About Us
In recent Years Hawaii has become a premier destination for Television and film productions. My Success in Casting is due to the dedicated actors in my community as well as the team of casting professionals I work with, they are all truly my ‘Ohana. So for this reason I named my Business “OHANA CASTING, as my hopes and dreams are that together as an 'Ohana we will all work towards elevating our Acting community so productions wanting to come to Hawaii will know that we have what it takes to bring their visions to life!
Casting Director Rachel Whitley CSA
Photo credit: Ashley Smith Photography
Rachel Whitley grew up in New York and attended Berkshire School in Sheffield Mass. After graduation she moved to the Bay Area of California where she graduated UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Biology.Rachel moved to Oahu in 1999 and in 2002 she began assisting Anna Fishburn in her Casting office in Honolulu. They worked together casting Principals and Extras for Numerous Projects. A TV Pilot “BEYOND THE BREAK”, a few Episodes of “ER”, and the first full Season of “LOST”. Rachel eventually went out on her own and did Extras Casting for “BOARDING SCHOOL”, “FLIGHT 29 DOWN”, “ENTOURAGE”, and the Feature Film “THE REEF”.
Then in 2008 she went back to “LOST” to do principal casting for the final 2 seasons. During this time she also worked with Alexander Payne on his film “THE DESCENDANTS”. When LOST filmed the last episode in April of 2010 she flew to Maui to oversee Extras Casting for Adam Sandler’s “JUST GO WITH IT” and in the Fall 2010 signed on as Casting Director for the revamped CBS series “HAWAII 5-0”.
The last 14 years have been spent working with CBS Television on hits like “HAWAII 5-0”, “MAGNUM PI” and now the newest CBS franchise “NCIS HAWAII”. In between running those shows Rachel has also done principal casting for ABC on both “LAST RESORT”, and “INHUMANS”. Rachel was also fortunate enough to work with Cameron Crowe on his film “ALOHA”, numerous national commercials, and oversaw local casting on “GODZILLA vs KONG” and a small independent film “PRESSPLAY”. HAWAII has been busy these last few years and Rachel and her team were lucky to do casting for Amazon prime’s “I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER” and DISNEY + new series “DOOGIE KAMEALOHA” for which she was nominated for an ARTIOS Award. Most recently Ohana Casting is working on the Live Action “LILO and STITCH” and the brand new FOX Television series “RESCUE HI SURF” which will premier in September of 2024. Rachel has been a member of the Casting Society of America since 2012 and received an ARTIOS nomination and win in 2017 for Casting Auli’i Cravalho in MOANA.
Casting Associate Amanda Finn
Photo credit: Ashley Smith Photography
Born and raised in Kailua, Amanda graduated from Kalaheo, received her Bachelor's Degree from Hawaii Pacific University and went on to get a Masters from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, CA. After completing her education, Amanda returned home to live and work in Hawai’i.
She began her career in the industry as a Set PA on "LOST", "FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL", "TROPIC THUNDER" and "BATTLESHIP". She also worked as the Producer's Assistant on TV shows "OFF THE MAP", "THE RIVER" and "LAST RESORT". Amanda went on to work in Production as a Production Secretary on "BIG EYES" and "JURASSIC WORLD", also as an APOC on "MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES". Amanda started her work in Casting doing Background Casting on the feature film GODZILLA, and continued on to HAWAII 5-0.
She then took a six year hiatus to travel the world as a Flight Attendant but is thrilled to be home and a part of the team at Ohana Casting.
She began her career in the industry as a Set PA on "LOST", "FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL", "TROPIC THUNDER" and "BATTLESHIP". She also worked as the Producer's Assistant on TV shows "OFF THE MAP", "THE RIVER" and "LAST RESORT". Amanda went on to work in Production as a Production Secretary on "BIG EYES" and "JURASSIC WORLD", also as an APOC on "MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES". Amanda started her work in Casting doing Background Casting on the feature film GODZILLA, and continued on to HAWAII 5-0.
She then took a six year hiatus to travel the world as a Flight Attendant but is thrilled to be home and a part of the team at Ohana Casting.