CBS Appoints ABC Studios Executive Claudia Lyon As New Head Of Casting
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Claudia Lyon, who has led casting for ABC Studios for more than a decade, has joined CBS as EVP Talent and Casting. She will oversee all talent and casting operations for CBS Entertainment’s primetime and daytime programming, limited series, alternative programs and specials, reporting to CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl and EVP Entertainment Thom Sherman.
Lyon succeeds CBS’ longtime Head of Casting Peter Golden, who stepped down in early May after his name had became entangled in several controversies surrounding the network in the past couple of years related to its corporate culture and diversity record.
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In addition to CBS, Golden oversaw casting for CBS TV Studios. The studio casting team will now report to CBS TV Studios president David Stapf.
Lyon’s appointment comes after an extensive search during which CBS’ toppers met with a number of experienced TV casting executives — all female.
“Claudia’s tremendous experience, impressive insight and obvious passion for the casting process made us stand up and take notice during this search process,” said Kahl. “She’s highly respected across the industry, and we’re excited to have her join the CBS team.”
Added Sherman, “Claudia has an extraordinary creative perspective and a keen eye for identifying talent, as shown by her impressive résumé. We can’t wait for her to get started.”
During her tenure as VP Talent and Casting, a position she’d held since 2006, Lyon oversaw casting for all ABC Studios and ABC Signature pilots and primetime series including Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, Black-ish, Grown-ish and Criminal Minds.
The casting operations of the combined Disney-Fox TV operations were recently restructured, with longtime 20th Century Fox TV head of casting Sharon Klein named EVP Casting for Disney Television Studios and FX Entertainment.
Prior to her stint as VP, Lyon oversaw the casting of ABC’s Ugly Betty and the Emmy-winning Modern Family among others.
In addition, Lyon was involved in all aspects of ABC casting’s domestic, global and digital initiatives under ABC Discovers, a series of initiatives that identify, develop and mentor talent from around the world. These initiatives included the annual New York and Los Angeles Talent Showcases, the Digital Talent Competition, Latino/Hispanic Outreach, Asian/Pacific Islander Outreach, Global Talent Outreach and Actor Workshop Week.
Prior to joining Disney|ABC Television, Lyon was VP Casting and Talent at The WB Network, where she oversaw the casting of primetime series including Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, One Tree Hill and Supernatural.
Lyon has been honored by the Imagen Foundation honored as one of their Powerful and Influential Latinos in the Entertainment Industry in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2018.
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