Details
Union:
Union or Non union
Area of media:
Short Film
Network:
Paid?:
No
Rates:
Unpaid as per agreement between CFC & ACTRA.
Deadline:
Sept 4, 2025
Shooting starts:
Oct 5, 2025 Will also be required for 4hrs of rehearsal
Shooting finishes:
Oct 6, 2025
Shooting locations:
GTA
Cities for response:
Toronto
Comments
STORY films are 10-15 minute shorts from directors, producers and editors in the Norman Jewison Film Program at the Canadian Film Centre. The films are professionally produced in the fall, edited before the New Year, and submitted to the international festival circuit. Recent STORY films have premiered at TIFF, VIFF, CIFF, Fantasia and many more! This is a chance for actors to connect with Canada’s most exciting emerging talent, both on and off screen, and to collaborate with writer/directors on a piece that supports a feature film in development.
Ryan Leedu is a writer and director from the Canadian prairies. Ryan makes films that combine moments of patience, of small gestures, of precise compositions, that contrast with bursts of spontaneity and uninhibited performances. His film No Bedroom, an improvised affair that follows a woman who uses the premise of renting her house as a strange way to meet people, garnered an award for “breakout performance” for lead actor, Cassandra Paige, at the 2024 Canadian Film Fest. His previous film Portrait of the Con-Artist as a Young Man, premiered at VIFF in 2023. He’s the current President of the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (FAVA), was a resident of the Talent Lab at the 2024 Reykjavik International Film Festival, and is a current Director’s Lab resident at the Canadian Film Centre.
Ryan Leedu is a writer and director from the Canadian prairies. Ryan makes films that combine moments of patience, of small gestures, of precise compositions, that contrast with bursts of spontaneity and uninhibited performances. His film No Bedroom, an improvised affair that follows a woman who uses the premise of renting her house as a strange way to meet people, garnered an award for “breakout performance” for lead actor, Cassandra Paige, at the 2024 Canadian Film Fest. His previous film Portrait of the Con-Artist as a Young Man, premiered at VIFF in 2023. He’s the current President of the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (FAVA), was a resident of the Talent Lab at the 2024 Reykjavik International Film Festival, and is a current Director’s Lab resident at the Canadian Film Centre.
Storyline
Two brothers come to a head upon meeting for lunch on the anniversary of their father’s death.
With one brother tethered tightly to the past, and the other completely detached in all of his relationships, they are unable to grasp the full extent of their alcoholic father’s influence on their lives.
With one brother tethered tightly to the past, and the other completely detached in all of his relationships, they are unable to grasp the full extent of their alcoholic father’s influence on their lives.
Roles
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | DARREN | Male 34 - 39 Years old |
Description Male, Mid to late 30’s, any ethnicity. He has the distracted, impatient quality of a former alcoholic. He can’t stand in one place too long, focus on anything too intently, or go too long without a cigarette. He’s at a new stage in life, now sober and dedicated to running his cafe business. He feels a complicated need to uphold the memory of his alcoholic father as a stark reminder of who not to be. He makes a sustained daily effort towards gratitude, to appreciate the mundane and the simple pleasure of hard work. This is a new development for himself, as well as a sharp contrast to his more successful, more hedonistic, more carefree younger brother. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | ROB | Male 29 - 32 Years old |
Description Male, Late 20s - early 30s, any ethnicity. Handsome, something of a finance bro. He’s unbothered, detached, pleasure-seeking, self-interested, and has a laid-back charm. Rob likes to have a good time, and he pursues whatever he’s into head-first without calculation and without doubt, just self-determination and self-interest. He doesn’t know what bravery is, because he doesn’t know what fear is. He simply does what he wants, because that’s always worked for him. He likes to party and can do so without the issues with addiction that have plagued his brother and their father. Though his detached personality is of benefit in the context of addiction (or lack thereof), there’s an unacknowledged inability to open up and connect with others on a deep level, and he harbours an attitude of casual dismissal towards the various relationships in his life. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | JESS | Female 21 - 25 Years old |
Description Female, Early 20’s, any ethnicity. Guardian angel. Sister figure. Barista. Darren’s right hand gal at the cafe. She manages various aspects of the business and takes on more than just the basic duties of the job. It won’t be long before she moves on to a better job. Jess is quiet, thoughtful and observant, and can locate the truth in a given situation. She is the perspective through which we observe both Darren and Rob, and it’s through her lingering gaze that we are able to perceive these brothers, in ways that they aren’t aware of with each other or with themselves. | ||