TV Feature
Hanukkah on the Rocks: Winnipeg Casting
SAG-AFTRA Members, please login to your Membership Benefits deals and discounts page to activate your Casting Workbook membership.
Details
Union:
Union
Area of media:
TV Feature
Network:
Hallmark
Paid?:
Yes
Rates:
ACTRA scale + 110% advance
Deadline:
Aug 19, 2024
Shooting starts:
Sept 9, 2024 on or about
Shooting finishes:
Sept 29, 2024 on or about
Shooting locations:
Winnipeg & environs
Cities for response:
Winnipeg
Comments
We are committed to diverse, inclusive casting. For every role, please submit qualified performers, without regard to disability, race and ethnicity, age, color, or national origin. ALL ROLES BELOW ARE OPEN TO ARTISTS OF ANY RACE. Please approach dialogue with Standard American English.
Storyline
One week before Hanukkah, corporate lawyer Tory unexpectedly finds herself out of a job... and, for the first time in years, has time on her hands (and doubts in her head about the career she spent so many years building). Passing the time by helping her Bubby get ready for Hanukkah, Tory goes on a quest to find the last box of “good” Hanukkah candles in Chicago. Little does she know that the handsome doctor from Florida who she “fights” for the last box (Jay) will lead her straight to an Old Town bar called Rocky’s... a detour that will change the course of her life. (But don’t tell her parents, or her Bubby, that she’s not working at the law firm anymore. Tory’s not ready to see the disappointment on their faces. Bragging about her is their full-time job – and Tory’s convinced they’d be devastated if they knew the truth. She’ll tell them after Hanukkah.)
At Rocky’s, Tory meets Jay’s grandfather Sam, a widowed retiree whose seat at the corner of the bar has been “his” for decades. Around Sam (the grandfather Tory never had but always wanted), we meet a group of regulars who run the gamut from a frustrated accountant writing the Great American Novel on cocktail napkins, to a “cook” who’s secretly a gourmet chef, to a waitress following her dream of auditioning for Chicago’s Second City. Tory’s so charmed by Sam and his friends (and, eventually, Jay) that she ends up not only bartending that night to help them out in a pinch... she stays behind the bar for all eight nights of Hanukkah, helping turn Rocky’s from a sleepy local haunt past its prime, into a wildly popular Hanukkah pop-up bar called “Hanukkah on the Rocks.” The 8-night Hanukkah party bridges the generations, brings the neighborhood together, and makes Tory happier than she’s been in years.
With Hanukkah-themed food, drinks, and games getting bigger and better as each night passes, Tory not only transforms the bar, she also transforms herself and everyone around her, encouraging them to take a chance on their own dreams. Her connection and romance with Jay makes him realize that Sam doesn’t belong in Florida... Jay belongs in Chicago. Tory realizes her calling has always been to help people – she just got a little off-course. With Jay (and Sam) by her side, Tory finds the courage to tell her family the truth, open her heart to change, and let the lights of Hanukkah illuminate all of their paths, guiding them toward a brighter future.
At Rocky’s, Tory meets Jay’s grandfather Sam, a widowed retiree whose seat at the corner of the bar has been “his” for decades. Around Sam (the grandfather Tory never had but always wanted), we meet a group of regulars who run the gamut from a frustrated accountant writing the Great American Novel on cocktail napkins, to a “cook” who’s secretly a gourmet chef, to a waitress following her dream of auditioning for Chicago’s Second City. Tory’s so charmed by Sam and his friends (and, eventually, Jay) that she ends up not only bartending that night to help them out in a pinch... she stays behind the bar for all eight nights of Hanukkah, helping turn Rocky’s from a sleepy local haunt past its prime, into a wildly popular Hanukkah pop-up bar called “Hanukkah on the Rocks.” The 8-night Hanukkah party bridges the generations, brings the neighborhood together, and makes Tory happier than she’s been in years.
With Hanukkah-themed food, drinks, and games getting bigger and better as each night passes, Tory not only transforms the bar, she also transforms herself and everyone around her, encouraging them to take a chance on their own dreams. Her connection and romance with Jay makes him realize that Sam doesn’t belong in Florida... Jay belongs in Chicago. Tory realizes her calling has always been to help people – she just got a little off-course. With Jay (and Sam) by her side, Tory finds the courage to tell her family the truth, open her heart to change, and let the lights of Hanukkah illuminate all of their paths, guiding them toward a brighter future.
Roles
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Lead | Sam Rosen | Male 67 - 79 Years old |
Description Sam is the much-loved patriarch of the Rosen family. His devoted wife Celia died a few years ago, so Sam’s family are concerned for him - they all live in Florida and think it would be better for Sam to move there as well. ...Sam is a regular fixture at ‘Rocky’s’, an old-school style Chicago pub that he’s been frequenting for many years - in fact he even proposed to Celia there decades ago. What Jay and family in Florida don’t quite realize is that the staff and other regulars at Rocky’s have grown to be a surrogate family of sorts to Sam. With gentle warmth and a generous spirit, Sam convinces his family he is perfectly happy in Chicago and surrounded with loved ones. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Lead | Jay Rosen | Male 30 - 38 Years old |
Description Jay is Sam’s grandson, a handsome and successful radiologist who now lives in Florida. He’s come up to Chicago to try and convince Sam to move down to Florida so he’s close to family. ...While on the hunt for a preferred brand of Hanukkah candles, Jay encounters Tory Schaeffer on a similar mission. With Hanukkah’s festivities in high-gear at Rocky’s Bar, Jay discovers a special bond with Tory amid the glow of the Festival of Lights. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Supporting | Bubby | Female 65 - 78 Years old |
Description Tory and her grandmother Frances, aka ‘Bubby’, have always been close. As busy as Tory may be with her career, she always makes time to connect with her Bubby, if just for ten minutes at their favorite deli for a quick breakfast. She is tremendously proud of Tory’s academic achievements and her career as a lawyer, and knows the sacrifices that have been made for that success. But Bubby senses a lack of balance in her grand-daughter’s life and knows Tory could be happier. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Supporting | Lottie | Female 39 - 51 Years old |
Description Lottie is the long-time cook and manager at Rocky’s Bar. Although she can seem a little gruff on occasion, she loves her regular customers like family and has a heart of gold. ...When bartender Kara suddenly quits to go on a sunny vacation, Lottie is left short-staffed at her busiest time of the year and hires Tory on the spot! Tory not only helps her business, she inspires Lottie to re-discover her long-lost creative passion as a chef. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Supporting | Estelle | Female 51 - 65 Years old |
Description Tory’s mother Estelle is very proud of her daughter’s professional success as a lawyer - but she has a playful side that comes out for the Holiday. Estelle and hubby Walter were spending Hanukkah in the Bahamas, but come home to Chicago as a grand surprise - leaving Tory at a loss to explain her change in employment from lawyer, to bartender at Rocky’s. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Supporting | Walter | Male 53 - 65 Years old |
Description Although Walter is Tory and Becca’s Dad, he’s still a kid at heart which is clear to see by his love for Hanukkah. He and Estelle were planning on spending December in the Bahamas, but Walter could not stand to be away from his daughters, and grandson Parker - so they came home much to Tory’s surprise... | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Supporting | Becca | Female 31 - 37 Years old |
Description Tory and Becca are not just sisters, they are close friends. When Tory loses her job at the firm, it’s Becca she turns to for sympathetic, non-judgmental support. Becca is the first to know about Tory’s change in career from lawyer to ‘mixologist’ - she’s also the first to meet Jay, and see the happy glow he’s cast upon her very single sister... | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Large Principal | Anthony | Male 39 - 51 Years old |
Description A regular customer at Rocky’s, Anthony has found a sense of family at this much-loved community hang-out. He’s stepped away from his career as an accountant to pursue his life’s dream to write a great novel! A little eccentric by nature, we see him scribbling away on cocktail napkins which Anthony says are his ‘schtick’ - in truth, the whole cocktail napkin thing is an excuse to not show his writing to anyone...That all changes when Sam gifts him an old typewriter. Anthony discovers a new sense of pride in his writing, and the confidence to finally declare his love for Lottie! | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Large Principal | Stacy-Lynn | Female 21 - 27 Years old |
Description An aspiring young actress, Stacy-Lynn is also a waitress at Rocky’s - a job she really loves because of the sense of family the old bar has imbued among its staff and regular customers. After word gets out about Rocky’s new fancy cocktails and ‘gastro-pub’ fare being served for Hanukkah, business really starts to pick-up...Like Anthony, Stacy-Lynn sometimes struggles to believe in herself, but the ability she displays successfully marketing Rocky’s new menu items offers her the boost of confidence she needs. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Large Principal | Parker | Male 7 - 11 Years old |
Description Parker is Becca’s rambunctious, fun-loving son. He’s full of energy and loves to play games with his Aunt Tory - and she loves decorating Hanukkah cookies with her favorite nephew! PLEASE INCLUDE DATE of BIRTH WITH SUBMISSION. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Principal | Kara | Female 24 - 30 Years old |
Description Kara is the friendly bartender at Rocky’s - she likes her job, but for her it’s just that, a job. When her boyfriend invites Kara on an all-inclusive vacation to Cabo, Kara bails on Rocky’s and Lottie, without so much as a second thought. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Principal | Female Lawyer | Female 27 - 36 Years old |
Description An associate and peer of Tory’s at the law firm, Tory commiserates with her about the long hours they both put in at work. Her co-worker’s advice to Tory is to buckle-up and not let that exhaustion show, particularly since some terminations are on the horizon after the firm’s recent merger...Later Tory discovers any sympathy that was shown to her was false, and that this colleague may have had a hand in Tory losing her job. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Principal | Carl | Male 35 - 56 Years old |
Description Over-worked real estate agent Carl has been trying to track down Sam - that is to buy the building occupied by Rocky’s Bar...Unbeknownst to all except Lottie, Sam actually owns much of the city block. | ||
Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
Actor | Older Lawyer | Male 60 - 68 Years old |
Description Tory has heard there may be lay-offs at the law firm, and this experienced lawyer calls her into his office to deliver the unhappy news. |