BIO OF DONNA BELAJAC, C.S.A.

Donna Belajac began her career in the television and film industry at Television Production Center in 1974. Moving through the Operations Department and subsequently the Production Department as a Production Assistant, Makeup Artist, Assistant Director and finally Casting Director, she struck out on her own in 1982 forming Holt/Belajac & Associates. The company was the first successful one of its kind in developing local talent and models. The company became Donna Belajac & Company in 1985 and served the television, film, and advertising industry as a casting company and modeling agency until just after the birth of Donna’s daughter in 1994. The modeling agency was shed and Donna Belajac Casting was born.

Donna has done principal location casting for many locally-made movies such as Flashdance, Silence of the Lambs, Wonder Boys and The Mothman Prophecies, as well as dozens of made-for television movies, including “The Pennsylvania Miners’ Story” and “Citizen Cohn,” for which she won an Emmy for Location Casting in 1993. She just completed casting principal roles in "She's Out of My League," and "My Bloody Valentine," and was recently nominated for an Artios Award for her work on "Smart People." Other projects include national, regional and local commercials for Vitamin Water, Gatorade, Subway, GE, Haggar Slacks, Nike, Chevy Trucks, McDonald’s, Marathon Oil, Giant Eagle, Pizza Hut, Miller Lite, Diet Coke and UPMC, as well as network programs such as Kill Point, Smith, The West Wing, The Guardian,and The Young and The Restless.

In addition to casting, Donna has taught acting for the camera at Carnegie-Mellon University, and her company has hosted many television acting classes and seminars, most recently bringing a children’s acting coach from Los Angeles into Pittsburgh to coach children for national film and television auditions. Donna is a long-time member of the Casting Society of America, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of the casting director’s role in the entertainment industry.

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