Our Staff

MIKE LEMON, C.S.A., has been a casting director for over 20 years after 12 years as an actor and director. He was a member of SAG and AFTRA with experience on stage, on camera and in the sound studio. Bringing his performance experience to casting, he has earned a reputation as an "actor's director" who brings out the best in auditioning talent. In 2001 he was honored by being admitted into the Casting Society of America, the professional association for casting directors.

He's a co-founder and host of The Lab, a Filmmakers' Workshop which has inspired and facilitated the production of seven independent films in seven years. He's on the Advisory Board of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and the planning committees for both the TAGP annual auditions and The Barrymore Awards.  He's also been on the steering committee of Indy Fest for The Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema and The Atlantic City Film Festival and his close ties with the Philadelphia Film Office, The Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association (PIFVA) and the Sharon Pinkenson Film Project.

Mike's dedicated to his work, his community, his seven children (Tim, JJ, Tom, Scott, Mischa, Jeff and Katherine) and two grandchildren.

SANDY STEFANOWICZ, Education Coordinator / Casting Director
As Education Coordinator, Sandy helps aspiring and working actors make choices about professional training. She teaches all teen classes in addition to adult talent. Sandy also works in the studio directing casting sessions for commercials, industrials and independent films. She holds an MA in theatre from Villanova University and has appeared on stage, in commercials, feature and independent films. Before joining our staff in 1999, she headed up the award-winning Ridley Drama Group where she directed for the stage and coached performers for stage and over three decades. Outside of the US, she has taught acting in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Japan. Sandy has been named to the Who's Who of America Teachers.

ANNETTE KAPLAFKA
Annette Kaplafka has been working with MikeLemonCasting for over seven years. She currently holds down the Film and Television Desk at the office and oversees a program of over 30 interns. Having held multiple roles both in front of and behind the camera, she is strongly versed in both the needs of producers and directors, as well as the abilities of talent.

Annette has worked professionally as an actor from coast to coast, performing in all mediums, from on camera, to on stage, to in the sound studio, to live events.  Upon moving to Philadelphia, Annette began her career behind the camera working as a Production Coordinator.  She coordinated the full-length feature film Bottomfeeders, and also worked for Let It Ride Productions, coordinating the shooting of scouting camps for Major League Baseball.

At MikeLemonCasting, Annette has assisted with casting on such feature films as Annapolis, In Her Shoes, Jersey Girl, Unbreakable, Like Mike, The Italian Job, and Undefeated, as well as the TV show Hack and numerous commercials and industrials.  She prides herself on being young enough (at heart) to have an eye for what is in vogue and lives for the adrenaline rush that comes with the crazy hours of working on a movie set.

ROB HOLT is our Voice-over Casting Director and head of our IT department. A working musician for many years and a former voice talent, Rob loves working on the other side of the microphone, assisting clients in finding the right talent for their projects and engineering their recording sessions.

Rob graduated with honors from The CHUBB Institute in 2001, where he studied computer programming. He also has a great deal of hands-on experience in managing small networks as well as the building and configuring of PC workstations and servers. Rob has helped bring MLC into the computer age with technologies such as steaming auditions, remote access, and off-site data storage.

Rob is also a drummer in the rock band, Shovelhook and most weekends you can find him playing area clubs and other venues. He would like in the most professional manner possible to give a shout-out to his beautiful wife Melissa and wonderful stepdaughter Emma.

OUR INTERNS
We also have an Internship Program with 20-30 interns at any given time. Each intern works 4 to 8 hours per week. Our interns range from students to retired professionals and everyone in between. Interns receive hourly credits that can be applied toward classes from our education program or, school credits, if currently enrolled in a university or college that has their own internship program. This program is invaluable to us as well as to the participants. We benefit from their energy, labor and skills, and they learn about the business from the inside. Many thanks to them all.