Casting Director / Co-Owner, Boston Casting

Lisa Schwartz Lobel was born and raised outside of Boston, and earned a BA from the University of Hartford. She joined Boston Casting in 1995 and proudly holds memberships in both the Casting Society of America (CSA) and the International Casting Directors Network (ICDN). In a remarkable year, Lisa was honored with an Artios Award for Location Casting in Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers" and secured a second nomination for her exceptional work in Cord Jefferson's "American Fiction". Additional acclaim includes previous nominations for the Semiramis Award for Excellence in Casting for her work on the Academy Award winning "Sound of Metal", a film that features an almost entirely deaf cast.

Lisa has served as the local casting director for a diverse range of productions, including the Netflix thriller "I Care a Lot", the feature film "Free Guy", and New Line's 2022 adaptation of Stephen King's "Salem's Lot". Among her recent television casting credits are HBOMax's "Julia", Showtime's "Dexter: New Blood", and the Netflix teen series "The Society”. Beyond her work in casting, Lisa is passionate about sharing her knowledge with aspiring actors and casting professionals nationwide. Her alma mater recognized her contributions by awarding her the Arts and Sciences Alumni Award in 2023. bostoncasting.com

Theatrical Agent, Andrew Wilson Agency

Andrew Wilson, is an entertainment executive and talent agent. He founded the Andrew Wilson Agency LLC in 2014, to the values inspired by Jerry Maguire; “Fewer Clients, Less Commission, More Personal Attention.” Today, AWA represents the most diverse, experienced and professional film, television and commercial actors between New England and New York.

Andrew has developed a reputation as an artist-focused agent, with an ethos of putting people before profits and ensuring that the rights of actors are protected in film. He is a proud franchisee of the Screen Actors Guild, a former jury selection member for several independent film festivals and an advocate for type 1 diabetes research. andrewwilsonagency.com

Executive Director, SAG-AFTRA New England

Jessica Maher is the Executive Director of SAG-AFTRA New England and has been with the union in various roles since 2008 after previously working for AFTRA/SAG Boston in the late 1990s.  Her recent attention has been on contract enforcement, member education, and set safety while guiding the local through the 2023 TV/Theatrical Strike. 

Jessica currently serves as a board member of the Massachusetts Production Coalition and played an important role in the elimination of the sunset of the Massachusetts Film & Television Tax Incentive which passed in the summer of 2021. Prior to her return to the union, Jessica worked for the PBS science series NOVA. She is a graduate of Northeastern University’s Music Business program and lives in Quincy with her husband, Tom, and three sons. sagaftra.org/NE

Actor

Born in Washington, D.C., but raised in Boston, MA since 6 months, David J. Curtis has been blessed to work in television, film and stage since 2004. David is a director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. Some of David’s production credits include directing/writing/producing and starring in the short film, “Love of a Lifetime,” due to make the festival rounds this Summer/Fall, co-directing and producing the short film, “Plus 1s,” written by and starring his good friend, the amazing Liz Eng, acting and producing the award-winning, full-length psychological thriller “By the Water’s Edge,” and many other music videos, promotional and testimonial videos.

A proud SAG-AFTRA member since 2007, some of David’s film and television credits include principal roles in The Holdovers, Dexter: New Blood, Julia, Kevin Can F- - - Himself, Don’t Look Up, Whiskey Floats, R.I.P.D., The Maiden Heist, Edge of Darkness and many more. With many theatre productions under his belt, his most memorable stage credits include “When January Feels like Summer,” “Brokeology,” “A Soldier's Play,” “The Crucible,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and “Mama, I Want to Sing,” David has also been featured in many national and regional television. In addition to acting, David is also an accomplished multiinstrumentalist, composer, music producer, and sound engineer with many credits to his name. davidjcurtis.com IMDB