Bonnie Gillespie

Bonnie Gillespie, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Georgia. Her thesis, "Broadcasting in the Elementary School," is an ethnographic study of live television news broadcasts developed and produced entirely by students. Bonnie worked as Instructional Technology Coordinator for Athens Academy developing staff enrichment courses in the integration of media and technology in education. As Graduate Advisor to WUOG 90.5fm, Bonnie was named College Radio Advisor of the Year by the National Association of College Broadcasters.

Her pursuit of acting brought her to Los Angeles, where she took on a series of survival jobs as a freelance writer. Clients included "Back Stage West," the Sundance Institute, "Reel Noir," Roxbury Publishing, Hey Anita, and several online publications. Bonnie's first book, "Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews," is a top seller in Los Angeles and is a textbook for collegiate acting programs nationwide. The first edition of "Self-Management for Actors: Getting Down to (Show) Business" outsold "Casting Qs" before it was even published! "SMFA" is now in its third edition and it joins "Casting Qs" as a college textbook across the country. For her third book, Bonnie collaborated with Blake Robbins to create "Acting Qs: Conversations with Working Actors." Her column, "The Actors Voice," has been running each week at showfax.com since 2004.

A frequent guest speaker to groups of actors and filmmakers, Bonnie is founder and producer of the Cricket Feet Casting Actors Showcase and Hollywood Happy Hour. In 2003, Bonnie put her expertise from having interviewed over 200 casting directors to the test and became a casting director herself. She specializes in casting character-driven SAG low-budget indie films and her work has been featured in dozens of film festivals worldwide. Bonnie has twice been named one of Hollywood's top casting directors in Back Stage West's "The Best of Los Angeles" issue. She has been interviewed on "BBC Breakfast," on UTV-Ireland's "Gerry Kelly Goes to Hollywood," and for the E! gossip column "The Answer B!tch." Bonnie has also hosted "Inside Casting" and "The Reel Deal" for Virtual Channel Network—a website run by Breakdown Services and "The Hollywood Reporter." Bonnie lives in Santa Monica with her husband and three cats.

For more information about Bonnie Gillespie, visit cricketfeet.com or contact Seth Nagel and Brett Carducci, Aligned Entertainment, 310.899.9300. (read less)

Bonnie Gillespie, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Georgia. Her thesis, "Broadcasting in the Elementary School," is an ethnographic study of live television news broadcasts developed and produced entirely by students. Bonnie worked as Instructional Technology Coordinator for Athens Academy developing staff enrichment courses in the integration of media and technology in education. As Graduate Advisor to WUOG 90.5fm, Bonnie was named... (read more)