TFA Visiting Artist Series presents
ON CASTING: FINDING THE RIGHT ACTORS
Panel discussion with Emmy award winning writer/producer and Buffalo State alumni, Tom Fontana and TV Network casting executive, Rosalie Joseph Moderated by TFA associate professor, Jeffrey Hirschberg this Thursday, September 28th, 3pm, Ciminelli Recital Hall in Rockwell Hall at Buffalo State University
Sponsored by the Television and Film Arts program and the Theater Department
Emmy award winning writer/producer and Buffalo State alumni, Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana has written and produced such groundbreaking television series as St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life On The Street, Oz, City On A Hill, and Netflix’s Borgia. Fontana wrote the HBO film Strip Search, directed by Sidney Lumet, as well as contributed two pieces to the September 11th special America: A Tribute to Heroes. His new series, Monsieur Spade will premiere on AMC/Canal+ in 2024. He has received, among others, three Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, three Writers’ Guild Awards, four Television Critics Association Awards, the Cable Ace Award, the Humanitas Prize, a Special Edgar and the first prize at Geneva’s Cinema Tout Ecran Festival.
He was executive producer of American Tragedy for CBS, The Killing Fields for Discovery, Shot in the Heart, Paterno, You Don’t Know Jack, and Wizard of Lies for HBO. He also produced the documentary The Press Secretary for PBS and the independent films, Jean, In Good Conscience and Anytown USA. Fontana has written articles for such periodicals as The New York Times, TV Guide and Esquire and has taught at Columbia, Syracuse, Rutgers and the State University College at Buffalo, his alma mater, from which he received the Distinguished Alumni Award and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters.
He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Producers Guild of America, the Friars Club, the Players Club, the Writers Guild of America, East, from which he received the Evelyn F. Burkey Award, the Richard B. Jablow Award and the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement. Fontana co-founded the charitable organization Stockings with Care and serves on the boards of the American Theatre Wing, the Paley Center for Media’s International Council, The Writers Guild Initiative and the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Fontana has had numerous plays produced in New York, where he lives, as well as at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the
Park, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the McCarter Theatre Company, the Berkshire Playwrights Lab and here in Buffalo, at the Studio Arena Theatre.
TV Network casting executive, Rosalie Joseph
Rosalie Joseph spent much of her over 4-decade Casting Career as a TV Network Casting executive. She served as Vice President of Casting for ABC and Senior Casting Executive at CBS. In between her time at the networks, she was an independent Casting Director and cast pilots and series as well as theater and film. Rosalie served on the Casting Society of America’s Board for 2 decades and presently serves on the Board of Casting Society Cares. In 2019, the Casting Society of America created the Rosalie Joseph Humanitarian Award to honor her philanthropic work both inside and outside the entertainment industry. The first award, presented to Rosalie at the CSA Artios Awards, will be presented annually to a Casting Director or Associate who actively works in philanthropic and humanitarian causes.
Buffalo State University is located at 1300 Elmwood Avenue, NY 14222.