CBS, ABC Pilots Get Casting Directors
Continuing this week's trend of furious hiring by the studios, five CBS pilots and one ABC pilot have picked up casting directors, Back Stage confirmed. More »

Austin Resident Receives Equity's Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award
Connie McMillan, known as the "ultimate theater person" by her friends, was named the recipient of Actors Equity Association's 2012 Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award on Friday. More »

Aquila/Wood Casting Hired for Darabont's 'LA Noir' Pilot
Deborah Aquila and Tricia Wood will be casting the pilot for "LA Noir," a period drama from Frank Darabont for TNT, Back Stage has confirmed. Darabont will write and direct the pilot. More »

CW Pilots 'First Cut,' 'The Selection' Get Casting Directors
Bruce H. Newberg will cast "First Cut," a medical drama from CBS Studios, and Barbara Stordahl and Angela Terry will cast "The Selection," from Warner Bros. Television. More »

5 NBC Pilots Sign Casting Directors
"Mobile" marks Roseanne Barr's return to primetime as the proprietor of a trailer park who is constantly putting out fires (figuratively, for the most part) started by her colorful collection of tenants. More »

Casting Directors Announced for New Pilots from 'Shameless' Show Runner
John Frank Levey and Melanie Burgess will cast the one-hour drama pilot "Bad Girls" for NBC and "Prodigy Bully" for Fox. More »

Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee To Cast 'Empire State'
Mandeville Films' new project "Empire State" will be cast by Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee, Back Stage confirmed with the studio. More »

Dan Shaner and Michael Testa Set to Cast Nick at Nite Project
Nick at Nite's English-language adaptation of Mexican telenovela "Alcanzar una Estrella" will be cast by Dan Shaner and Michael Testa, Back Stage confirmed with Nickelodeon. More »

Rachel Tenner To Cast 'Walter Mitty' Remake
Ben Stiller's remake of 1947's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" will be cast by Rachel Tenner, Back Stage confirmed. Tenner, an L.A.-based casting director, has set up shop in New York to handle the project. More »

Julie Ashton Picks Up Two (More) Pilots
Julie Ashton is having a very busy pilot season. This week she picked up two more pilots, both CBS comedies. More »

AFTRA Sound Recording Agreement Ratified
A similar agreement between the American Federation of Musicians and the labels was ratified two weeks ago, but other music efforts by the two unions aren't faring as well. More »

Angela Meade Given Sills Award by Met Opera
The annual award, which carries a $50,000 prize, was announced Monday. It is given to singers from 25-40. More »

Actor Who Was Mr. Pitt on 'Seinfeld' Dies at 77
Ian Abercrombie, a veteran British stage and screen actor whose TV roles included Elaine's boss Mr. Pitt on "Seinfeld," has died. He was 77. More »

Other 'Beauty and the Beast' Pilot Gets a Casting Director
Every pilot season, there's always a few similar-sounding projects that get set up at different networks, and this year is no different. More »

'Raisin' and 'Springer' Lead LADCC Nominations
The nominees and special award recipients for the 43rd annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, honoring distinguished achievements in L.A. theater during 2011, were announced on Monday. More »

Auditions Announced for Shakespeare in the Park Productions
Casting directors Jordan Thaler and Heidi Griffiths are holding auditions for the upcoming 50th anniversary of The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park series. Equity principal auditions for both shows will be held in February. More »

'Idol' Alum Constantine Maroulis Heading Back to Broadway
A former "American Idol" contestant is heading to Broadway with a character who, it's safe to say, is truly two-faced. More »

Hazanavicius Wins at Directors Guild for 'The Artist'
Hollywood's top filmmakers group presented its feature-film honor Saturday to Michel Hazanavicius for his silent film "The Artist," giving him the inside track for the best-director prize at the Academy Awards. More »

Casting Directors Land CW, CBS Pilots
Pilot season creeps in this petty pace from day to day. A few more casting directors landed projects at the end of last week. More »

‘The Help’ Leads SAG Winners; SAG-AFTRA Merger Plan Announced
On “the only award show where every award goes to an actor,” the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards gave top honors to the ensembles of “The Help,” “Boardwalk Empire,” and “Modern Family." More »

SAG Board of Directors Approves Merger Package With AFTRA
If AFTRA’s board also approves – which is a virtual certainty – ballots will go out to members by the end of February and be due back a month later. More »

AFTRA Board of Directors Approves SAG-AFTRA Merger Package
The AFTRA board of directors Saturday approved a proposed merger with SAG, triggering a membership vote that could unite the unions by the end of March into a single union, to be called SAG-AFTRA. More »

'Welcome Back Kotter's' Epstein, Actor Robert Hegyes, Dies at 60
"Welcome Back Kotter" actor Robert Hegyes, who played Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the television show, has died at 60, the Associated Press reports. More »

Picks Revealed For Free Summer Central Park Plays
The Public Theater will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Shakespeare in the Park series this summer with a little Bard and a little Sondheim. More »

NYC Sets TV Production Record in 2011
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Thursday that television production in New York City hit a record high in 2011. The city was the location for 23 series in the 2011-12 season, compared with just nine a decade ago. More »