In our November Newsletter, we shared the news that a brand-new Casting Office will soon be opening in Cardiff. HMW Casting is the creation of Hannah Marie Williams, a casting director with 10 years’ worth of experience in the field and a host of credits to her name including major studio features, BAFTA Cymru nominated work and big brands like Facebook. She was recently a 2021 WFTV mentee, being mentored by His Dark Materials and I Hate Suzie casting director, Kahleen Crawford. Having originally starting out in Cardiff, Hannah relocated to London as there was little in the way of casting opportunities in Wales.

However, when she returned to Cardiff during the pandemic last year, she saw the benefits of remote working and the potential there is outside of London. Hannah also got the chance to become involved in some Welsh-made productions and realised just how much talent is currently working in the Welsh Film and Television industry. With so many production companies opening in the last few years, and with huge studios opting to use Wales for filming purposes, there still seemed to be little in the way of a casting community within Wales. Hannah hopes to change this with HMW Casting working alongside Wales made productions, whilst also remaining globally minded as she continues her work across the UK and internationally.

With many credits already attributed to HMW Casting, opening an office Cardiff will help to increase and promote the already thriving industry here. Screen Alliance Wales have recently advertised a role for a casting assistant with Hannah’s firm and we’re so pleased to say that the successful applicant found the position through our vacancies page! We look forward to working alongside HMW Casting in the future and wish them the best of luck with their new Cardiff office in January. A big thank you to Hannah for taking the time out to tell us about her story.

Please visit the HMW Casting website here for all information about the work they do and to find their contact details.