Meet Manuela Romero: Casting, Community, & the Art of Finding the Right Story

Manuela Romero, Casting Director & MediaMKRS Alum

Reel Works sat down with Manuela Romero, a MediaMKRS alum and casting director, for an exclusive interview. Together, we discussed the ins and outs of her casting process, her creative projects, and aspirations.

For Romero, good casting isn't about finding someone who can perform a character. It's about finding someone you believe already exists inside that character.

“You just have to believe them,” she explains. The first part of the casting process is determining whether or not the actor is grounded and rooted in the role. A good audition is not when an actor gets lost in the scene; it is when they convince the audience that the character was already inside them. As a former theater kid, Romero looks for the way actors occupy a space, move their body, or interact with the people around them. That theater background shapes what she looks for, even on Zoom. But don’t get it twisted: an acting background isn’t necessary to be a good casting director– having an appreciation and general love of acting will suffice.

Still from: King of Games (Dir. Tyler Cino Maradiaga)

But finding the right person for a role starts long before an audition. Romero sees casting as a process of understanding. She spends time researching characters and having conversations with directors and writers to understand what they are really looking for beyond a character description on the page. When casting for Everything There Is To Know About Me (Dir. Yael Grunseit), where Judaism was an important part of the lead character’s upbringing, for example, Manuela worked closely with the director to understand deeply what kind of representation or misrepresentations they wanted to lean into or away from.

Much of Romero’s skills were developed during her time in the Casting Training Workshop at Reel Works. Here, she learned the administrative aspect of casting in addition to organization and archiving. Learning from casting professionals who care about their students and actors was a joy, she says, and having mentors who love connecting the right person to the right project is incredibly important.

Today, Romero’s notebook remains an essential part of her creative practice; a running record of ideas, plans, and observations from auditions. Organization is more than a skill to list on a résumé; it is a habit that is woven into the rhythm of her everyday life. It brings structure to her creative process, allowing her to move through each project with ease and intention.

At the heart of Manuela Romero’s work is something that can’t be manufactured: community. She’s deeply rooted in the people, artists, and creative spaces around her. That sense of connection is woven into everything she does. She has spent years, starting in her early twenties, building relationships in the industry that last longer than just the duration of the project. These friendships are at the core of her work, bringing a sense of trust and connection to the films they create together. Romero has known Yael Grunseit, the director of Daddy’s Little Meatball, since graduate school. Together, they attended multiple writing and production classes, giving them the ability to witness each other's journeys and growth. Because of this, Romero knows what interests Grunseit, how she idealizes, and how she develops and creates characters. She notes that this was especially helpful years later, when she began the casting process for Daddy’s Little Meatball. Grunseit and Romero trust each other, one of the reasons Romero attributes to the success of the project. “Having close and personal relationships with the people you work with can really enhance the project,” Romero says. “It can be easier, because you trust each other. And we think our collective ethos of filmmaking is of value.”

One of Romero’s most significant projects to date is also preparing to open its doors to the public this fall. Three years ago, she began working with a good friend of hers, Karma Masselli, who also comes from a theatre background. Due to Manuela’s expertise in casting and taste for performance, Masselli invited her to join the programming team for a project called Shorts Movie Theater. Located in Brooklyn, it will be the first-ever cinema dedicated to screening exclusively short films. It has a lot to offer, including a 40-seat theater, cafe, and a place to host talk-backs, premieres, and social events. Although the programming team is small, it has made massive strides in the building process. They have meticulously curated multiple pop-ups in the last year to help build an audience and gauge what people want to see.

Shorts Movie Theater: Renovation process

Romero has high hopes for Shorts Movie Theater. She is immensely proud of it, as she is of all her projects. But with Shorts Movie Theater, something is different. There is a lot of promise, and the goal is to create a new alternative to short film distribution options and, most importantly, create a platform for the community at large. “The more you are feeding and nurturing the ecosystem, the more you are going to be able to flourish. It feels good to be at a point where it [Shorts Movie Theater] can create a platform for other people,” Romero says with a smile.

Looking ahead, Romero continues to expand her work as a casting director and creative collaborator, with several projects on the horizon. Upcoming screenings of her casting work include King of Games (Dir. Tyler Cino Maradiaga) at the New Filmmakers Film Festival in Los Angeles in September 2026 and Daddy’s Little Meatball (Dir. Yael Grunseit) at the Calgary International Film Festival for its Canadian premiere, also in September 2026.

Every project is another opportunity to strengthen the connection between artists, stories, and audiences. Whether she is casting a film, programming a screening, or building relationships within the industry, Romero’s work is about creating opportunities for people to come together, grow, and make something beautiful. And in an industry where a single connection can change the course of a story, Manuela Romero is committed to being part of what comes next.