Originally from the Catskills of New York, Mariko graduated from SUNY New Paltz in 1980 with a B.A in Theater Arts. After moving to Los Angeles, she became a Commercial Casting Director with Danny Goldman & Associates Casting.  For 25 years Mariko cast numerous commercials and auditioned thousands of actors, also teaching actors how to be more believable, more natural for the camera, therefore increasing their callback and booking ratio. 

This past year Mariko became a talent agent and experienced the "other side" of casting. She is now teaching actors not only how to be believable in the commercial venue, but also how to best assist their agents in making themselves viable in this highly competitive commercial market.