LINA TODD has worked extensively on more than forty feature films as a casting director and producer both within the United States and throughout Europe. She just completed casting for director Peter Weir’s (six-time Academy Award nominee) new movie The Way Back, in Europe and the US, with an international cast starring Colin Farrell and Ed Harris. She will also be casting in Europe and the US for Amy Redford’s film Face Value written by Jose Rivera and produced by Marco Mehlitz, Bob Berney and Rose Ganguzza. She works out of New York, Los Angeles, London and Berlin. She is represented by Jack Whigham at CAA.
Upon receiving a Masters in Directing from Columbia University Lina became involved in the downtown New York theatre scene as an actress and director. She began casting under the esteemed Howard Feuer. This mentorship led to her first film as casting director on Jodie Foster’s Little Man Tate. Always drawn to actor driven material, Lina made her mark casting for the former Shooting Gallery, New York’s preeminent independent film company. Shooting Gallery credits include the Oscar nominated, Sundance winner, You Can Count on Me, starring Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo. Lina later served as the Sh ooting Gallery’s Vice President of Creative and Talent.
Lina with Director Peter Weir
As an independent casting director, she has cast such notable films as Nicholas Nickleby (MGM/UA), which was nominated for a Golden Globe and awarded the Best Ensemble Cast by the National Board of Review; and the BAFTA-nominated Me Without You, starring Michelle Williams. Recent casting projects include Jennifer Lynch’s Surveillance (Producers David Lynch and L ago Film) featuring Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2008 and will be released theatrically this spring; Life is Hot in Cracktown (director, Buddy Giovinazzo) with an ensemble cast including Kerry Washington, Shannyn Sossamon, Brandon Routh, and Lara Flynn Boyle which opens this summer; and Don’t Look Up, by the renowned Hong Kong writer/director, Fruit Chan for Distant Horizon Pictures. Lina recently completed additional casting for Hitman (Twentieth Century Fox and Luc Besson), as well as the New York casting for Dragonball, another Twentieth Century Fox production. Currently she is also casting, Evie’s Apple for E’topia films, which will star Olga Kurylenko who she discovered while casting Hitman and went on to great success as the new Bond Girl. Also coming up is Kite for Distant Horizons Productions based on a Japanimation film to be directed by Javier and Jorge Aguilera. Lina co-produced Day on Fire, by writer/director Jay Anania, starring Olympia Dukakis and Martin Donovan. The film premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival and the Berlinale. She has started a column for JOY magazine on exciting new talent. The first article will be a conversation with Oscar nominated actor, Michael Shannon.
Lina is the creator and program director of RISING STARS, the breakthrough performer showcase of the Hamptons International Film Festival. Now in its seventh year, the Rising Stars Program has become immensely popular with both industry and audiences, remaining unique among US film festivals for its international flavor. Mentors such as the legendary Gina Rowlands, Alec Baldwin, Joan Allen, Miranda Richardson, Ellen Burstyn, Vanessa Redgrave, Frances McDormand and the late Robert Altman have presided over young talent including the Golden Globe winner, Emily Blunt. Lina has played a key role in establishing a relationship between the Hamptons and the Berlin International Film Festival. This year Lina formed an initiative with European Film Promotion to bring some of the Berlinale’s SHOOTING STARS to the Hamptons. For the last eight years she has been the US mentor for European Film Promotion’s SHOOTING STARS PROGRAM. As a result Lina has developed close relationships with European talent, agents and casting directors. She is a founding member of the INTERNATIONAL CASTING NETWORK and a member of THE CASTING SOCIETY OF AMERICA.