Nominations Announced for The CDG Casting Awards 2022

The Casting Directors’ Guild are delighted to announce the nominees for the 2022 CDG Casting Awards, in partnership with Spotlight. Now in its fourth year, the CDG Casting awards seeks to reward and celebrate the incredible work achieved by casting teams across Film, Television, Theatre and Commercial. This year, The CDG are also thrilled to welcome Netflix as a brand new category sponsor, a testament to the continued success and demand for limited series.

The categories are as follows:

  • Best Casting in a TV Drama Series
  • Best Casting in a TV Comedy Series
  • Best Casting in an Independent Film (under £3 million) - includes Straight to TV
  • Best Casting in a Film (over £3 million) – includes Straight to TV
  • Best Casting in Regional Theatre (Outside of M25 includes straight Plays & Musicals)
  • Best Casting in Musical Theatre (inside M25)
  • Best Casting in Theatre (inside M25)
  • Best Casting in a Limited or Single Series
  • Best Casting in a Commercial

Last year’s ceremony took place online due to restrictions, with Call My Agent’s Camille Cottin on hosting duty. This year’s ceremony, headline sponsored by EON Productions, will take place on Tuesday 22nd February at the Ham Yard Hotel, with hosts and presenters to be announced in due course. Previous presenters have included Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Richard E. Grant and Russell Tovey.

“We are excited to be bringing together casting directors from across the country to celebrate our fourth annual CDG Awards. Despite another challenging year, our industry has determinedly stepped up and we are thrilled by the scope of work we will be celebrating by such a brilliant, wide range of casting directors. This is evidence that we appreciate the extraordinary work of our peers and we all have been delighted in the welcome escape that so much of this work has brought us. There have been some unforgettable performances both on stage and screen and it is time to come together and cheer on our community who so often are forgotten by the time the reviewers move in! As we head into 2022 we stride forward with optimism that casting directors and their vital input will be further recognised industry-wide.”
Jessica Ronane and Kate Ringsell,  CDG Co-Chairs

The 2022 categories and nominees are:

Best Casting in a TV Drama Series, sponsored by United Agents

  • Adult Material - Shaheen Baig
  • Bridgerton - Kelly Valentine Hendry, Cole Edwards (Associate)
  • The Crown - Robert Sterne, Kate Bone (Associate)
  • Unforgotten - Victor Jenkins,  Seth Mason (Associate)

Best Casting in a TV Comedy Series, sponsored by Hamilton Hodell

  • Alma’s Not Normal - Catherine Willis
  • Motherland (Series 3) - Sarah Crowe
  • Ted Lasso (Season 2) - Theo Park
  • We Are Lady Parts - Aisha Bywaters

Best Casting in an Independent Film (under £3 million)  - includes Straight to TV, sponsored by Independent Talent

  • After Love - Shaheen Baig
  • County Lines - Aisha Bywaters, Ceri Bedingfield (Assistant)
  • Limbo - Dan Jackson
  • Rare Beasts - Shaheen Baig, Jonny Boutwood (Associate)

Best Casting in a Film (over £3 million) – includes Straight to TV

  • Cruella - Lucy Bevan, Emily Brockmann (Associate), Olivia Grant (Assistant)
  • Enola Holmes - Jina Jay, Olivia Brittain (Associate) ,  Verity Naughton (Young Person Search)
  • The Dig - Lucy Bevan,  Olivia Grant (Associate)
  • The Mauritanian -  Nina Gold

Best Casting in Regional Theatre (Outside of M25 includes straight Plays & Musicals)

  • Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Newcastle Theatre Royal - Jill Green, Nicholas Hockaday (Assistant) , Jo Hawes (Children’s Casting Director)
  • Rent, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester - James Pearson and Rosie Pearson
  • South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre - Charlotte Sutton, Verity Naughton (Additional Children’s Casting)
  • The Comedy of Errors, Garden Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company (and tour) - Matthew Dewsbury

Best Casting in Musical Theatre (inside M25)

  • Back to the Future, Adelphi Theatre, David Grindrod
  • Carousel, Regents Park Open Air Theatre, Lucy Casson, James Orange and Jacob Sparrow, Verity Naughton (Children’s Casting Director)
  • Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre, David Grindrod
  • Singing in the Rain, Sadler's Wells , Stuart Burt, Richard Johnston and Jacob Sparrow

 Best Casting in Theatre (inside M25), sponsored by The Partnership Group

  • Constellations, Donmar Warehouse at the Vaudeville Theatre - Anna Cooper   
  • Harm, The Bush  -   Annelie Powell
  • Romeo & Juliet, National Theatre - Alastair Coomer, Bryony Jarvis-Taylor
  • Romeo & Juliet, Regents Park Open Air Theatre - Stuart Burt,  Annelie Powell

Best Casting in a Limited or Single Series, sponsored by Netflix

  • Des - Victor Jenkins,  Seth Mason (Associate)
  • It's a Sin -   Andy Pryor, Ri McDaid-Wren (Associate), Ray Böhm (Assistant)
  • Small Axe  -  Gary Davy, Alex Howes (Associate), Jessica Straker (Assistant)
  • The Queen's Gambit -   Olivia Scott-Webb, Nicola Chisholm (Associate)

Best Casting in a Commercial

  • Amazon 'The Show Must Go On' -  Kharmel Cochrane
  • Cadbury Dairy Milk ‘Bus’  - Michael Cox, Thom Hammond
  • NHS ‘Stay Home Now. We'll Meet Again’  -  Sasha Robertson Casting
  • Sainsburys ‘The Gravy Song'  -  Kharmel Cochrane

The nominated productions premiered between the 1st September 2020 -  31st August 2021 and have been selected by members of the Casting Directors’ Guild, who will now vote for a winner in each category.

About The CDG: The Casting Directors’ Guild is a professional organisation of Casting Directors in the film, television, theatre and commercials communities in the UK and Ireland who have joined together to further their common interests in establishing a recognised standard of professionalism in the industry, enhancing the stature of the profession, providing a free exchange of information and ideas, honouring the achievements of members and standardisation of working practices in the industry. The CDG upholds the highest ethical standards and advocates for the fair treatment of performers in the casting process.

About Spotlight: Spotlight has been connecting performers with roles in theatre, television and film productions since 1927. It’s our role to keep stages and screens filled with talented performers, so we can continue to watch our favourite characters come to life. With studios in London’s West End and a team of people across the world as part of the Talent Systems group, Spotlight is truly at the heart of the industry.