Jessy Alfonso is arvold.’s casting assistant based in Atlanta, GA. Jessy’s background in the industry follows her parents’ trajectory as working actors: her presence (from age 6!) in auditions, agency interviews, and on-set work gives her insight to the casting process, and she knows the ins and outs of running lines, taping auditions, and negotiating callbacks from these formative years. Following her graduation from the University of Montevallo in Alabama in 2012, she turned her internship with People Store Talent Agency into a position as Office Manager, which at times required her skills in the taping room. From there, she was offered the position of a Film & TV Agent where her passion for casting was first catalyzed. Jessy now occasionally casts talent in indie films for friends and others and is very proud to be part of the arvold. team and is excited about applying her experiences and skills to assist in its continued success.

Erica Arvold, owner and CEO of arvold., has spent 32 years as a casting director, educator, speaker, producer, writer, director and an advocate for screen artists. She has contributed to, participated in, or helmed the making of over 150 films, 90 television shows, and countless multimedia & commercial projects. Erica is a 2022 Emmy nominee for location casting of the acclaimed Hulu limited series, Dopesick.

Casting credits include Dopesick, They/Them, The Black Phone, Tell Me Lies, Black Adam, Red Notice, The Game, Freaky, Swagger, The Good Lord Bird, House of Cards, Harriet, Lincoln, Loving, and Turn: Washington’s Spies. Erica directed the short films Thursday and Here Today, which was honored with over 50 awards, including ‘Best First Time Director’ at Indie Short Fest Los Angeles. She has served as a producer on projects including Coming Through the Rye, Elemental, House Hunting, Josephine, Texas Rein, Time Machine Guitar, and Wish You Well. Erica’s early career, with thanks to her mentors, includes films Backdraft, Charlotte’s Web, Gods & Monsters, The Horse Whisperer, In Her Shoes, A League of Their Own, Love Jones, Mad City, Rudy, and Runaway Bride.

Erica has worked with ABC, AMC, Amazon, Apple TV+, Blumhouse, CBS, Disney, Dreamworks, Flynn Picture Co., Focus, Fox, Hallmark, HBO, History, Hulu, Imagine, NatGeo, Netflix, Paramount, Scott Free, Showtime, Sony, SYFY, 20th Television, Universal, USA, and Warner Brothers as well as many independent filmmakers and creatives. She has been nominated for CSA’s Artios Award five times, inducted into First Lady of Virginia’s Opportunity Hall of Fame for contributing to the economic growth in the state, and is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Casting Society of America, and Producers Guild of America.

As an advocate for artists, she has spoken, moderated panels, and mentored filmmakers at Austin Film Festival Screenwriters Conference, Independent Television Festival, Richmond International Film Festival, and Virginia Film Festival, among others.

In 2010, Erica founded arvold.education to cultivate artistic growth in actors and filmmakers, which quickly expanded into Arvold Warner Studio. Her collaboration with master teacher/actor/director Richard Warner focuses not only on actor training but also how artistry can improve life. Erica is often invited into the business world where she translates the methodology of actor training into tools for effective communication, engagement, and leadership.

Erica is grateful to the many filmmakers, actors, and humans who have entrusted her to collaborate over the years. Her company arvold. is based in Charlottesville, VA and Atlanta, GA.

Evan Bergman is an actor, theatre director, and educator. Evan has been an acting instructor at the University of Virginia, Ohio University, University of Kentucky, and Transylvania University. He teaches acting for various studios in Atlanta and founded Actors Room Atlanta where he does private acting coaching and self-taping for actors. Most recently Evan played the french chef, Charles, in the Adult Swim Pilot Lusty Crest which won its comedic category at SXSW 2020. Recent stage credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, Burn This, Big Love, The Merchant of Venice, and Peter and the Starcatcher. Evan trained in the Meisner Approach to acting with renowned master teacher Maggie Flanigan at her two-year conservatory in NYC. He also trained in Viewpoints and Suzuki with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company in their Saratoga Intensive. Evan holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting, awarded by the University of Virginia.

Ted Chapman has served as writer, editor, auditor, designer, technician, engineer, and analyst for many innovative companies over his career. He is excited to help arvold. map out the interdisciplinary convergence of entertainment and education.

Dustin Presley, casting associate, is based in Atlanta and works on various film, television, and commercial projects with arvold. After attending Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of the Performing Arts and graduating from the American Musical & Dramatic Academy in New York, Dustin completed a casting internship with Barden/Schnee (NY) followed by working for Donna DeSeta Casting. Dustin worked on commercials with Binder Casting in New York before relocating to Atlanta, Georgia in 2018. Casting credits include independent films Stuck, Breaking Brooklyn, and Front Cover.

After working in the accounting field for over 25 years in the Tidewater area, Shirley & her husband retired to the beautiful mountains of VA. Now she is busier than ever as our bookkeeper & with several other clients here in the Charlottesville area.

Christian Trew is based in arvold.’s Charlottesville headquarters. She is Erica’s assistant and juggles everything arvold. After being introduced to the company as a summer intern in 2013, she refused to leave. A multi-tasker who is interested in many things, Christian has been an integral part of developing arvold.education’s actor training program as well as meta. She served as casting associate for the third season of AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies as well as the indie feature Permanent. As Erica’s assistant, she helped with location casting for Jeff Nichols’ feature film Loving. Other film credits include Josephine, Coming Through the Rye, Texas Rein, Ithaca and Big Stone Gap. She has worked on searches for series regulars on Netflix’s Stranger Things and a leading role in Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time. Christian worked as production coordinator and location manager on the short film Elemental. She handles office management duties and company events…her specialty is making crowns.

Richard taught acting at the University of Virginia for 30 years where he had the honor of coaching, among many others: Tina Fey, Ben McKenzie (Gotham, The O.C.), Sean Patrick Thomas (Cruel Intentions, Barbershop), Jason George (Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19), Sarah Drew (Grey’s Anatomy, Everwood) and Emily Swallow (Supernatural, The Mentalist). He was awarded the UVa’s Outstanding Teacher Award, the Mayo Distinguished Teaching Professorship and was selected as an inaugural member of the University Academy of Teaching. As an active member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA, Richard studied In New York City with Michael Howard and performed at Manhattan Theatre Club, Chelsea Theatre Center, W.P.A. Theatre and Douglas Fairbanks Theatre. He has acted regionally in over one hundred roles in many prestigious regional theaters. Film credits include: Homer Benson in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln; Dr. Ezra Abbott in Ridley Scott’s Killing Lincoln; Chester Bowles in National Geographic channel’s Killing Kennedy; Vic LeClue in Patriot Son, winner of the 1998 LA Film Fest’s independent short category and selected to show at the Telluride Festival. In 2014 Richard played the lead opposite Grey’s Anatomy’s Sarah Drew in the short film, Waking Marshall Walker. This film was selected for viewing at over 40 film festivals. He created the role of L.P. Everett in the episode, “The 20% Solution” for the television program, Homicide, Life on the Street. As a director, he has staged Hamlet, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Hedda Gabler, Hay Fever, A Raisin in the Sun, Cloud Nine, Fuddy Meers, The Foreigner, A Man for All Seasons, Misalliance, Suddenly Last Summer, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Laramie Project, Lend Me a Tenor, Lost in Yonkers, Driving Miss Daisy, The Last Night of Ballyhoo and True West.