[NEohioPAL] Urgent Casting Call for Student Film

[Nate Merritt]

Hello, our names are Trey Duplain, Nate Merritt, and Santino Vitale; Nate is a 
sophomore Communications/Film major at Malone University, Trey is a junior 
English major at Walsh University, and Santino is a burgeoning stop-motion 
animator (who is still in high school). We are creating a student short film and 
are looking for actors. We will be submitting the film to the Canton Film 
Festival at the beginning of September, so this is an urgent casting call; we 
will also submit it to the Open Frame Film Festival and other film festivals in 
the future. 


The film revolves around Steven, an apprehensive therapist with relationship 
problems and interesting patients, including a suicidal ice cream truck driver 
and a man who is sexually-attracted to cartoon rabbits. Steven’s insecurities 
are rooted in his own psychological issues: he is haunted by hallucinations of a 
womanizing, cigar-smoking hamster. His problems with women begin to resurface 
when an attractive female patient steps into his office.

Because of our lack of budget, this is a passion project and the acting will be 
on a pro-bono basis. Of course, food will be provided on-set and anyone acting 
will be allowed to use footage for their reel. Filming will take place in the 
Canton area in early August. We will gladly send a copy of the script upon 
request, and film reels will be accepted in place of auditions.

We are casting several roles for our film:
-The protagonist, a timid and socially inept 30-something therapist, STEVEN. His 
waning confidence leads him to seeing a therapist of his own. He also suffers 
from hallucinations that are brought on by his deceased father’s expectations of 
hyper-masculinity. Steven is a high-brow bachelor with kind and gentle demeanor.

-A manic pixie dream-girl in her late-twenties to early-thirties, MADELEINE, 
frequently visits therapists in search of the answer to a problem she cannot 
define. Her determination to reach the inner layers of her psyche leads her to 
Steven’s office where her unique sense of style and her own uncertainties catch 
Steven’s eye. Madeleine is an eclectic blend of fun and sophistication, a 
combination of Audrey Hepburn and Zooey Deschanel.

-A greying, reformed hippie in her 50’s, DIANE, serves as Steven’s therapist. 
Though her earthy decor and plethora of pillows makes her look like a witch 
doctor, her methods of practice are far less savage than chants and shrunken 
heads. Diane is genuinely concerned with the mental health of her patients. 


-An overweight, cigar-smoking patriarch with a sausage-stained wife-beater, 
STEVEN’S FATHER, is a blue-collar, foul-mouthed bully from Brooklyn in his 
mid-forties. He is angered by Steven’s inability to live up to his expectations 
and pressures him to pursue women “like a man.” His poor health is sending him 
to an early grave. This role takes place during the flashback scene, but would 
also serve as the voice of TONY, a hamster that personifies Steven’s father and 
haunts Steven.

-A gawky adolescent around 17, YOUNG STEVEN, lives in fear of his 
emotionally-abusive father. He only enjoys sitting in his room, playing with his 
pet hamster. Young Steven is only in the flashback scene.

-A suicidal ice cream truck driver, WILLIE, is under the pressure of his mother 
to continue on the family business. He is one of Steven’s patients. Willie is a 
lanky man who is torn between having to endure listening to “the Entertainer” 
day after day and exchanging money with grubby children or breaking his mother’s 
heart. 


Contact information:
Nate Merritt- nem713 at att.net or (330)-430-9159
Trey Duplain- louisduplain at walsh.edu
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20110717/129640d4/attachment-0003.htm>