Meet Nicole Marien | Unscripted Casting Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole Marien and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi NICOLE, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I pursued a career in entertainment because my whole life, I believed in becoming an artist, and as I grew up, I realized my definition of an artist began to change. As a child, my grandfather was a very passionate but amateur painter in his free time, something I always admired. He wholeheartedly believed his hobbies were as crucial as any other aspect of his life and identity, such as career, husband, father, and grandfather. It seeped quickly into my upbringing. No matter what, we were encouraged to nurture our creativity. As a child, I thought being an artist was a black-and-white concept. Either you were something obvious, such as a painter, but as I grew up and fell in love with so many different forms of expression, such as writing, drawing, making home movies, but also reading, viewing, and consuming media, that I realized, being an artist was not simply one thing or another. It was whatever you wanted it to be, and what I wanted to do was tell stories. I loved that a painting, novel, or film could tell a story, grasp an audience, and change a reader’s life. I inhaled books and watched anything I could get my hands on. Through high school, I decided my gut called me to television and film, and I wanted to be a part of that storytelling in any way I could. I wanted to create something long-lasting. I wanted a legacy. I wanted to give birth to tangible, passionate work that others could consume and fall in love with. I wanted to change lives, create lives, and become alive myself. I decided to go to college for film studies and production with a fine arts minor and set my soul on fire. The only way I knew how to do that was to feed my belly by creating something I could share with others.
I am motivated by the passion behind making characters come alive and by seeing a concept that was simply in my mind blossom in real life. Through my endeavors, I stumbled upon unscripted casting, and there, my brain turned on like a light switch. I could create anything by finding the right people to make it happen. I wanted to see the vision come alive because I cast the right people for the stage, the film, and the television show. The satisfaction of knowing I not only brought the vision to life but also changed a real-life person’s life, as well as entertained, is addicting. Creatively, the right or wrong cast will make or break a show. The audience must fall in love, engage, and invest because casting is a proper art form. The story, the lights, and the action come alive because the right people make it so. I am grateful to have always been encouraged and motivated to pursue a creative career. I want to go further with it and make great television, one perfect cast at a time, because the right cast paints the picture and tells the story, and through the right cast, our art comes to life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have been an Unscripted Casting Producer for the past 12 years. Hailing from the East Coast, I attended Hofstra University, graduating with a Bachelors in Film Studies and Production. I quickly embarked on finding my footing after graduating in May of 2011. After endless job interviews in my home state of Connecticut and taking the train to New York City, my career began in January 2012 when I landed a job at the Jerry Springer Show in Stamford, Connecticut. I have never looked back.

Working on two seasons of one of pop culture’s biggest landmarks in daytime talk, it is safe to say that it molded me into the person I am today and my entire career. One of the most grueling and chaotic work environments, whose reputation proceeds it, working 100-hour weeks and filming one of the most intense schedules I have ever experienced resulted in learning at lighting speed . Like being thrown into the lion’s den or experiencing television’s version of guerrilla warfare, I have gotten every job since because of what I learned in those two years. I learned hustle, dedication, and I will admit, at times, unhealthy work ethic and grit that you can only acquire through living it yourself. It was the best of times, the worst of times, and when I wanted to spread my wings outside of the vacuum tube of mud wrestling and baby daddy drama, I soared into New York City’s world of production.

From 2013 to 2015, I worked every job I could find in NYC, whether in my sweet spot of casting or PA-ing on anything I could get my hands on. I was ready for any challenge, show, or opportunity to connect myself. I worked New York Fashion Week, got coffee on any set I could enter, coordinated, sat audience, and drove box trucks and 15-passenger vans up and down Manhattan. From sun up to sun down, I ran every inch of that city, which was remarkable. Finally, I landed my “dream” job as an early 20’s freelancer. I got a long-running position as a Casting Associate Producer on Hotel Impossible at Atlas Media, a production company I interned at Hofstra, my senior year. That full-circle moment blew my mind and solidified that I would make this whirlwind of a career mine. After almost a year, I realized that if I was going to make big moves, then now was the time before I became too comfortable, and I decided to leave the East Coast and move to Los Angeles and see what “Hollywood” was all about.

In January 2015, I left Atlas Media, got in the car with my then-roommate, and drove across the country. We left on a Wednesday in the snow, and while sitting as a passenger, I started reaching out to everyone I knew about who could set me up with a job. The true solidification that I was making the right decision happened when City Media Inc, an LA-based casting company I had worked for briefly in NYC, said they had an opening for an Associate Producer and asked if I could start that week. I told them I was already in the car. We zoomed across the US, got to sunny LA on Saturday, found an apartment on Sunday, and signed the lease on Monday. On Tuesday, I walked into the offices of City Media, the place I would work for religiously, on and off, for the next 10 years.
I had never been to Los Angeles before; I had never been further west than Pennsylvania. I told my mom I would give it six months before I probably flew back home.

In January of 2025, it will be 10 years since I packed two bags, threw them in my former roommate’s trunk, and said I would give this a shot. Over the last ten years, I have worked on every type of show across the spectrum of unscripted television and for every major network and streaming service. My most notable accomplishments include working on the premiere season of Neil Patrick Harris’ Best Time Ever and discovering the winner of The Four’s first season, Evvie McKinney, and The Four’s second season final four runner-ups, Jesse Kramer. I have worked on Emmy-nominated seasons of CBS’s Let’s Make a Deal and provided life-changing experiences for outstanding teenagers on critically acclaimed producer Marsai Martin’s Remix My Space. However, some of my most rewarding castings have featured working with young people on both seasons of Kids Say the Darndest Things with Tiffany Haddish, the uber-fun Play-Doh Squished hosted by Sarah Hyland, and Disney’s spectacular family dance competition Fam Jam! Whether it’s putting smiles on people’s faces and giving them a chance to win big on game shows like Fox’s BEAT SHAZAM, NBC’s Password, ABC’s Press Your Luck, ABC’s Card Sharks and ABC’s Match Game, to finding out-of-this-world contestants for Fox’s SUPERHUMAN, or making people’s dreams come true, there has never been a dull moment. Since 2020, casting has gone almost entirely remote. I have been so grateful to continue to work on some of the funnest shows and dive into one of my favorite sub-genres of casting: development. I have fallen in love with proof of concept casting and show creation. I have seen some of the most incredible visions come to life, and some of the most interesting people tell their stories to me.

As I have shared my history with unscripted casting, I want to clarify the novelty of being on set, meeting massive celebrities, and sitting at round tables with executives hasn’t been easy. It has been anything but easy, and if it has been easy for anyone, I couldn’t be happier for them. However, that was not my experience. Freelancing is a nonstop hustle and grind. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. If you don’t take a deep breath and introduce yourself, no one will know who you are. If you don’t stand out, then you fall back. All the cliches are true. The biggest lesson to ever learn from this industry is that it is all about who you know and the impression that you make. People give jobs to those whose work they like and those who they remember. It is a cutthroat industry. Everyone is going after the same jobs, and so many have as much talent, experience, enthusiasm, etc, as you. It takes a lot of work and dedication to be willing to put in the long hours and deal with the polarizing personalities of potential talent and the people working alongside you. However, it can be one of the most exciting and satisfying experiences. The rush of knowing you changed someone’s life and/or cast the winner is the high all of us in unscripted are addicted to. It is addicting and soul-sucking but life-breathing all at the same time. It has molded me into the person I am today, and for that, I am grateful. I went after it, even though it was terrifying and hard. I have never had the lows or highs this industry provides, and I wouldn’t change any of them. I think what sets me apart from others is nothing that will blow anyone’s mind. I think it is a mix of Springer-based PTSD and a hyper-fixation with Google Drive organization. Clean and well-organized Google spreadsheets are a drug high, unlike anything a Hollywood party offers at the “afters.” All Kidding aside, I think coming out of college into such a high-stress environment created a beast within me that I will never be able to shake. I strive for the best and hold myself to the highest standards. I have forced myself to embrace a true work/life balance because, until the pandemic, there was no such thing, and that would never have ended up sustainable. Burnout is a real concern in this industry, and my biggest advice is to work hard, but self care harder. While I am always hungry for more and excited for the next adventure, it is exhausting, and the best thing you can do is prioritize mental health and be as malleable as possible in this ever evolving industry. To be long-lasting, is to swing with the change and embrace whats next!
Finally, as many of us like to say “ABC”, Always Be Casting. You never know who you will meet out in the wild, take every chance you get to get someone’s information, exchange ideas, make connections. The person singing while you’re eating dinner could be the next Kelly Clarkson, because of you!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Now, this is a tricky question! While it’s fun to show tourists the BIG CHECK MARK ITEMS, the real goal is to cater to their interests and tastes, what kind of food and activities they like, and then filter through LA that way, through their eyes. Los Angeles is open to endless possibilities and has something for everyone, which is part of the magic of this city. There is something for everyone here: finding what part of that magic excites you!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shout out my mother. Without the unwavering encouragement and support, I never would have felt so driven to take on the world and the entertainment industry. My mother didn’t just allow me to pursue my dreams; she gave me no other choice.

Website: https://nicolelmarien1.wixsite.com/nicolemarien

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolelmarien/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolelmarien/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.marien.3

Image Credits
these are all MY photos