Details
Episode:
Series - 30 minute x 8 episodes
Union:
Union or Non union
Area of media:
TV Series
Network:
Crave
Paid?:
Yes
Rates:
ACTRA, buyout 50%
Deadline:
May 13, 2026
Shooting starts:
Early October to mid-November 2026
Shooting locations:
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Cities for response:
Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Charlottetown, St. John's, Sudbury, Kelowna
Comments
TALENT MUST BE A CANADIAN CITIZEN
TALENT MUST BE ABLE TO LEGALLY WORK IN CANADA
Tone & Style: Dark Comedy/ Grounded Absurdity
Comp: Rooster
UNTITLED SHERRY MCKAY PROJECT is a darkly funny, deeply honest story about mining your own chaos for comedy-and healing.
TALENT MUST BE ABLE TO LEGALLY WORK IN CANADA
Tone & Style: Dark Comedy/ Grounded Absurdity
Comp: Rooster
UNTITLED SHERRY MCKAY PROJECT is a darkly funny, deeply honest story about mining your own chaos for comedy-and healing.
Storyline
After losing everything, a struggling Indigenous single mom finds her ticket out of poverty when she discovers stand-up comedy. Inspired by the life and comedy of Indigenous stand-up comedian Sherry McKay, I Can't Save You follows a broke, Native, single mom from Winnipeg's North End who finds her calling when she stumbles into stand-up comedy after losing her job and apartment. With two kids to support, a deadbeat baby daddy, an unreliable mother and a minimum-wage job, Sherry's barely keeping her head above water. When a bed falls through the ceiling of her low-income apartment, Sherry and her kids have nowhere to live. To top it off, she's agreed to bring the cake to her cheating ex's wedding, where she will accidentally sit on the cake, drink too much and make a scathing speech while balancing on a chair that breaks, flipping her on her ass as guests watch in horror. With nowhere to go and 100 bucks to her name, Sherry gets a room at a run-down motel boasting 2-for-1 wings and karaoke. It's lit and packed with Natives. What starts as a throwaway joke during a drawn-out karaoke intro sparks something unexpected - the crowd loves her. At that moment, a three-season arc is launched, charting Sherry's raw, unfiltered, very bumpy and riddled with obstacles rise to success. Set against a backdrop of intergenerational trauma, housing precarity, and community politics, I Can't Save You is a darkly funny, deeply honest story about mining your own chaos for comedy-and healing.
Roles
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | SAGE McKAY | Female 15 - 18 Years old |
Description [SAGE McKAY] 16, Anishinaabe. Sherry's daughter, activist in training. Wise beyond her years, Sage loves to wax Indigenous politics anytime and anywhere. She's serious and witty but dry and determined to uncover the truth about who her father is. When the kids at school call her a "Pretendian," it sends her on a deeply personal mission to prove them wrong—not just to others, but to herself. Sage is Sherry's toughest critic and her greatest ally, even when they're butting heads. She wants more than survival—she wants clarity, legacy, and purpose. But to get that, she'll have to face the uncomfortable truth about her family—and maybe accept that bloodlines aren't the only thing that defines who she is. SERIES LEAD.THIS ROLE IS UNDER A 3 YEAR OPTION. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | RIVER McKAY | Male 12 - 15 Years old |
Description [RIVER McKAY] 13, Anishinaabe. Sherry’s son and youngest child. He’s bright, kind, smart, and helpful. Sherry’s been an incredible mom to him, but it’s time for him to start learning to be independent, as Sherry’s comedy career kicks off, she can’t be hovering over him all the time. Endlessly adaptable, he’s a much more calm and patient kid than other kids his age, especially when compared to his half-brother. He can be quiet, and a little anxious. He is well behaved, knowing he absolutely does not want to wind up staying with his dad, Leonard, whose bravado he can see right through. River finds a friend in Carter, who we discover have a lot to teach each other. River’s journey throughout the season is to find his confidence and finally stand up to his problematic Dad. SERIES LEAD.THIS ROLE IS UNDER A 3 YEAR OPTION. | ||