She’s a writer, producer, director and Oscar-nominated documentarian, and Ava DuVernay soon will be a Casting Society career honoree.
CSA said today that the Array founder will receive its 2024 Lynn Stalmaster Award for Career Achievement at the 39th annual Artios Awards gala March 7 in Los Angeles.
“Ava DuVernay is a visionary storyteller who has staunchly championed casting professionals and the art of casting throughout her impactful career,” CSA President said Destiny Lilly said. “Her passion for inclusive and progressive casting throughout her career has catapulted careers and made her a leader in the industry.”
DuVernay’s most recent film is Origin, starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, which premiered at Venice and was nominated for the Golden Lion there. Along with the Oscar-nominated 2016 documentary 13th, her big-screen credits also include Selma, Middle of Nowhere and Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, which made her the highest-grossing Black female director in U.S. history.
“In my film Origin, the process of casting became the primary brushstroke on the canvas,” she said in a statement. “Working with my casting director Aisha Coley to surround our leading lady Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor was a joy and a thrill. Each of the actors in the Origin ensemble are stellar in their experience, energy, intellect and enthusiasm. They are the latest in a series of extraordinary casts that I’ve had the great honor of guiding over the years. To be recognized for those efforts by this esteemed organization is a true gift for which I’m abundantly grateful.”
DuVernay’s TV work includes The Queen, Cherish the Day, Naomi, Colin in Black & White, Queen Sugar and When They See Us, which was nominated for 11 Emmys and won two, including one for Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie or Special.
In 2011, DuVernay founded the nonprofit narrative-change collective Array, which won a Peabody Institutional Award. She also sits on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is a VP of the Directors Guild of America and an advisory board member of the American Film Institute.
First held in 1985, the Artios Awards honors casting professionals in more than 20 categories spanning film, scripted and unscripted TV, commercials and theater.