Avy Kaufman

Avy Kaufman is an American casting director for film and television.

Kaufman is from Atlanta. She relocated to New York City in 1976 to study ballet.

Kaufman originally worked in casting for advertising at Foote, Cone & Belding, often print ads, for six years, then transitioned to feature films.

Kaufman initially did not succeed at becoming a casting director for film and worked at casting extras. Eventually director John Sayles came across her doing location casting and hired her to cast his film Matewan. Jodie Foster then hired her to cast Little Man Tate. She later met director Ang Lee, which helped to further her career.

Kaufman has cast more than 150 film and television productions and worked with directors including Steven Spielberg and Wes Craven. Her casting credits include Brokeback Mountain, Mare of Easttown, Succession, Babygirl, Tár and The Sixth Sense.

Kaufman received the 2005 Hollywood Casting Director of the Year award given by the Hollywood Film Festival.

She received a 2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series for her work on Damages: Season 1 and in 2020 & 2022 for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series for Succession: Seasons 2-3. She had earlier been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special for her work on the romance drama television miniseries Empire Falls.

Kaufman has been nominated for eighteen Artios Awards, and has won three.