Breaking Baz: Tributes For International Industry Titan Jenne Casarotto From Kathleen Kennedy, Donna Langley, Barbara Broccoli & Many More
07.03.2024 - 21:13
/ deadline.com
How do you capture Jenne Casarotto? She was at the intersection of theatre, film and television. It all, seemingly, swirled around her.
Not just around her.
It was the brilliant team that she assembled at Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, the agency that’s been at the epicenter of UK arts culture for over three decades. Correction: The company’s reach extended far beyond the environs of London’s Soho.
One would see her in Venice, Cannes, Toronto and Sydney. One would not be at all surprised to be at a screening at, let’s say, Sundance, and there’d be a tap on the shoulder when the lights came up. “That was great stuff, wasn’t it?” She’d say gleefully.
It was a bit of a test because she’d expect you to be honest with her. Well, it was godawful, actually, and she’d nod sagely, her eyes twinkling behind her specs. But if you loved it, she could tell in an instant, because she was a shrewd reader of body language.
She also had impeccable taste and that extended not only to the clients she chose to represent but also to those who worked at the agency.
Those clients included J.G. Ballard, John Crowley, the Roald Dahl Estate, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Frears, Matteo Garrone, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Nick Hornby, Bob Hoskins, Neil Gaiman, Terry Gilliam, Hilary Bevan Jones, Neil Jordan, David Leland, John Madden, Steve McQueen, Cynthia Payne, Neal Purvis, Shawn Slovo, Robert Wade, Tennessee Williams, and David Yates.
Often, I’d receive a note suggesting I check out a play in some remote off-off West End venue. It always was worth the trip. At film festivals she’d mark my card sending me off to discover new talent.
And she’d go to bat for you as long as it was about the work.
I still have the email exchange from