Details
Union:
Union
Area of media:
Short Film
Network:
Paid?:
Yes
Rates:
ACTRA AIP (rate TBC)
Deadline:
July 15, 2025
Shooting starts:
Sept 26, 2025 or following week
Shooting finishes:
Sept 29, 2025 or following week
Shooting locations:
Saint Jerome / Saint Hippolyte
Cities for response:
Montréal
Comments
Accommodations to be provided at Auberge nearby. We would love for the leads to look rugged and scruffy so to keep that in mind with timeline/availability of shoot.
Storyline
In a haunting, near-future dystopia, two neighbouring fathers—each alone with their child—struggle to survive amid the collapse of society. As resources dwindle and tensions rise, they’re forced to confront their deepest fears, darkest instincts, and the impossible choices between compassion and survival.
Roles
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | Tim | Male 34 - 42 Years old |
Description A once-idealistic political science thinker, Tim is now a hollowed version of his former self — malnourished, exhausted, and spiraling into quiet despair. Having fled the city with his daughter, he’s tried to protect her using reason, compassion, and optimism, but the world no longer rewards those virtues. His moral compass still guides him, but the lines between right and wrong blur more each day. Tim is reflective, self-aware, and burdened by guilt, especially over his inability to save his wife and now his daughter. He clings to humor and tenderness as coping mechanisms, using sarcasm and intellect to mask his helplessness. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | Frank | Male 45 - 53 Years old |
Description Frank has always been ruled by fear. Even before the collapse, he was controlling, anxious, and emotionally rigid — someone who believed danger was always around the corner. That mindset helped him prepare for the worst, but it also prevented him from ever truly enjoying life or connecting deeply with others. He’s a survivalist by nature, but an inconsistent one, undermined by his drinking and emotional instability. Beneath the bluster and violence is a man haunted by loss and crippled by guilt — someone who confuses protection with possession. Frank loves his son, but his version of love is suffocating, rooted in fear of losing control. He’s a man constantly on the edge, unable to see that the thing he fears most — isolation — is the very thing he’s creating. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Supporting | Olivia (10) | Female 8 - 11 Years old |
Description Tim's daughter. Bright, witty, and emotionally intuitive beyond her years, Olivia is a child forced to grow up too fast. Despite physical weakness and a deteriorating world, she holds on to curiosity, sarcasm, and an almost maternal care for her father. Her innocence is fading, but her spirit endures — she challenges Tim with sharp observations and isn’t afraid to call out hypocrisy or dodge sentimentality. Olivia represents the last flicker of hope and normalcy for Tim, and her slow decline becomes a symbol of everything that’s being lost. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Supporting | John (13) | Male 11 - 14 Years old |
Description Frank's Son, mute. Silent but expressive, John is the emotional soul of the story. Though he doesn’t speak, his intentions are loud — he believes in kindness, in hope, and in connection. Trapped between his father’s authoritarian survivalism and his own innate empathy, John often finds quiet ways to resist — sharing food, tinkering with radios, and holding onto the belief that communication can still save lives. His muteness is not a weakness, but a strength: it allows him to listen, observe, and act with a moral clarity that others have lost. John’s actions are small but meaningful, and in many ways, he is the story’s conscience. | ||