Join us for a conversation with Kim Williams, experienced casting director, and Jamal Dedeaux, writer/director. Kim recently served as Vice President of Casting at Disney Television Studios until 2023, and has years of casting experience. They will discuss their experience in the industry, particularly when it comes to their recent film The Late Night Creep, with emphasis on casting and how the casting process works in independent film and the rest of the industry. They will also highlight advice they have for emerging filmmakers when casting their own projects.
Kim Williams
NFMLA Board
Jamal Dedeaux
Writer/Director
About Kim Williams:
Kim most recently served as Vice President, Casting at Disney Television Studios, a post she held from October 2019 – April 2023. Kim served as casting director for season 4 the critically acclaimed series Genius, this iteration called Genius: MLK/AND highlighting lives of the leaders of the civil rights movement Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. She cast the lead in Lee Daniels’ upcoming limited series for Hulu, Sammy Davis Jr. She also cast the teen leads Disney+ series The Crossover as well as the pilot and first season of Freeform’s hit series Single Drunk Female. She oversaw the casting for Onyx’s new series Deli Boys, Lee Daniels’ The Spook Who Sat by the Door for FX, Showtime’sThe Chi. She was instrumental in shaping the casts and overseeing and the FX series The Old Man starring Jeff Bridges and the Emmy-nominated season 3 Genius: Aretha. Kim joined ABC as director of casting in early 2019, working on projects for the network, Disney+ and ABC Studios, including the critically acclaimed For Life. Kim is passionate about diversity, belonging, inclusion and equity and was actively involved in several projects and initiatives across The Walt Disney Company.
As an independent casting director, Kim worked on Greg Berlanti’s All American, Narcos, The Bernie Mac Show and Martin, and several Tyler Perry movies and series including Diary of a Mad Black Woman and feature films including My Little One and Payment Received. Williams worked on The HBO Access Project, allowing her to guide casting while mentoring creative minds from diverse backgrounds over eight projects. Previously, at Paramount Pictures and Television, Williams oversaw the casting for Annihilation, Looking for Alaska, Jack Reacher: Never Look Back, Baywatch starring Zac Efron and Dwayne Johnson, Shooter, The Alienist and Grease: Live! While at Fox, Williams served as director of casting on shows including Prison Break, Glee, and Sarah Conner Chronicles. Prior to that, Williams spent close to a decade at HBO as a director of casting.
Danny De Lillo
NFMLA Board Chair
About the moderator:
Danny is an NFMLA Alumni that’s journey with the organization has spanned over a decade. Serving on the board of NFMLA is one of Danny’s greatest life passions. Supporting the organization’s mission to celebrate local and global storytellers and the dedication for all voices to be heard as well as building the NFMLA family worldwide.
He is Founder and CEO of Sweet Humans, a production company dedicated to nurturing voices, creating safe spaces and building filmmaking families for humble humans.
As part of the LGBTQ+ community, he produces content in this area for festivals, public speaking, serves on juries and committees, passionately making a conscious effort to support gender equality and diversity in his roles in entertainment.
He also is a founding board member of Cures of Colors which embarks important conversations aiming at a younger audience through the art of coloring. If you have any questions related to NFMLA or beyond you can email him at chair@nfmla.org or on Instagram/X @dannydelillo.
IMPORTANT DETAILS:
This panel will take place virtually over ZOOM. Ticket purchasers will receive a ZOOM link to this panel 2 hours before the published start time. If you don’t already have the ZOOM app, please make sure to download on your device before the panel start time.
If you purchase an All-Access Pass for our April Festival events prior to the date of this panel, you will also receive admission to this virtual panel, included as part of your pass.
If you are a current Annual Member of NFMLA, please email info@nfmla.org to receive a complimentary ticket to this panel. If you are not an Annual Member of NFMLA and would like to join, you can become a member here.
