Making it Big: LA Casting Director Returns to UWSP
Alumnus Ben Selle returned to UWSP for Communication Week.

Making it Big: LA Casting Director Returns to UWSP

Most students do not expect to be working with Britney Spears after they graduate. Ben Selle certainly did not.

But this is exactly what happened after Selle graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2000 with a degree in arts management and communication.

Immediately after finishing an internship for MTV, Selle was hired to work on various production shows and event tours, including one with Britney Spears.

“I found a job immediately, I got hired, I got an internship, and it’s just been a terrific snowball since,” he said.

Today, Selle works as an independent casting director for his company Sellebrity Casting in Los Angeles. In this position, he works on projects as needed for various clients, such as the Food Network.

His remarkable success led UWSP’s communication department to invite him to this year’s “Communication Week,” an annual event within the department that invites alumni to campus to speak with current students about preparing themselves for life and work after graduation.

“The Comm department reached out to me saying ‘Hey, we heard you did all this neat stuff,’ and they wanted me to be involved with telling students my story,” Selle said.

Born in the Philippines, Selle grew up as the adopted son of missionaries in Plover, Wis. Initially, his plans for college did not involve UWSP, but he credits Scott West, an admissions counselor for the university, for leading him to the decision.

“I used to work at this restaurant in Plover, and he used to come there a lot and wanted to know where I wanted to go to school,” Selle said. “I really was thinking of going out of state, going somewhere else, and he totally convinced me for whatever reason to go to Point.”

At UWSP, Selle said he was heavily involved on campus. He was president at Pray-Sims Hall and participated in the international and chess clubs.

Overall though, he said the most significant extracurricular work he did was as a concert coordinator for Centertainment, where he was involved with securing contracts including the Goo Goo Dolls, Wallflower, Bill Cosby and Lonestar.

Selle said he considers his campus work a key factor in his success and recommends all students get involved.

“Even today I’m always busy. I’m always doing something. I’ve always got my hands on something,” he said. “It leads to the sense of interest. People a lot of times just hope that things will happen to them, but you have to go out there.”

He also offered some additional advice to students who are worried about how their major might restrict them.

“The lesson is think outside the box,” Selle said. “Because if you don’t push yourself in ways that you don’t think you can, you’ll never find out just how pliable and how flexible your potential is.”

Selle said he intends to continue working as an independent casting director for the time being but is excited about what the future will bring. Currently, he said he is set to work on a new show in Las Vegas, with none other than Britney Spears.

 

Matthew Wiltzius

Reporter

matthew.wiltzius@uwsp.edu

 

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