For Immediate Release:
Movie Casting to Be Honored by Houston Film Critics
New award category to join annual awards
HOUSTON, TEXAS (September 23, 2025) — Movie casting – an essential contribution to cinema excellence – will be honored by the Houston Film Critics Society starting with its 19th Annual Awards.
“If writing is the blueprint, casting is the backbone for a film production,” says Travis Leamons, President of the organization. “Casting directors shape how a movie looks and feels, and their eyes are just as important as a filmmaker. In much in the same way Konstantin Stanislavski acknowledged ‘there are no small parts, only small actors,’ casting brings a story to life in selecting not just the principal leads but the background players.”
Movie buffs love to share stories of what casting directors contribute. In the 1980s, for example, casting director Marion Dougherty saw more in the script for Lethal Weapon than an action comedy for two cops. Her choosing Danny Glover for a leading role fundamentally changed the film’s texture and tone. A decade later, Ellen Chenoweth believed John Travolta, in a career slump, and newcomer Samuel L. Jackson would create movie chemistry in Pulp Fiction. In recent years, Sarah Halley Finn ignited the Marvel film series by choosing actors, starting with Robert Downey Jr., as Tony Stark/Iron Man, who could bring depth to one-dimensional comic book characters.
“Casting directors don’t just decide who plays who,” says Lisa Wellington, longtime officer and Board Member of HFCS, “they create memories. We think of Casablanca and Humphrey Bogart, not Ronald Reagan who almost got the part. We think of Jaws and the urgency of Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider. And while Ray Liotta is Henry Hill in Goodfellas, the essential casting choice may be Christopher Serrone as the young Hill in the opening sequences. Our cherished movie memories would not exist without the contributions of casting directors.”
The Society will add the Best Casting category to its annual recognition for the best of film for 2025. Members will vote for nominees in January and select winners later in the month.
“Each year, the Society presents our awards after thoroughly reviewing the year’s films,” continues Leamons. “As professional journalists who believe in the power of film, we love to see where the year has taken us and marvel in the range and substance of this year’s winners.”
The 40 members of the Houston Film Critics Society are working film journalists on television, radio, online and in traditional print. Together, they reach millions of people each week across the United States with their critiques and commentaries on film. The organization’s mission is to promote the advancement and appreciation of film in the Houston community and beyond. For a list of members, visit www.HoustonFilmCritics.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Travis Leamons, President
Houston Film Critics Society
thedvdlounge@yahoo.com