Akis Gourzoulidis was born and raised in Athens. He has 27 years of experience working as an assistant or associate director and/or stage manager in various types of theater productions and other ventures, such as Olympiads. He also has 20 years of experience working as a casting director for cinema and TV.
His first contact with art was when he studied music at the Greek National Conservatory. Since then he has taken courses in theatre at NYU and film at New York College. Some of his job titles working in theater productions, besides assistant or associate director and stage manager, are show caller, assistant production manager, music supervisor, sound designer, and casting director.
Akis’ varied and long experience in theater is evident from his taking on projects across genres such as postmodern theatre, dance theater, musical theatre, opera, and children’s theatre. He has also worked for various performances, corporate events, concerts and award ceremonies. Two of these projects were the celebrated international events of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games and the 2011 Special Olympics in Athens.
In his role as casting director, he has had the opportunity to work with several distinguished, and also upcoming, film directors in short films, features, and TV. The vast experience he has acquired from his work in theater over the years has endowed him with a deep understanding of actors and their craft which makes him an invaluable asset in film productions during casting.
Portfolio at
The Summer With Karmen
(
Film
by Zacharias Mavroeidis
Casting Director
Rapsodos
(
Film
by Nikolai Hamel (Comedy and Drama)
Casting Director When a rhapsodist begins to tell his tale, the worlds of fact and fiction fold together until the only truth left is the story itself and the rest is just life.
Riviera
(
Film
by Orfeas Peretzis (Drama)
Casting Director The story of a girl obsessed with an idolized nostalgia and her journey to accepting her adult life.
Fracture
(
Film (short)
by Panagiotis Fafoutis
Casting Director
Rare Land
(
Film (short)
by Efthymis Hatzis (Drama and Short)
Casting Director
Behind Τhe Haystacks
(
Film
by Asimina Proedrou (Drama)
Casting Director A tragic incident on Greece's northern border strikes a local family of three, pushing them to face their own personal impasses, while having to deeply consider the price for their actions.
Game Of Chefs | ANT1
(
Television
by Silverline Media Productions S.A / Directed by Thanos Gomozias (Game-Show)
Show Caller
Creatures of the night
(
Film (short)
by Memi Koupa
Casting Director The citizens of Athens are tormented by insomnia. Rumor has it that after dark an elusive creature is roaming the city streets. Citizens will cross its path during one night and for the first time in a while, they will go to sleep.
Dodo
(
Film
by Panos H. Koutras (Comedy, Drama and Romance)
Casting Director A dodo, a bird that disappeared 300 years ago, makes its appearance in Athens in the luxurious residence of a family on the verge of ruin for which the countdown has begun: the 38 crucial and saving hours that separate them from the marriage of their daughter with a rich heir. The boundaries between reason and madness will be tested and the situation will soon be out of control.
Embryo Larva Butterfly
(
Film
by Kyros Papavassiliou
Casting Director In a world where time changes arbitrarily, a couple's relationship is tested as their individual and shared recollections of the past, present and future change unremittingly.
Homo Perfectus
(
Film (short)
by Alki Politi
Casting Director Athens, 2021. Johnny, the first android robot of the market is ready, and will operate as the perfect partner of influencer Youla. After the wedding, Youla progressively finds herself seeking of functions that Johnny is not programmed to offer.
Pack Of Sheep
(
Film
by Graal S.A. / Directed by Dimitris Kanellopoulos (Drama and Western)
Casting Director Thanasis can't pay off his debt to Stelios. When he finds out that Apostolis is in the same position, he asks him to join with him for making a better deal with Stelios. While Thanasis tries to put more players in the game, two young gangsters arrive in town to push over the debtors.
The Wind of Freedom
(
by View Master Films / Directed by Stelios Charalampopoulos (Documentary)
Casting Diredtor Documentation film about the beginning of the Greek revolution on March 23rd 1821 in Kalamata; part of the Program «Kalamata 1821: Roads of Freedom»
Tailor
(
Film
by Argonauts Productions / Directed by Sonia Liza Kenterman (Comedy and Drama)
Casting Director A coming-of-old-age story of an eccentric Tailor who doesn't quit fit into the world and has isolated himself into the attic of the family's tailoring shop. On the verge of loosing everything, he finally gets triggered: with a wondrously strange bricolage coach-a tailor shop on wheels- he reinvents his life and his craft. He changes the brides of Athens and falls in love for the first time in his 50s.
Green Sea
(
Film
by Inkas Films / Directed by Angeliki Antoniou (Drama)
Casting Director Anna has lost her memory, but she hasn't forgotten how to cook. She finds work in a working-class seaside tavern, owned by a lonely man, Roula. Anna's simple yet delicious dishes are prepared thoughtfully and beautifully and even her most basic meal becomes an experience. Her food brings back memories to the regulars and creates a bond between them and Anna. The story takes an unexpected turn when Roula suddenly stumbles upon the novel "Green Sea" and discovers Anna's true identity.
Angelo
(
Film (short)
by Andreas Anninos
Casting Director
Annual Conference "GERMANOS"
(
Industrial
by Amuse Concept Events / Director Memi Koupa
Show Caller | Stage Manager 2013 | Athens Arena Concert & Congress Hall, 2014 | Olympic Velodrome, 2015 | Faliro Olympic Indoor Hall (Tae Kwon Do Hall), 2016 | Olympic Velodrome, 2017 | Olympic Velodrome, 2019 | Athens College
Christmas Tales at the Lighthouse
(
Theater
by Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
Stage Manager In Christmas, SNFCC's Lighthouse becomes a dreamland, staged by Yorgos Nanouris. Popular musical and theatrical artists invite us to enjoy holiday tales for both young and old.
Cosmote - Fiber "This is Sparta"
(
Industrial
by Foss Productions
Show Caller / Floor Manager Sparta, Peloponnese
Monkey 47 PR Event
(
Industrial
by Newton / Memi Koupa
Casting Director | Show Caller Simeion Piree
Connected We Stand Festival
(
Industrial
by Amuse Concept Events
Stage Manager A three-day festival for the support of 30.000 war victims in Athens
Syntagma Square
Friday 20.09.2019 | Live Concert | Presented by Eirini Nikolopoulou
Josephine, Alcatrash, Stelios Legakis, OGE, Elena Tsagkrinou, Mike and Dee Vibes
Saturday 21.09.2019 | Live Concert | Presented by Clelia Charissis & Giorgos Mavridis
Christos Dantis, Katerina Stikoudi, Arva, Antonella, Iasonas Mandilas, The Otherside Project with Giannis Chatzigeorgiou & Apostolis Totsikas, Duke & Alpha, Miriella Kourenti, Matina, Christina Gerothorodou, Akis Panagiotidis, Lila Trianti.
Grow Your Business / Meet The Experts
(
Industrial
by Foss Productions
Show Caller | Stage Manager COSMOTE | Aquila Atlantis Hotel | Heraklion, Crete
"Wish Upon a Superstar" Annual Dinner 2019
(
by Amuse Concept Events
Show Caller | Stage Manager Make A Wish Greece (03.06.2019) | City Link
Ioannis Kapodistrias, his life and work
(
TV Mini
Casting director
Basil
(
Film (short)
by Vangelis Serfas
Casting director A man returns to his birthplace for his mother's funeral. She has left a basil pot for him to take care of. During the time he spends there he confronts his past.
O prigipas tis fotias
(
TV Series
Casting department A story that unfolds, revealing well-hidden secrets. Fate will strike the innocent, but the real culprits do not know that time cures everything except the truth.
The Maids
(
Theater
by Cezaris Graužinis
Assistant Director Neos Kosmos Theatre
3000
(
Film (short)
by Ficino Films / Director Antonis Tsonis (Drama and Short)
Casting director When Leon's best friend Ari shares tragic news about his battle with cancer, unemployed and desperate to help, Leon decides to become a criminal to pay for more cancer treatments. 22-year-old Leon is determined not to allow financial hardship to stand before Ari's life. Against the backdrop of contemporary Athens, Greece, Leon's actions to save his best friend have irreversible consequences.
Outview Film Festival 2016 | Closing Ceremony/Award Show
(
Theater
by Director Akis Gourzoulidis
Director | Show Caller
Greece A Cry
(
Dance
by Eleni Mylona
Production Stage Manager Greece -A cry, is a short length piece that uses movement, sound and text , to explore Greek identity, in the time of the big crisis. The crisis is financial,psychological, and social and the piece explores different layers of it, in relation to the present time. The now.
A now that relates to the past and is reflected in the future. An aggressive now, that hurts, but also a nostalgic now, that remembers ''the carefree summers under the hot sun with a watermelon in your hand''
La Prairie Switzerland | Global Marketing Meeting
(
Industrial
by Horizon Travel - DMC & Events
Show Caller Grand Resort Lagonissi, Greece
Silent
(
Film
by Feelgood Entertainment / Director Yorgos Gkikapeppas (Drama)
Casting director A young woman's lonely struggle to bring her voice back provokes her close persons' hysteria since they can't forgive her silent controversy. The heroine's denial causes a deep crisis into her intellectual family. The film unfolds by her meetings with her familiars in the old empty house where a forgotten diary of wounds and guilts is being revealed. The characters stand furious in front of the heroine's traumatic silence until the moment her mother decides to give an end to her daughter's isolation. The "revolutionary" family is shaken and conflicted, as a miniature of a generation who defended the right of free speech, but now stands in fear against the dispute of the charismatic yet silent child that it has created. Written by Yorgos Gkikapeppas
Spring Awakening
(
Film
by CL Productions, Greek Film Center, Nova, Odeon / Director Constantine Giannaris (Thriller)
Casting director A story of five teenagers who are setting up an armed gang: a mosaic of love, lost relationships, betrayal and nihilism, that takes place in a declining city, where everything is collapsing within the economic and social crisis.
Mary Wants a Purple Dress
(
Film
by Real Eyes Productions / Director Alki Politi (Short)
Casting director Having been locked up indefinitely deep below the ground, Mary will rise through her own ashes and will begin the pursuit of her lost nature.
Amore Mio
(
Film
by Film Group, Mega Channel, Nova, Odeon, View Master Films, Word of Mouth / Director Christos Dimas (Comedy and Romance)
Casting director The extramarital adventures of a female volleyball team coach, a best friend and a buddy who fall in love at the same gynaikara, a hopelessly mismatched relationship between eteronymon and post-marital searches a marriage of disaster entangled in the most unexpected way!
King Lear | W. Shakespeare
(
Theater
by Pandur Theaters / Director Tomaz Pandur (Drama)
Casting Director | Assistant Director The weakness of King Lear to be swayed by his vanity and anger gives rise to his daughter Cordelia becoming a victim of an injustice. On the contrary, his other daughters Goneril and Regan exploit the King´s weakness to seize power and unleash their innermost passions: disloyalty, betrayal, torture, lust, infidelity and murder. The destruction of the family brings with it the destruction of society, the whole order falters. This stage production by Tomaz Pandur reflects on philosophical issues, it is a dream about the decadence and decline of the world. A brutal play, full of disasters and seemingly senseless cruelty that questions the justice, truth, loyalty, morality and ethics in the world. Revealing the basic understanding of what it means to be human; needs, memories, dreams, visions and our connection with nature and the universe.
Direction | Tomaz Pandur
Adaptation, Dramaturg | Livija Pandur
Translation | George Kimoulis
Set designer | Sven Jonke
Costume Design | Felype de Lima
Music | Silence
Video designer | Dorijan Kolund�¾ija
Light designer | Juan Gomez Cornejo
Sound designer | Mariano Garcia
Photographer | Aljo�¡a Rebolj
Technical manager | Antreas Paravas
Casting & Assistant Director | Akis Gourzoulidis
2nd Assistant director | Konstantinos Tzathas
Assistant costume designer | Cristina Martinez Martin, Sofia Nikolaidou
Children coach | Anna Athanassiadi
CAST
King Lear | George Kimoulis
Fool | Argiris Pantazaras
Goneril | Stefania Goulioti
Regan | Kora Karvouni
Cordelia | Pinelopi Tsilika
Earl of Gloucester | George Gallos
Edmund | Prometheus Aliferopoulos
Edgar | Harry Tzortzakis
Adamandia & Zeta Mastrodouka | Zoi & Michaela Petraki
Nikoleta Faltseta | Vicky Rene Vronska Chatziliar
THA SE PARO NA FYGOUME | A. Pyriohos
(
Theater
by Badminton Theatre / Director Fokas Evagelinos
Assistant Director
King Kong
(
Film
by Marni Films / Director Nikolaos Kyritsis (Drama, Family and Short)
Casting director Born on 1988 in Athens Zoo and abandoned by his mother, silver-back gorilla Ivo has never been able to mate. Now he needs to be transferred to another zoo. KING KONG is a story about a 50 years old man, working in the Zoo while taking care of his bedridden mother. Unable to form any type of relationship and express his sexuality, he will go down the path of violence and despair.
I aionia epistrofi tou Antoni Paraskeva
(
Film
by Guanaco, Greek Film Center, Hellenic Radio & Television (ERT), Stefi Films, Barrandov Studios, 2/35 / Director Elina Psikou (Drama)
Actor Anthonis arrives in a hotel near the sea. It is winter, the hotel is closed and Anthonis wanders alone. It seems to have all the time with him. Until television announced the disappearance of the famous journalist Antonis Paraskevas.
Iphigenia in Aulis | Euripides
(
Theater
by Athens & Epidaurus Festival / Director Maria Protopappa
Associate Director | Music Supervisor A clownish king with serious ambitions; a queen without a kingdom; a princess without a clue; a worm-like king-maker; a nice-guy-superhero; all of them sprung up by the sea in a place once booming and full of life, but now deserted. Outside of time, they relive the myth we have all heard, seen and read; they hope to work out who is to blame, but also to find some way to join forces and change tragedy into ''cheerful'' mourning!
Miss Julie | A. Strindberg
(
Theater
by Athens & Epidaurus Festival / Director Dimitris Lignadis
Associate Director August Strindberg wrote Miss Julie (1888) in search of ''a new form for the new content, the new wine that will blow the old bottles apart'', and his no-holds-barred struggle between two classes, two genders and two mentalities would cause a scandal.
The production enshrines Dimitris Lignadis' edgy take on the work. In the role of Jean, he joins forces with Stefania Goulioti as Julie to explore their fathomless relationship in the Festival's homage to the playwright in the centenary of his death.
Parking
(
Dance
by Michael Cacoyannis Foundation / Director Lia Tsolaki
Associate Director A makeshift park throughout the year. Those who live there have built their own world, their own little society. Passing from one season to the next, they trace a perpetual circular movement. These people's personal journeys meet and sometimes lead them into a race, against eachother or against themselves, in a park that looks like a battlefield, in a park that looks like life.
The Merry Widow | F. Lehar
(
Theater
by Greek National Opera / Director Dimitris Lignadis
Assistant Director
20 Years Phoebus | Pop Galla Concert
(
Music
by Spicy Music / Directed by Fokas Evagelinos
Assistant Director 24/9/2011 | Olympic Stadium
8th Pan-Hellenic Festival of Pontian Dances
(
Dance
by Director Costas Gavras
Show Caller | Stage Manager 90 years of the Pyrrhic Dance | Olympic Indoor Sports Center (O.A.C.A.)
Christmas at City Link
(
Industrial
by City Link / Concept & Production: Land Of Light
Casting director City Link | Athens, Greece
Paradeisos
(
Film
by Pan Entertainment, Greek Film Center, Homemade Films, Multichoice Hellas-Nova, Cinefilm Athens Lab, Hellenic Radio & Television (ERT) / Director Panayotis Fafoutis (Romance)
Casting director Four stories of searching love in the chaos and colors of the carnival.
Special Olympics World Summer Games | Opening & Closing Ceremonies
(
Theater
by Director Fokas Evagelinos
1st Assistant Director The 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games was a sporting event held from June, 25th 2011- July, 4th 2011 in Athens, Greece. The opening ceremony of the games took place on 25 June 2011 at the Panathenaic Stadium and the closing ceremony was held on 4 July 2011.
"Over 7,500" athletes, from 185 countries, competed in a total of twenty-two sports.
I poli ton paidion
(
Film
by Film Society, Nova, White Balance, Graal / Director Yorgos Gkikapeppas (Drama)
Casting director The arrival of children, as seen through the stories of four different couples, just when a pregnancy comes along and conflicts with their lives. A marital crisis becomes a family tragedy; a mad man's gun forces a young couple to reconsider a premature pregnancy; a long struggle of in-vitro fertilizations brings together and forces apart two sterile women who have shared the same man; and a young Iraqi immigrant, all alone in her apartment, is forced to give birth to her child with the help of her Greek stalker and next door neighbor. The stories unfold within a day and collide in a violent and fatal incident. Written by Cineuropa
AWARDS
52nd THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Nov. 4 -13, 2011)
FIPRESCI AWARDS / THE GREEK FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION (PEKK) AWARD
Greek Films Section: The City Of Children by Yorgos Gikapeppas
HELLENIC FILM ACADEMY AWARDS 2012
Best Actress - Kika Georgiou
Best Script - Yorgos Gikapeppas
Best Special Effects & Groundbreaking Achievement in Filmmaking - Yorgos & Argyris Alachouzos
ATHENS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2012
Best Newcomer for a Greek Actress: Kika Georgiou in "The City of Children"
Geia sou Anesti
(
Film
by Hellenic Radio & Television (ERT) / Director Dimitris Kanellopoulos (Short)
Casting director Pantelis and Nikolas. Anestis. They walk.
O babas mou, o Lenin kai o Freddy
(
Film
by Guanaco, Hellenic Radio & Television (ERT), Graal / Director Rinio Dragasaki (Drama, Fantasy, Thriller and Short)
Casting director During the 80's, in Athens, a nine year old girl gradually loses touch with her workaholic communist father. She fantasies that Vladimir Lenin wants to harm him. Things get worse when the American movie maniac, Freddy Krueger join forces with the Russian.
Amadeus | P. Shafer
(
Theater
by Dimitris Lignadis
Associate Director | Music & Sound Design
Amen
(
Dance
by X-it Dancetheater
Stage Manager | Show Caller 2010 in Larnaca | Cyprus and
2008 in Athens | Greece
4
(
Television
by Christopher Papakaliatis | Yorgos Gkikapeppas | Sergios Konstantinidis (Drama)
Casting director The lives of four brothers, Petros, Alkis, Basilis and Aris.
A Professional | D. Kovacevis
(
Theater
by Director Pigi Dimitrakopoulou
Assistant Director
To 10
(
Television
by Pigi Dimitrakopoulou (Drama and Romance)
Casting director The most mature work of m.Karagatsis comes to life with one of the best casts ever to work for a greek mini-series.
Medea | L. Cherubini
(
by Athens & Epidaurus Festival / Director Yannis Kokkos
Assistant Director This production of Luigi Cherubini's Medea to be staged at the Epidaurus Ancient Theatre is the climax of the Tribute to Maria Callas organised by the Hellenic Festival to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the death of "La Divina". The role of Medea remained in Callas repertoire for nine years, and she sang the part 31 times.
It was at this very venue, in 1961, that Callas enjoyed her final, triumphant Greek appearance, performing the title role in the renowned production of Medea directed by Alexis Minotis and with sets and costumes by Yannis Tsarouchis, a production taken to La Scala the following year.
Medea is to be played at this year's Epidaurus Festival by the Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci under the direction of the renowned Greek Yannis Kokkos, who triumphed with the same work in France.
The 38th Thessaloniki Song Festival
(
Music
by ERT S.A. HELLENIC BROADCASTING CORPORATION / Director Akis Stamatiadis
Assistant Director (PAOK Sports Arena)
O gios tou fylaka
(
Film
by CL Productions, Greek Film Center, Massive Productions, Nova / Director Dimitris Koutsiambassakos (Drama)
Casting director Markos, an ambitious young journalist on a provincial television channel is trying to retrieve a gun stolen from his Candid Camera-type show. His search leads him in the dead of winter to his mother's neck of the woods, one of the abandoned villages on the southwestern slopes of Mount Pindos. In his attempt to get the gun back he comes up against Elias, a strange young man who is the son of the guardian of the village. Their clash will have unforeseen results both for the two young men and for the few inhabitants of the village.
Games of the XXVII Olympiad | Opening & Closing Ceremony
(
Theater
by Director Dimitris Papaioannou
Stage Manager The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad and commonly known as Athens 2004, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004 with the motto Welcome Home.
10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports. Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance. 2004 marked the return of the games to the city where they began.
Paizei o Theos me to alatopipero...
(
Film
by Alexandros Aristopoulos (Romance)
Casting director Fotini and Manolis encounter problems in their relationship. Fotini confides in her best friend Eleni her thoughts and feelings for Manolis, while in the same time another person enters the scene. Stamatis, a taxi driver and amateur photographer, discreetly tries to approach Fotini after having accidentaly photographed her during his night shift. However a sudden event will make them face their fears and change their lives for ever... Written by Anonymous
Alithini zoi
(
Film
by Program 33, Argonauts Productions S.A., FilmNet, Greek Film Center, PPV Athens, Strada Productions / Director Panos H. Koutras (Drama, Fantasy and Romance)
Casting director Aris, 27 years old, returns home after a long journey... His mother, an eccentric and lonely woman lives together with her secretary, Sylvia and her loyal gardener mute Christos. Her house is famous not only for its view in Acropolis but also for his pool: the deepest in Europe. Determined to leave behind his past and start a new life, Aris, will search the secret of his youth, he will fall in love with a poor girl, Alexandra and he will confront his own ghosts. In the meanwhile a fire turns Athens into a living hell...
Baba... min xanapethaneis Paraskevi (Die Another Day) | A. Rigas & D. Apostolou
(
Theater
by Ivi Theater / Director Alexandros Rigas
Associate Director
T.E.L.O.S.
(
Theater
by 11th Biennale: Young Artists of Europe and the Mediterranean Countries / Created & Directed by Jenny Argyriou, Euripides Laskaridis
Show Caller | Stage Manager
Michalis Delta Concert
(
Music
by Rodon Live Concert Hall / Director Memi Koupa
Stage Manager
35 hours non-stop Art Act
(
Theater
by Fournos Center for the Art and the New Technology
Artistic Director
When the go-go dancers dance | E. Pega
(
Theater
by Tribal Booze / Director Elena Pega
Assistant Director | Show Caller | Stage Manager
Nichterines Ptisis (Night Flights): A tribute to A. de Saint-Exupary
(
Theater
by Athens Concert Hall / Director Thomas Moschopoulos
Assistant Director
The Professional | D. Kovacevis
(
Theater
by Karolos Koun's Art Theatre / Director Mimis Kougioumtzis
Assistant Director / Music & Sound Design (based on music by G. Bregovic)
Pterodactyls | N. Silver
(
Theater
by Athinon Theatre / Director Barbara Mavromati
Assistant Director
The Blue Room | D. Hare
(
Theater
by Lambeti Theatre / Director Barbara Mavromati
Assistant Director
State Film Awards 2000 | 41th International Thessaloniki Film Festival
(
Theater
by Vassiliko Theatre / Director Michalis Makris
Assistant Production Manager
The Emperor's New Clothes | E. Pega
(
Theater
by Club +Soda (Art Zone) / Director Konstantinos Rigos, Elena Pega, Manthos Santorineos
Assistant Director
The Boxing Ring
(
Dance
by Dancetheater Oktana / Director Konstantinos Rigos
Stage Manager
State Film Awards 1999 | 40th International Thessaloniki Film Festival
(
Theater
by National Theater of Northen Greece / Director Konstantinos Rigos
Assistant Director | Stage Manager
The Love for Three Oranges | C. Gozzi
(
Theater
by National Theater of Greece / Director Carmen Rougeri
Assistant Director (assistant director & participating actor for the performances in Herod Atticus Odeum)
Rules of the Game | L. Pirandello
(
Theater
by Kefallinias Theatre / Director Minos Volanakis
Assistant Director
La Grande Magia | E. De Fillipo
(
Theater
by Aliki Theatre / Director Minos Volanakis
Assistant Director