Meet The Jury
MEET THE CDA CASTING AWARDS JURY
LANA VEENKER
US-based Casting Director Lana Veenker got her start in London in 1999 before moving back to the USA where she set up Cast Iron Studios. She is a member of the Casting Society of America, the Television Academy, and the International Casting Directors Network, for which she serves on the Executive Board. In 2021, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Casting (Drama) for the Netflix series, Trinkets.
NANA BEMPAH
Nana is an award-winning Executive Producer in film and advertising, and founder of Pocc – a community and organisation accelerating equality for ethnically diverse people in the creative industries, through non-traditional ideas, creativity, campaigns and activism. Nana was named Pitch Magazine’s Superwoman 2019, featuring on the front cover, WACL Future Leader 2020 and Campaign Magazine’s Top 10 Trailblazers 2020 creating change in the creative industry. She features as a contributor to the bestseller Millennial Black – a book curated and authored by Sophie Williams which provides a roadmap for young Black Women striving to progress in the workplace in 2021.
NIKKI CHAPMAN
Nikki is Director of Production at FCB Inferno. She has an impeccable track record of delivering exceptional content for brands across multiple disciplines and platforms. She leads all aspects of the agency’s integrated production offering including Fuel Studios, their in-house content offering. She’s been instrumental across numerous multi-award-winning campaigns and her career highlights include this year when her team picked up the Grand Prix at Cannes for the Big Issue. She’s also been instrumental in the agency’s famous ‘This Girl Can’ movement. She sits on the IPA’s PPG committee and is a founding member of FCB’s D&I Belong group. On a personal note, she’s a busy working mum leading a blended family of 6 kids! She also has a love/hate relationship with her with personal training regime that she sticks to religiously!
RANIA ROBINSON
Rania is CEO and Partner of Quiet Storm creative agency & co-director of Create Not Hate, a community company whose aim is to bring diverse young talent into the creative industries. Rania is renowned as an active diversity champion- she is also VP of WACL, an organisation whose purpose is to accelerate gender equality in the advertising and communication industry. Since joining Quiet Storm nine years ago, she has brought a 360° perspective and new energy to the agency, helping extend its service offer and broaden its sector experience.
STEVE DAVIES
Steve is the Chief Executive of the Advertising Producers Association. He is focused on the APA’s main objective of creating the best possible business environment for its members. Steve is also a member of the board of the Advertising Association, Executive Vice President of the CFPE and one of the founders of the World Producers Summit in Cannes.
TIM GALE