Biography: Jenny O’Haver, Casting Director/Producer • Edit

Before casting, Jenny wrote, produced and directed radio programs and commercials. Notably, she co-owned a ‘boutique’ ad agency that created radio spots for the California Lottery. She was also awarded the Los Angeles Mayoral Certificate of Appreciation for developing educational ad campaigns.

Jenny formally began her casting career assisting on such theatrical projects as the feature film Defending Your Life (dir.: Albert Brooks) and the episodic drama Equal Justice (dir.: Thomas Carter). From there she went on to work in casting pilots and TV series for several years. That experience includes The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Hotel Dicks (pilot starring Don Cheadle) and a stint on-staff at NBC studios in Burbank.

Her first independent job was for director Mark Pellington (dir. Arlington Road) on the music video Beautiful Girl (INXS), which was the title song from the feature film of the same name. Mark wanted to cast an authentic portrayal of women of all ages; a daunting task for even the most experienced CD. With that music video she opened her own casting business, O’Haver + Company; and Mark Pellington was nominated for a Grammy.

Since then, O’Haver + Company has cast both actors and real people for scores of projects including national and international commercials, music videos, voice-overs, print, television and independent films. Some of their television clients include HBO, MTV and AMC. Their indie films have been seen at Sundance and Cannes and their commercial clients read like a Fortune 500 list. Some of the directors they’ve cast for include Bennett Miller, Tarsem Singh, Joe Pytka, Michael Bay, Leslie Dektor, Michael Apted, Melanie Mayron, and many more.

Jenny also writes and develops television and film projects. She has collaborated on a number of ventures as a ‘creative’ producer, getting Co-Producer and Associate Producer credits on projects for AMC and HBO. Jenny has lived, worked and traveled around the world and across the U.S. She speaks Spanish near fluently, French conversationally and a smattering of several other languages. She currently lives in the Berkshires Mountains of Western Massachusetts with her husband Bob and son Ian. The advent of collaboration tools and high speed Internet enable Jenny to cast virtually out of Los Angeles, CA from her home in New England.