Project Overview
When a storm lands his estranged brother in town, an aging theater professor begins to hallucinate scenes from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, awakening ghosts of the past and rippling dangerously into the real world.
Passage is a feature film set in present day Chicago, portrayed as a gritty urban world dappled with surreal encounters. The film blends contemporary dialogue with Shakespearean text.
Please note, we are currently casting for a trailer of the film which will shoot in August 2021. The full film is slated for production in the summer of 2022.
Comparable productions include: Birdman, Being John Malkovich, Mulholland Drive, Stranger Than Fiction, The Fisher King.
The visual style of the film will mirror the duplicity of the story, blending documentary style, natural light, moving camera cinematography (allowing for actor’s freedom of movement and performance) with more theatrical, neo-noir set pieces.
The film is written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Dave Less and produced by Mathias Blake and Anna Munzesheimer.
Important Dates:
- Callbacks (in-person): July 31-August 1
- 1-2 days of rehearsal: TBD August 2 – 20.
- Shoot Dates: August 21-22 and 28-29.
- All callbacks, rehearsals and filming will be in and around Chicago, IL. Please arrange personal transportation.
Characters
Non-union project.
LEADING ROLES – 4 shoot days
PAUL (male, 55-75, Caucasian) – Negotiable Rate (min $450)
A professor of theater at a small community college grinding out the end of his days. When a storm opens a passage into the world of The Tempest, Paul has the chance to reclaim lost glory, exact revenge and rewrite his legacy. Flush with power, he pulls in people from his real life, but not all want to play the roles as written.
Sides:
EMERSON (female or non-binary, 18-22) – Flat Rate $250
A vegan straight edge punk tired of living with and caring for her father, Paul. She embraces a new age world view of kindness and acceptance but is prone to small moments of violence as her growing strength pushes for greater independence.
Sides:
ANDRE /ARIEL (androgynous, 23-30, BIPOC preferred) – Flat Rate $250
A drag performer barely scraping by, but used to the hustle of the streets and afraid of no one. More intrigued than frightened by the appearance of The Tempest, he has a strange affinity for Paul’s manipulative games.
Sides:
SUPPORTING ROLES – 1 shoot day
For supporting roles no sides are required at this time.
Please send a demo reel or contemporary monologue.
If you are applying for a Leading Role but are willing to be considered for a Supporting Role, please indicate this in your email.
CAL (male, 21, BIPOC) – Flat Rate $50
Working as the maintenance man and living in the basement apartment of Paul’s building, he studies relentlessly to get a college degree while striking up a clandestine friendship with Emerson. Only she recognizes his overlooked intelligence.
TONY (male, 50-60, Caucasian) – Flat Rate $50
Paul’s estranged brother, now a wealthy movie producer in L.A., is in critical condition after his private jet hit violent turbulence in a lightning storm over Chicago. Plagued by nightmares of The Tempest, he requests to see Paul to whom he hasn’t spoken in 14 years.
SGT. MCCABE (female, 35-45) – Flat Rate $50
Instructions
***INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO TAPE, PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:
– Include a full body slate with Name, height and current location.
– Slate and scene can be taped separately and submitted as separate files/takes.
Please send in one take of each scene in two separate files.
-Label as follows:
SLATE: ROLE-Firstname Lastname-Slate.mov (or .wmv, .mp4, etc)
SCENE: ROLE-Firstname Lastname-Scene1
ROLE-Firstname Lastname-Scene2
– NO VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS
– Make sure to have someone reading off camera with you if the scene calls for it.
Please send your recordings and any conflict dates along with your headshot and resume to passagefilm1@gmail.com
All submissions are due before midnight of Saturday, July 24th, 2021.
Please include your name and role in the subject of your email, e.g. MATHIASBLAKE – PAUL, and make sure any attachments are sized for gmail.