Shocker Studios Casting wants to grow into Kansas’ source for matching talent with projects of all types. 

Producing a movie or short film that needs a certain actor to fill a role? Is your business launching a market campaign or in need of a voice-over? Are you a student in need of a type of actor for a video project? 

“A casting office serves as a tool to connect,” said Kayla Shebshayevich, assistant educator for acting for the digital arts at Wichita State University’s School of Digital Arts. “The casting office reaches out to its network of actors, and they’re responsible for finding that best talent for that project to make it a success.” 

Shocker Studios Casting is open to WSU students and actors from the community. The office can work with projects that call for actors, voice-overs, motion capture, animation and gaming. 

Wichita State senior Gianna Ortiz, an acting for digital arts major, works with Shebshayevich as a casting associate, a paid applied learning position. 

Shebshayevich worked with students who needed actors for a school project and saw the need for a casting office as she considered candidates and made matches. 

Establishing the casting office streamlines the process by providing a contact point on the studio’s Instagram page (shockerstudioscasting). People looking for actors post a casting form with job description, dates and contact information. People can also email Shebshayevich. 

“That will be the hub to see everything that’s casting in the area,” Shebshayevich said. “We want to make this a state-wide thing, a regional thing.” 

Wichita State students can usually find peers to work in their projects. Shebshayevich said she hopes one of the benefits of the casting office is to help students find actors in other age ranges. 

“Sometimes if the project is written for someone who is older or younger, it’s harder for them,” she said. “I’m hoping to connect them with actors beyond Shocker Studios. And connect Shocker Studios actors with projects beyond Shocker Studios.” 

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Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 25,000 students between its main campus and the WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech), including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student-centered and innovation-driven.

Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry- and defense-funded engineering R&D and No. 9 overall for engineering R&D.

The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.

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