Diane Heery, CSA and Jason Loftus, CSA are casting directors, each with over 25 years of experience. They are recipients of an Artios Award from the Casting Society of America for their casting work on “Silver Linings Playbook” and received Primetime EMMY nominations for the casting of USA Network’s “Political Animals.” They were also Artios Award nominees for casting the film “Split,” and ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.” Since joining together to form Heery Loftus Casting, the pair have cast principal actors in numerous independent and studio features, including “Concrete Cowboy,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Wetlands,” and “Army of the Dead.” Television credits include AMC’s “Dispatches from Elsewhere” and HBO’s “Mare of Easttown,” for which they received an Emmy nomination in 2021 for Outstanding Casting in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Residents of South Jersey, Diane and Jason cover a lot of ground, servicing clients in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Los Angeles while working on studio features, independents, television series, and commercials. “Regardless of the assignment, producers and directors understand the value of having experienced casting directors on their project because the right talent can raise the quality of the production,” explains Heery.

“South Jersey has many advantages, most importantly the tax incentive program. We have so many unique locations that have never been seen on film. South Jersey can offer inner city, farmland, suburbia, industrial sites, beaches, casinos, woodlands and more. As far as the talent pool, more and more people are moving down here, adding to the quality and diversity in the region. Add that to the tax credit and South Jersey becomes highly competitive with the other states. What we are seeing as a result of more work is the interest in building sound stages, which means studios are looking to make long term commitments to New Jersey,” continues Heery.

As far as challenging projects, Diane points to “Army of the Dead” in Atlantic City. “We needed a lot of extras to portray zombies in various stages of “un-deadness.” We put out the call throughout the area and got some great people who may never have considered being part of a film before!”

At the moment, Heery Loftus is busy prepping for a Netflix project set for late summer, and an indie feature planning to shoot in the fall – both in South Jersey. They also are proud of their new “Casting Access Portal” for actors, which is an interactive, no-cost-to-the-actors database. The system holds 20,000 talent profiles and includes all types of people, allowing clients to match their needs and keep talent informed with up to the minute messages.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out their website: www.castinghl.com
or reach out to them directly: diane@castinghl.com & jason@castinghl.com

Diane Heery, CSA
Jason Loftus, CSA
Heery Loftus Casting, Inc.
427 Grove Ave
West Deptford, NJ 08086

You can find hundreds of New Jersey-based companies to make your next project a success in the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission’s Production Services Directory: https://www.nj.gov/njfilm/production-psd.shtml

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