Chicago Talent Directory

Chicago Talent Directory® is selective about what appears on our page. We look for industry information, opportunities, events and resources that can inform, educate, provide useful tools, or help Chicago and Illinois talent advance their careers.

Our goal isn't to fill your feed. It's to make what we share worth your time.

Follow Chicago Talent Directory® for carefully selected industry news, opportunities, professional resources and updates serving Chicago and Illinois talent.

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT SERIES FOR ACTORS & PERFORMERS -- OCTOBER 5 | RSVP REQUIRED

Join us for our next Community Empowerment Series for Actors & Performers at Chopin Theatre.
In partnership with Kokandy Productions, this networking event includes: drinks (N/A options available), food (Veg options available), and League resources best suited for our artist community.

📅Monday, October 5
📍Chopin Theatre (1543 West Division St., Chicago, IL 60642)

We invite you to network with other attendees and have a chance to win prizes during our Community Empowerment Series bingo!

RSVP today at leagueofchicagotheatres.org/event/community-empowerment-series-actors-and-performers/

LEARN ABOUT RESOURCES FOR THEATRE ARTISTS SEPTEMBER 28 -- FREE INDUSTRY PANEL & NETWORKING | RSVP REQUIRED

RIDE WITH US! 🚴🏻‍♀️ 🚴🏻 🚵🏿. 🚵🏾‍♂️
12th ANNUAL RIDE TODAY!

https://www.lovehardbikeride.org/ride-details.html

🎬 NEW RESOURCES FOR TALENT & IL FILM PRODUCERS AT CHICAGO TALENT DIRECTORY®, AVAILABLE NOW!

While we continue to build the new Chicago Talent Directory® website, we’ve been expanding our legacy website with new resource pages designed to help Chicago and Illinois talent — and the people producing here — find useful industry information in one place.

For Talent
Our growing Talent Resources Hub includes resources for:
• Audition resources
• Talent agencies
• Casting directors
• Headshot photographers
• Schools, training and tools
• Other industry resources for working talent

https://www.chicagotalentdirectory.net/talent-resources-hub.html

Producing in Illinois
For filmmakers, producers and production professionals, our Producing Illinois page brings together resources for working in the state, creating a 'Front Door' to producing in Illinois, including:
• Illinois and regional film offices
• Illinois film tax credit links
• Production resources
• Industry organizations
• Information related to filming and producing in Illinois

https://www.chicagotalentdirectory.net/producing-il.html

We’re continuing to review, organize and expand these pages with an emphasis on resources that are relevant, useful and connected to the Illinois industry.

Chicago Talent Directory® has always been about connecting talent with the industry around them.

Visit the Chicago Talent Directory® legacy website and explore Talent Resources and Producing Illinois.

www.chicagotalentdirectory.net

This Saturday, September 12, longtime Chicago Talent Directory® client Mercita DeMonk will be among those honored by the Chicago Theater Bike Ride.

Mercita had a long and storied life and career as a stage and film actress and voiceover talent. I was glad to have known her and remain grateful that she participated as a panelist in the second Chicago Talent Directory® Forum. She brought the valuable perspective of a working performer whose experience encompassed stage, film and voiceover.

This image pairs Mercita’s profile from an original print edition of the Chicago Talent Directory® with a photograph from the forum. She is pictured on the panel alongside producer Mark Androw, while I listen to their discussion from the background.

It was a privilege to represent Mercita in the Chicago Talent Directory® and to welcome her perspective at one of our industry forums. She is remembered with appreciation and fondness.
(Chicago Talent Directory®️Publisher, Nanci Ponne’)

The Chicago Theater Bike Ride’s memorial biography of Mercita can be found here:

https://www.lovehardbikeride.org/mercita-demuynck.html

CHICAGO’S LEADING ARTISTIC THEATER DIRECTORS ADDRESS DWINDLING SUBSCRIPTIONS

Standing Room Only Crowd for Chicago’s Leading Theater Artistic Directors It must have been heavenly for the creative leaders of Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare and Court, Chicago’s top regional theaters, to be greeted by a standing room only crowd. But there they were, on a panel moderated by the eminent Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones. The program...

I am saddened to announce the passing of Chicago actor and model Chris Montana, who died of cancer this past spring at the age of 64.

Chris appeared in several editions of the Chicago Talent Directory®. He was also a member of our auxiliary talent staff, helping to organize the Directory for the printers and assisting at our release events. But what I remember most are the days Chris and I spent delivering directories to production houses, casting offices, talent and advertising agencies throughout downtown Chicago. Chris absolutely reveled in the opportunity and was excited to be part of it.

After many years apart, Chris and I first reconnected on Facebook and then reunited in person at FilmScape a few years ago. There, we discovered that we had both worked on the film Poltergeist III. Chris also told me that his appearances in the Directory had brought him a great deal of work. It meant so much to me to learn that after all those years. I’m very grateful that we found each other again—and that I had the opportunity to tell Chris he is remembered with fondness as part of the history of the Chicago Talent Directory®.

This image pairs one of Chris’s Chicago Talent Directory® profiles with a candid moment from our Edition 2 Release Party. Chris is pictured having a little fun at the reception desk with actress Cheryl Glenn; both were members of our auxiliary talent staff.

This Saturday, September 12, the Chicago Theater Bike Ride will remember Chris, along with others from Chicago’s theatre community whom we have lost during the past year.

(Chicago Talent Directory®️Publisher, Nanci Ponne’)

Chris’s biography can be found on the Ride’s Memorial Page:
https://www.lovehardbikeride.org/chris-montana.html

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R.I.P. RENOWNED CHICAGO VOICEOVER ACTOR JOEL CORY

Joel Cory, Chicago voice-over actor whose pipes pitched hundreds of brands in TV commercials, dies at 89 Mr. Cory was one of the top, if not the top, voice-over actors in the country for decades.

CHICAGO THEATER BIKE RIDE IS SATURDAY, SEPT. 12.
It will honor theater performers we’ve lost over the year including long time Chicago Talent Directory®️ client, Matt DeCaro.

Ride Details Register to ride wit us. Get all the details about the Chicago Theater Bike Ride, raising money for emergency relief.