CriterionCast

Criterion Now – Episode 73 – A Conversation with Risa Bramon Garcia

Jordan Essoe joins Aaron as they interview legendary casting director & filmmaker Risa Bramon Garcia. Risa has spent decades working as a casting director with credits including some of the best films of the 80s and 90s, and she has worked with some of the top directors in the industry. She currently casts mostly for television and she runs an acting studio. Jordan, who is a friend of the show, had taken one of her classes and gives us some interesting anecdotes. We talk a lot about the nature of casting, her part in the position and how the performers can make her proud. We talk at length about the acting studio and how to get people performing outside of their comfort zone, and we also talk about her 1999 feature 200 Cigarettes, which featured a who’s who of actors from the time.

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Episode Credits


Music for the show is from Fatboy Roberts’ Geek Remixed project.

Aaron West

I am a somewhat educated Criterion dork, with a History and Film Studies bachelor's degree and plenty of self-education over the years. My tastes are all over the map. Probably my favorite is 1930s French Poetic Realism, but I like everything from noir, to animation, to horror, westerns, and modern film. Usually I prefer film that challenges and requires something of the viewer.