Master Class: Casting and the ‘Big Picture’ with Dawn Steinberg ’83

Alumna Dawn Steinberg ’83, executive vice president of Worldwide Talent and Casting at Sony Pictures Television Inc., shared insights into her career casting some of television’s most acclaimed series, and answered questions from a packed audience of more than 100 alumni, students, and friends during a Master Class moderated at Emerson College Los Angeles (ELA) on September 9.

The Emerson College Master Classes are a series of facilitated, coordinated, and organized opportunities for accomplished Emerson alums, partners, parents, and friends to share their expertise and experience with students and alums at Emerson Boston, Emerson LA, Kasteel Well, Paris College of Art, and online.

Read: Master Class Series Offers Access to Industry Luminaries

The program piloted in Spring 2025, with classes held by former Trustee Vin Di Bona ’66, current Trustee Max Mutchnick ‘87, both trail blazing television producers.

Steinberg was interviewed by faculty member Amanda Richards ’11, vice president of Worldwide Talent and Casting at Sony Pictures Television Inc., who has worked for Steinberg for more than a decade. The evening kicked off with Steinberg sharing information about growing up in New York City’s Bronx neighborhood and performing in musicals. Emerson College was the only school she applied to.

“The thing that I loved about Emerson is that you can take a variety of classes in different places and you gather people that become your people,” said Steinberg. “It was really a place of finding your community.”

Steinberg’s first foray in casting started when she interned in the casting department at the soap opera The Edge of Night. After graduating Emerson, Steinberg worked a variety of jobs, including an agency, public relations company, and theater bar, hoping to gain experience and become more valuable to her next employer.

Eventually, she landed a job with casting director Deborah Aquila, putting actors on tape for pilot season, which she loved even though it didn’t pay much. That led to a gig in casting at CBS that helped launch her career.

“People notice hard work. People notice when you give it your all,” said Steinberg. “You don’t always get it right, but I really believe in an A for effort.”

Steinberg quickly learned that her strength was as an executive, managing people, seeing the bigger picture, and helping to cast shows. She moved to Los Angeles with her husband, David Gautreaux, because they wanted to start a family. After working a few freelance gigs, she landed a job at a small startup, connecting with a young executive named Jamie Erlicht, who years later would become her boss at Sony. She’s been with the company for 22 years.

During the conversation, Steinberg shared stories about casting some of the audience’s favorite television shows. For Breaking Bad, Sony hesitated casting Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman (they thought he was too good looking), and Steinberg had to fight for him to land the role, which netted the actor three Emmys. She also had to fight to get Joel McHale on the show Community.

“Fighting for other people comes natural to me,” said Steinberg. “That’s part of what makes me good at what I do. When you see the puzzle piece that fits for an actor, fighting to get them that job.”

Other topics covered included casting for streamers like Netflix, discovering young talent, and casting from self-tapes versus in the room.

Steinberg shared that the qualities that have helped her succeed include being able to look at the big picture, reading a room, and humor.

“I know what I don’t know and I’m not afraid to rely on [other] people who know what they know,” said Steinberg. “I’m really good at finding talent… I have the best track record at Sony of assistants becoming executives, which I’m actually really proud of.”

When asked by an audience member about self-tapes when auditioning for roles, Steinberg said she hopes that way of casting changes because it doesn’t allow for building connections in a room.

“It’s hard, and I’m sorry, and I wish on behalf of all casting directors that they were all going back in the room, but they are just not,” said Steinberg. “Coming in a room live and being yourself sometimes really lets a director or a writer see something interesting.”

Anthony Spidell ’26, an actor, attended the event hoping to gain more insight on the casting world and absorb all the information he can.

“My biggest takeaway was to be confident. Know what you want. Know what you know. Don’t be afraid to admit when you don’t know what you know,” said Spidell. 

Kylie Gifis ’26, who wants to be a cinematographer working in social impact film, approached Steinberg after the event to tell her how much her advice about starting a family despite getting resistance from people in the industry—including someone telling her she’d never work again—resonated with her.

“I really appreciated it when she said that for women it’s not mutually exclusive to have a career and family,” said Gifis. “Here in LA there are so many opportunities to meet people and I keep saying that I just want to shake hands while I’m here. I think it’s really awesome and fruitful that Emerson provides these kinds of opportunities to learn and whether or not you do shake that hand, you still are a face in the audience.”