About Annalise

My casting company, All Media Casting Limited was started in Auckland, New Zealand in 2008. 

I graduated from Victoria University (Wellington) with a double major in English Literature and Film and Drama Studies. At Victoria I was accepted into the Theatre Studies programme which included actor training, script analysis and theatre direction. 

I began my career in London working as a producer's assistant to Paul Bradley at Merchant Ivory Films and then to Lyn Goleby at Moonlight Films. 

On returning to New Zealand I worked in various roles in the film industry mainly in production and assistant directing before I discovered my passion for casting. 

Through my company All Media Casting I have provided a total casting service to both local and international clients. The casting work has included TV commercials, films, streaming series, digital media - social network campaigns, music videos and photographic stills. 

In addition to my work as a casting director, I have written and directed four short films. 

  • From Where I'm Standing - one of only 13 short films selected worldwide for Official Competition at the Venice International Film Festival. Screened at various other international film festivals. Winner of best script, best direction and shared best film at Drifting Clouds Film Festival
  • Shoot the Women - experimental film 
  • The Road Back - Official selection at International Festival of New Film, Split, Croatia, Official selection Mill Valley Festival, US, NZ International Film Festival
  • Black Bitch - Creteil Film des Femmes, Paris, NZ International Film Festival, SBS Australia, 

In March 2020 the New Zealand Covid lockdowns meant my offshore commercial clients could not freely enter New Zealand which effectively halted all offshore filming for TV commercial line productions. This led me to close my casting studio and I began contracting to long running film productions such as Cowboy Bebop (live action series based on the cult classic Anime) for Netflix where production was based in Auckland for over 12 months. 

After the subsequent 4 month Auckland lockdown of late 2021 which again halted all film production, I made the decision to move into another area of work and since early 2022 I have worked at Shopify the global e-commerce platform. 

I currently work at Shopify Plus where I support medium to large businesses worldwide who have websites on the Shopify platform with a broad range of inquiries ranging from highly technical through to product and strategic inquiries. The work is interesting and highly challenging with no two days the same. I love being in a role where I am constantly learning and I've certainly improved my technical skills!