2020

USA

Born ant, New Jersey, Ms. Simkin attended the University of California, Santa Cruz and graduated with a B.A. in a major that had nothing to do with show business.

After working in the New York City non-profit arts world for a few years, she stumbled – with the assistance of a friend of a friend into film production. Her first job was the obligatory one of office grunt. To this day she remains very grateful for that job as it provided her with invaluable insight into almost every aspect of film production (she read everything she photocopied).

Slight exaggeration (i.e., lying) led to her first casting-related position: trolling NYC schools for children who looked like famous actors for a film. It turned out she had a good eye, which eventually led to an assignment to find non-professionals for the original FAME. More traditional casting work soon followed. She has since cast numerous projects, including such films as BEVERLY HILLS COP, TOP GUN, BRAZIL, FIELD OF DREAMS, TWELVE MONKEYS, IN AND OUT, BOWFINGER, ERIN BROCKOVICH, THE SCORE, FREEDOM WRITERS, MARLEY & ME, AVATAR (and the upcoming sequels) and the TV series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY (she is having trouble getting out of space)

Based now in Los Angeles, Ms. Simkin has had the privilege of working with many great directors including Terry Gilliam, Frank Oz, Danny DeVito, David Frankel and James Cameron.