User:Elwendt/sandbox

Barbarella Casting
Barbarella Casting is a casting and production company founded in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2006 by actor, musician, and cinéaste Toulouse Barbarella Pardo Castillo. The company offers actors and models opportunities to work in film, music videos, and commercials, as well as artistic and cultural events in Mexico and the United States.

Toulouse Barbarella Pardo Castillo
Toulouse Barbarella Pardo Castillo, or Barbella Pardo, was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1972, and moved with her family to Tijuana in 1985. She began working as an actor in theater and television at an early age, and was surrounded by the arts as her father, also a cinéaste, worked for the Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT).

Her first work in movies was as an extra for the shooting of Titanic at Baja Studios in Rosarito, Mexico. After several months working as a movie extra she was invited to work assistant Jesús Guerreo and Amy Caton-Ford the casting directors. These experiences in film production inspired her to continue working behind the cameras in film and television. Over the course of the next few years she had the opportunity to work in casting and production on projects at Baja Studios such as Deep Blue Sea, City of Ember, and La Línea, and with acting talents such as Andy García, Esai Morales, and Armand Assante.

In 2006 she was invited to work as a casting director for the multi-Oscar nominated film Babel, for which she was responsible for majority of the cast of extras for scenes filmed in Mexico. During filming in Mexico she also worked as a research assistant for director Alejandro González Iñárritu and actor Gael García Bernal.

Barbarella Casting
In October, 2006, Barbarella launched her own casting agency: Barbarella Casting, and in the period that followed the company worked regularly at Baja Studios on a number of television programs including Charlie’s Angels and on films such as The Expendables, Millennium Plague, Drive By Chronicles 2: Confessions of a Gangster, Drive By Chronicles 3: Ghostown, and Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright.

In 2011, Barbarella Casting was responsible for the casting of extras for the film Little Boy, shot at Baja Studios and surrounding locations, and starring Emily Watson, Michael Rapaport, Sean Astin, Kevin James, David Henrie, and Eduardo Verástegui, among others, and directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde. The film is set to be released sometime in 2012. In addition to acting and modeling opportunities, Barbarella Casting also offers acting and cinema workshops taught by such artists as actor Pascacio Lopez and cinéaste Martin Mayo.

2012 promises to be a busy year for Barbarella Casting, with film projects such as Repeater lined up, which will star Michael Jai White and Dolph Lundgren and be filmed at Baja Studios. The company has other film projects lined up for the coming year, including production and casting work for the romantic comedy Como Va, to be directed by René Bueno and produced by Hispana de Producción, and the film Saber de Ti. Barbarella Casting will also be responsible for the casting and/or production of a number of television commercials, and will produce a series of free concerts in celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the Tijuana Cultural Center.

Television
In 2010, Barbarella Casting was invited to produce programs for TVMex. They produced the pilot program for the television series Misterios, directed by Llorent Barajas and starring Sergio Mayer, Maritza Bustamante, Ana de Fonseca, and Peter Odio. They also produced the pilot program for the television series Primera Plana directed by Rene Bueno and starring Rafael Amaya, Gabriela Vergara, Karina Mora, and Adriana Louvier. Barbarella Casting has assisted in the casting and production of many Spanish language commercials. A short list includes commercials for La Feria del Condado de San Diego, Casa de Empeño Express, Baker’s Bodega, California Fashion Accessories, Tijuana En Positivo, Tiketon, Neighbor’s Supermarket, Festival de la Cerveza en Tijuana, Tequila Agave Artesanal and Restaurante El Agave, Una Campaña para Casino Caliente con Raúl Orvañanos, El Casino Caliente del Hotel Pueblo Amigo, East Lake Cosmetic Surgery, San Diego Implant Center, Casas Urbi, Geo, and Brisas del Mar.

Music
Barbarella’s own experience as a musician has led her to work in the production of music videos and live or televised music programs. Barbarella and her casting company has produced as well as directed music videos for bands such as Siempre, Almalafa, and Kung Fu Monkeys, which have been televised on TeleHit and Univision. They have produced televised concerts for artists as varied as Fidel Nadal, Alejandra Guzman, and Pit Bull, and events such as Bob Marley Day for The World Beat Center, Festiarte, and the Guerra de Chistes.