Yesterday, ICE students took part in a very unique demo from some of the people behind the scenes of one of TV’s top-related food shows. Identical twins Lisa and Debbie Ganz are the owners of Twins Talent and act as senior casting producers of the hit shows Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, starring celebrity Gordon Ramsay. They are also the former owners and founders of Twins Restaurant, a restaurant staffed entirely by identical twins.

When asked what they look for in a contestant, the twins said that it was not so much about cooking ability, but it was more important to have the ability to withstand the tough conditions on the show and to have some interesting qualities that make for good TV. They said, “There is rigorous testing involved, not just cooking skills but psychological tests and exams as well.” More…

When ICE President Rick Smilow and Anne E. McBride wrote Culinary Careers: How to Get Your Dream Job in Food they discovered a plethora of food jobs they had never heard of before. Since the book’s release, they have been discovering even more interesting career paths in the food world. DICED shares some of them with you in a reoccurring feature, “Unique Culinary Careers.”

Identical twin sisters Lisa and Debbie Ganz once owned a one-of-a-kind restaurant staffed by identical twins. Now, they are owners of one of the leading casting companies in the country for reality television, Twins Talent. They’ve combined their skill for casting with their love of all things culinary as the senior casting producers of the hit shows Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, starring celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. On September 13, they will be hosting a demonstration at ICE to discuss their roles as casting directors and give guests a peak inside the world of reality TV (Update: This event will be rescheduled in 2011). They’ll be bringing some of Hell’s Kitchen’s memorable contestants (including Kevin Cottle, Jason Santos, Van Hurd and Robert Hesse) with them to give a insider’s view of the shows.

But before the event, we sat down with Lisa to learn some more about how she and her twin sister created the job they do today and their interesting and unique position in the food industry.

How would you describe your job?
We are casting directors for unscripted reality television. We’re an integral part of selecting of contestants for both Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. While we cast all types of programming, our personal passion is the food and culinary area. As part of our business Twins Talent, we also specialize in casting twins, triplets, quadruplets, etc. for film, print and commercials. More…