CBS Studios’ Deborah Aquila; CBS Nick Bernstein Exit In Layoffs (Excl)

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran casting director and executive Deborah Aquila, most recently EVP and head of casting for streaming series at CBS Studios, is leaving as part of the companywide layoffs at parent Paramount Global. According to sources, Aquila and four other members of the studio’s casting team, ranging from coordinator to VP, were impacted by the Tuesday cuts that are reducing the overall Paramount workforce by 3.5%.

Also leaving this week is Nick Bernstein, CBS’ SVP of late night programming, West Coast. His departure is tied to the wrap of the network’s After Midnight whose last show is airing on June 12. It is not directly related to the layoffs though any eliminated positions help divisions meet headcount targets.

Aquila joined Paramount TV Studios as EVP and head of casting in 2020. In early 2023, she took oversight of casting for both CBS Studios and Paramount TV Studios, the latter of which shut down last August.

In a restructuring well over a year ago, Aquila focused on casting for streaming series, including the Star Trek franchise, Happy Face and most recently, the Little House On the Prairie reboot for Netflix, while CBS head of Casting, EVP Claudia Lyon, took over casting for broadcast. That is a setup that mirrors CBS and CBS Studios’ integration of current programming under Eric Kim, while CBS Studios’ Stephanie Groves oversees current for streaming.

In another move toward streamlining and centralizing shared functions, Lyon will add casting for streaming series to her purview to oversee all casting for CBS Studios and CBS. She will continue to report to CBS Studios President David Stapf and CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach.

CBS Studios casting is among many areas across Paramount impacted by today’s layoffs. They are believed to also include Comedy Central, MTV, kids and adult animation, business development operations, franchises and consumer products.

“As we navigate the continued industry-wide linear declines and dynamic macro-economic environment, while prioritizing investments in our growing streaming business, we are taking the hard, but necessary steps to further streamline our organization starting this week,” Paramount co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins wrote in a staff memo this morning about the latest staff cuts.

Aquila’s career, which spans more than four decades, includes stints as a casting director, by herself and in partnership with Tricia Wood, as well as a run as SVP Casting for Paramount Pictures. She won Artios award for her work on CODA and La La Land.

Bernstein joined CBS at the end of 2014 as VP Late Night Programming, West Coast, to shepherd the final stages of development and subsequently oversee The Late Late Show with James Corden. Promoted to SVP, Bernstein became a fixture on the show and frequent target of Corden’s, appearing in various gags.

After the 2023 end of The Late Late Show, Bernstein took oversight of After Midnight, hosted by Taylor Tomlinson, which, like its predecessor, also is based in Los Angeles. Following that show’s end this week, CBS will no longer air originals in the post-Late Show slot, instead running Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.

During his 11-year tenure at CBS, Bernstein also oversaw the Los Angeles-based daytime talk show The Talk, which ended its run in December.

Prior to joining CBS, Bernstein spent more than a decade as late-night executive at NBC, working with Saturday Night Live and with hosts Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno and Carson Daly.