Shakyra Dowling

Creator Context

Summary

Shakyra Dowling is a London-based casting director whose career followed training as an actor, theatre production work and the creation of an all-female theatre company that developed new female writers with all-female casts. She has cast British independent films, European co-productions, television, commercials and international projects including Un Traductor, No Fathers in Kashmir, Nocturnal, Wolf, Tigers, Sardar Udham and The Buckingham Murders, earning nominations from the Casting Directors Association and Casting Society of America. Dowling is a founder board member of the Casting Directors Association and has repeatedly been described by her company and industry organizations as a champion of emerging, diverse and underrepresented talent. She has spoken against insensitive casting practices involving questions about pregnancy, age, religion and sexuality, and is an explicit advocate for diversity in casting and women’s achievements in filmmaking. Her public profile is representation-oriented within the profession, though there is no strong evidence of a broader partisan or activist political persona.