Come honor the late Hollywood casting director Dan Velez at the first annual Dan Velez Scholarship Fundraiser. The Dan Velez Scholarship Fund awards three working actors with a $3,000 scholarship, as well as access to mentors and industry professionals to help advance their careers. The Fund started its inaugural year off strong with over 400 submissions, six of which will be invited to attend the celebratory gala and the Dan Velez Scholarship Board Members will announce three winners at the fundraiser. “Dan always fought for the underdog and spent a lot of time helping young struggling actors find their path so we feel this foundation is a great way to keep his legacy alive,” said Velez’s business partner and CEO of Space Station Casting Studios Ben Rovner, in an email. Board members include casting director Mary Vernieu; John Fogelman, co-ceo of FactoryMade Ventures and former executive vice president and board member at Wme; Cris Patwa,...
- 1/28/2016
- backstage.com
Friends and family of the late Hollywood casting director Dan Velez have started a scholarship in his honor to help struggling actors. Velez, who cast for shows such as “Comedy Bang! Bang!,” served as a casting associate for the James Bond film “Quantum of Solace,” and helped found Space Station Casting Studios alongside partner Sherri Henderson, was “a very passionate, intense guy, and often the actors he loved and related to were those [kinds of] actors,” friend and CEO of Space Station Ben Rovner told Backstage. “He’d always talk about how when you meet an actor, you could see their passion and their love for it.” The Dan Velez Scholarship Fund, which will be accepting essay submissions from Aug. 24 through Sept. 28, will provide three working actors with a $3,000 scholarship to help further their careers—whether that be paying for acting classes, vocal lessons, new headshots, or other acting-related expenses. “We’re...
- 8/19/2015
- backstage.com
Dan Velez, who combined a magnetic personality and deep passion for movies to launch a thriving career as a casting director, passed away Oct. 31. He was 30. At the age of 13, Dan left Colombia with his mother, Ana Maria, and younger brother, Alejandro, and settled in Paw Paw, Mich. Dan didn’t speak a word of English, but he quickly conquered the language barrier by devouring American movies and television shows. In Dan’s own words, “If Jean-Claude Van Damme could make it in the United States with an accent, then so can I.” Dan was both a fastidious high school student and immensely popular with his peers. Voted “most likeable” by his senior class, Dan finished with the second-highest grade point average in high school and won a full scholarship to Western Michigan University. But Dan knew his ultimate ambition was to make it in the entertainment industry, so he...
- 11/12/2014
- backstage.com
The owners of Hollywood’s Space Station Casting Studios want to bring their “actor friendly” atmosphere to a new location in West L.A. Ben Rovner and Dan Velez earlier this summer purchased the nearly decade-old casting business of the late casting director Melissa Martin after her husband, Erich Zander, put it on the market. Had a buyer not been found, the building just west of Sawtelle Boulevard would have been gutted and turned into commercial offices, according to Rovner. “We saw the potential here and stepped in and said, ‘Wait,’” he said. “We’re pretty thrilled to be able to step into a made and functioning casting facility.” 310 Casting Studios boasts eight air-conditioned casting suites, two of which are call-back studios with small production rooms attached. There’s also two conference rooms. In addition to the rental spaces, Terry Berland with Berland Casting and the Joseph Pearlman with Pearlman...
- 8/12/2014
- backstage.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.