Complex sentence: Nair claimed that finding an actress to play Phiona was the most difficult; the casting search took from July to December 2014, with the production team auditioning nearly 700 girls.
Split into simpler sentences: Nair claimed that finding an actress to play Phiona was the most difficult process. The casting search for Phiona took place from July to December 2014, with the production team auditioning nearly 700 girls.