, to ensure all actors get an answer on auditions in support of the Equity Yes/No campaign.

Bernard Telsey, CSA

Bernard Telsey, along with his staff, has cast such Broadway shows as Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, The Mother Play, The Notebook, Days of Wine and Roses, Sweeney Todd, Kimberly Akimbo, Parade, Some Like It Hot, Into the Woods, MJ: The Musical, Hamilton, Wicked, Kinky Boots, Hairspray, In the Heights, Rent and more.

Some of Telsey’s film projects include the upcoming Wicked, The Idea of You, The Color Purple, Mean Girls: The Musical, The Little Mermaid, In the Heights, Mary Poppins Returns, The Greatest Showman and Into the Woods

Recent television credits include: Only Murders in the Building, The Gilded Age, And Just Like That and Schmigadoon. Telsey is one of the CoArtistic Directors of MCC Theater, and he was the 2016 recipient of the Casting Society of America’s Hoyt Bowers Award for his contributions to the profession.

Claudia Blunt, CSA

Claudia Blunt Casting was launched in 2020. Claudia’s previous work includes multiple short and feature length film projects, such as ITVX’s The Effects of Lying and Sky’s Bonus Track, which was selected as part of Cannes Great8, premiered at The London Film Festival, and saw her long-listed for the BIFA for Best Casting. 

She has played a key role in casting multiple screen projects for clients, including: HBO, Fox Searchlight, Sky Atlantic, Amazon, Canal+, Netflix, Paramount, Starz, Sony Pictures Television, BBC and Disney+. Claudia serves on the European Board of the Casting Society of America and in 2023 was delighted to be invited to join BAFTA as part of their Connect scheme.

Dan Jackson, CDG

Having seamlessly made the move from being a busy actor into casting in 2006, Dan relocated from London to Glasgow to work with Kahleen Crawford in 2007. Dan gained his first credit as a casting director in 2012. 

Dan is a member of the CDG and is proud to have been nominated for a 2021 CDG Best Casting award for his work on His Dark Materials. He was also nominated for a BIFA and CDG for Best Casting for the feature Limbo.

Other casting credits include: Vigil (Season 1 and 2), Karen Pirie (Season 1 and 2), Timestalker, Prevenge, Daphne, Filth, Annika (Season 1 and 2), For Those in Peril and Dead Shot. 17 years on and Dan and Kahleen are still working together.

Fiona Weir, CDG, CSA

Fiona Weir moved into casting after working in film production. She trained with the renowned casting director Mary Selway, with whom she worked for many years. 

Fiona has cast for many leading film directors, including: Clint Eastwood (J. Edgar, Invictus), Roman Polanski (Ghost Writer, Carnage), Peter Weir (Master and Commander), Rupert Goold (Judy) and David Yates (five Harry Potter films and the three Fantastic Beasts series films). 

Other work includes: Brooklyn for John Crowley, Room for Lenny Abrahamson, Everest for Baltasar Kormakur, Suffragette for Sarah Gavron, Pride for Matthew Warchus, Ammonite for Francis Lee, and The Duke, My Cousin Rachel and Venus for Roger Michell. Her television work includes: We Were the Lucky Ones (presently screening on Hulu), Life After Life for John Crowley and the BBC, and Brassic, written by Daniel Brocklehurst and Joe Gilgun for Sky. 

Fiona is presently working with Ken Branagh on his next film The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde, starring Jodie Comer. We Live in Time for John Crowley, starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, will be released this autumn, and Bad Apples, starring Saoirse Ronan, will be released in 2025. Fiona was nominated for an Emmy for The Girl in the Café, a BIFA for Brooklyn and won the Artios Award for Room.

Makis Gazis, ICDA

Makis Gazis is a native of Athens, Greece. After his film studies at the Stavrakos Film School in Athens and NFTS in London, he began working as a casting director. For over three decades, since 1993, he has developed a keen eye for discovering new talent, and built an extensive resume with international co-productions.

He is a member of the International Casting Directors’ Association (ICDA) and the European Film Academy (EFA). Casting credits include: Moon, 66 Questions, Pari, Smyrna, Adults in the Room, The Lost Daughter (Greece casting), She Loved Blossoms More, Greek Salad (Amazon Prime) and Daisy Jones & The Six (Amazon Prime).

Maureen Hughes, CDG

Maureen is an established casting director in Ireland, working in film, TV and theatre. She began working at the Druid Theatre Company in I984, and then moved to the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1991, where she was Head of Casting. In 1995, she worked as assistant casting director on Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy and then as assistant to Jim Sheridan on The Boxer

Her recent film work includes That They May Face the Rising Sun by Pat Collins and the yetto-be-released Small Things Like These with Cillian Murphy (directed by Tim Mielants). Her TV work includes: Love/Hate, Hidden Assets and Raw. Her theatre work includes The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth, which she is currently casting for Gaiety Theatre (ends 2025).

Olivia Grant, CDG

Olivia Grant is a London-based casting director who started out as a cast PA on film sets from 2013-2015, before making the move into casting. 

She has co-cast the following projects with Lucy Bevan: Masters of the Air (Apple TV+) and What’s Love Got to Do With It? (Studio Canal). Films due for release this year as co-casting director include: Joy (Netflix), Lee (Sky Cinema) and Here (Sony). Projects co-cast with Lucy currently in production include: Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (Universal) and Huntington (A24/Studio Canal). 

Olivia’s associate credits include: Barbie (Warner Bros), The Dig (Netflix) and The Batman (Warner Bros).

Rich Mento, CSA

Rich’s select film and TV/digital casting credits include: Remember Me, Warm Bodies, The Wackness, the Step Up franchise (all five films), Dear John, Safe Haven, Youth in Revolt, Cedar Rapids, Chloe, Sorority Row, No Strings Attached, Take Me Home Tonight, Tracers, Ashes in the Snow, The Mortuary Collection, Blumhouse TV’s horror/comedy series 12 Deadly Days and numerous short films, including Perfect Roast Potatoes, for which he won an Artios Award for Excellence in Casting. 

Slated for release in 2024-2025 is I’m Beginning to See the Light, starring Jack Huston, for luminary European director Konstantin Khudyakov, and two narrative episodic podcast series for Fresh Produce Media and Audible: Bloodhound, starring Elliot Fletcher and Stephen Root, and Summer Breeze, starring Sarah Steele, Mark Consuelos, Zach Gilford and Kelly Ripa. 

He’s cast music videos (including U2’s Song for Someone, starring Woody Harrelson), new media projects for both Electronic Arts and Bad Robot, PSAs and commercials for Park Pictures, and consulted for Universal Films and 343 Industries/Microsoft, as well as for The Park Avenue Armory in New York City on Massive Attack v. Adam Curtis

Rich is a former co-president and now lifetime honorary board member of Casting Society (f.k.a. Casting Society of America).

Sam Stevenson, CDG

Sam is a freelance casting director working in theatre, television and film. She worked in partnership with Gemma Hancock for many years, and in 2010 they were nominated for an Emmy for their work on the BBC miniseries, Emma. 

Her television and film work includes: Don’t Take My Baby, Our World War, Glasgow Girls, Nightshift, Care, The Minor Character, Nixon’s the One, The Selection, Silent Witness, Money, Consuming Passion, Mr Loveday’s Little Outing, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Afghan Dreamers, My Policeman, Treasures Leave to Remain, Private Peaceful, Babel (UK casting), and The New World (casting associate). 

For the National Theatre, she has cast: Tartuffe, Translations, Twelfth Night, Home, I’m Darling, The Great Wave, Common and Blood & Gifts. Further theatre work includes: Love Love Love, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, For Services Rendered, The Royale, One Man, Two Guvnors, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Waiting for Godot, The Vortex, Labour of Love and 55 Days.

Sharon Bialy, CSA

Sharon Bialy is an award-winning casting director for television, film and theatre. Her recent television credits include: Julia, Barry, Sugar, Parish, The Handmaid’s Tale, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, The Act, The Walking Dead, Invasion, Perry Mason, Dead to Me, The Society and The Comey Movie

Her past favourite films include: Drugstore Cowboy, Point Break, Rudy, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Reign O’er Me and Red Belt, and her past favourite television credits include: Phil Spector, The Unit, Jericho, Mind of the Married Man and Picket Fences

Sharon’s love for theatre has been a recurring theme throughout her career, including 15 years with Des McAnuff at the La Jolla Playhouse, and various productions at Lincoln Center, The Old Globe, South Coast Rep and The Guthrie. 

On Broadway, she cast: The Anarchist, Jersey Boys, Race and The Farnsworth Invention. She is a former board member of the Casting Society of America, with 36 Artios nominations to her name. She received her first Emmy nomination for Breaking Bad‘s final season and has been nominated nine times. 

Sharon was the recipient of the 2011 Media Access Award for her commitment to casting actors with disabilities. Her book ‘How To Audition on Camera’ was published to wide acclaim. She has partnered with Sherry Thomas at Bialy/Thomas & Associates for the past 25 years.

The Spotlight Prize 2024 will take place on Wednesday 17 July 2024 in central London. 

Find out more about the history of the Spotlight Prize and our past winners and finalists.