Born and raised in San Francisco, Billy was an integral part of the music scene in the Bay Area in the early ’70s. He made the move to Hollywood and started casting in 1984, and throughout the years has worked with directors like Andrew Davis, Jonathan Kaplan, John Landis, and Dennis Hopper, and actors such as Ed Harris, Sean Penn, Faye Dunaway, Malcolm MacDowell, Pam Grier, Anthony Edwards, Sharon Stone, Steven Seagal, Billy Bob Thornton, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Martin Sheen, Tony Curtis and Mickey Rooney. Billy even wrote a screenplay and produced a film with the late Timothy Leary!  

In 1989, Billy applied his experience in film casting to the commercial world, and has since cast hundreds of commercials, and has worked with such esteemed feature directors as Alex Proyas ("I, ROBOT") and Russell Mulcahy ("HIGHLANDER"). Billy has cast in nearly every state of the union, as well as England, Ireland, Italy, Spain, France, Canada, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. He speaks Spanish and Italian.

Billy DaMota joined the Casting Society of America in 1992, and has been twice nominated for the CSA’s prestigious Artios Award.

Over the last few years, Billy has called upon his two decades of casting experience to helping educate and inform actors about the casting process. He has taught audition technique around the US and the world and has appeared as a guest teacher at some of Los Angeles’ most prestigious schools. Billy taught on staff at the legendary Lee Strasberg Institute in Hollywood, California.

With over 50 films, hundreds of national commercials, and several award winning music videos, Billy’s expertise in all fields is informed by his relentless pursuit of finding exciting new talent.