Jazzy Collins Scouts Reality TV Stars at the L.A. Whole Foods

"Jazzy Collins is much greater than a reality star. She's a reality star- maker, a reality Big Bang. The unscripted casting director has spent her career scouting and vetting everyday people destined to be TV characters. After getting her start in syndicated game shows, she broke into prime time in 2017, when she was hired to select the men competing for the affections of Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette, for what became the show's most racially diverse cast of contestants yet."

"Collins worked on The Bachelor/ ette for five seasons, and in 2020, just as fan outcry over franchise controversies reached a boiling point, she wrote an open letter about the racism baked into the shows' casting practices. (Chris Harrison stepped down as host in 2021.) Collins pivoted from casting suitors to finding couples for OWN's Family or Fiancé and BET's After Happily Ever After, and she earned her first Emmy nomination for choosing the dancers for Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls in 2022."

"For Netflix, she found the kinds of huge personalities that made The Circle a tentpole, and in 2023, she won an Emmy for casting the very first American season of The Traitors, on which she found non-celebrities to pit against expert gamers like Cirie Fields. Two of them made it to the finale, further than any other Faithfuls, celebrity and normie alike."

"In 2024, Collinswas tapped to join Dropout, the independent comedy streaming service headed by comedian Sam Reich. Dropout's shows allow Collins to cast more interesting and talented nerds, weirdos, and jokers than series on more traditional broadcasters and streamers would ever call for; she calls it "the thing that I was searching for, for so many years in reality TV." At Dropout, she's cast improvisers who can turn a game of Dungeons & Dragons into a full-on improv set for Dimension 20, oddball storytellers for Crowd Control, and comedians willing to play aliens, zombies, and sentient hot dogs on Very Important"

Jazzy Collins has worked as a casting professional who scouts and vets everyday people for reality television roles. She began in syndicated game shows, then entered prime time in 2017 by selecting men for Rachel Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette, contributing to a highly racially diverse contestant lineup. She worked on The Bachelor/Bachelorette for five seasons and wrote an open letter in 2020 addressing racism embedded in casting practices. She later cast couples for OWN’s Family or Fiancé and BET’s After Happily Ever After, earned an Emmy nomination in 2022 for casting dancers for Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, and won an Emmy in 2023 for casting The Traitors. In 2024, she joined Dropout, casting improvisers and oddball performers for shows like Dimension 20, Crowd Control, and Very Important People.

Read at Vulture