Details
Union:
Non union
Area of media:
Mini-Series
Network:
Paid?:
Yes
Rates:
$125 CAD per shoot day, per role. Pay is an honorarium for this self-funded YouTube production. Pay is per shoot day and not per episode. There are no additional payments or reimbursements for travel, wardrobe, rehearsals, or overtime.
Actors may be asked to provide their own approved personal wardrobe options and production will provide the café work uniforms and aprons required for the series.
Performers must be available in Surrey or Vancouver during the production dates. Production is open to performers from outside the Lower Mainland, provided they are already in the area and available to work as local hires. Production will not provide or reimburse travel or accommodation.
The exact number of shoot days required for each character will be confirmed before booking.
Deadline:
Aug 21, 2026
Shooting starts:
Sept 4, 2026
Shooting finishes:
Sept 11, 2026
Shooting locations:
Surrey and Vancouver, BC
Cities for response:
Vancouver
Comments
SERIES INFORMATION
Nuclear Productions also released another web series, Naan Bread, on its YouTube channel in July 2026. Chai Tea is a six-episode comedy mini series. Each episode will be approximately 10 to 12 minutes long.
The series is set primarily inside Chai Tea Café, a proudly mismatched Indo-Canadian neighbourhood café where Indian and Canadian culture meet through the food, decor, staff, and eccentric regular customers.
CASTING NOTE
We are seeking performers with grounded comedic timing, strong listening skills and the ability to make heightened situations feel natural and truthful.
This is an ensemble comedy, and chemistry between the café employees and regular customers will be an important part of the casting process.
Unless otherwise stated, performers should be comfortable with food and beverage handling and acting as if they are working in a café environment.
There may be a brief scripted kiss between Maninder and Summer at the conclusion of the series. The final intimacy requirements will be confirmed and disclosed before booking.
Nuclear Productions also released another web series, Naan Bread, on its YouTube channel in July 2026. Chai Tea is a six-episode comedy mini series. Each episode will be approximately 10 to 12 minutes long.
The series is set primarily inside Chai Tea Café, a proudly mismatched Indo-Canadian neighbourhood café where Indian and Canadian culture meet through the food, decor, staff, and eccentric regular customers.
CASTING NOTE
We are seeking performers with grounded comedic timing, strong listening skills and the ability to make heightened situations feel natural and truthful.
This is an ensemble comedy, and chemistry between the café employees and regular customers will be an important part of the casting process.
Unless otherwise stated, performers should be comfortable with food and beverage handling and acting as if they are working in a café environment.
There may be a brief scripted kiss between Maninder and Summer at the conclusion of the series. The final intimacy requirements will be confirmed and disclosed before booking.
Storyline
When his uncle leaves for Punjab for a supposedly temporary retirement, struggling Indo-Canadian stand-up comic Maninder Cheema is forced to take over Chai Tea, a warm but chaotic café in Surrey.
Maninder sees the customers as freeloaders, the staff as impossible and the café as a trap. However, the more he complains about everyone around him, the more entertaining they find him. As Maninder attempts to impose order on the café, he begins to discover that he may be unexpectedly good at running the place he is desperate to escape.
At its heart, Chai Tea is a bittersweet ensemble comedy about community, resentment, immigrant family obligations and the fear of discovering that you may be good at the thing you most want to avoid.
Maninder sees the customers as freeloaders, the staff as impossible and the café as a trap. However, the more he complains about everyone around him, the more entertaining they find him. As Maninder attempts to impose order on the café, he begins to discover that he may be unexpectedly good at running the place he is desperate to escape.
At its heart, Chai Tea is a bittersweet ensemble comedy about community, resentment, immigrant family obligations and the fear of discovering that you may be good at the thing you most want to avoid.
Roles
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring | Summer Tremblay | Female 23 - 29 Years old |
Description Summer - Woman, 25, Caucasian - A grounded and perceptive barista with warmth, intelligence, wit and firm boundaries. Summer understands the emotional ecosystem of Chai Tea better than anyone and sees through Maninder almost immediately.She is neither impressed nor intimidated by his anger and frequently becomes his reluctant translator into basic human decency. There is a romantic possibility between them, but their strongest dynamic comes from Summer seeing him too clearly and calmly challenging him whenever he is lying to himself. Requires excellent naturalistic comedic timing, emotional intelligence, warmth and strong chemistry with the performer playing Maninder. The performer should be comfortable handling café items and wearing a production-provided apron. Content Considerations: There may be a brief scripted kiss between Summer and Maninder at the conclusion of the series. The final requirements will be confirmed and disclosed before booking. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring | Blake Owen (BO) | Male 26 - 34 Years old |
Description Blake Owen - Male, 28, Caucasian - Think Dwight Schrute from the office - An earnest, approval-hungry café employee who takes his job far too seriously. Blake has always believed he deserves to become manager and sees Maninder’s arrival as an insulting example of family nepotism.Blake creates checklists for existing checklists, talks about team culture without irony and takes compost rules personally. Beneath his officious behaviour, he is deeply insecure and desperate to feel important. We are looking for a genuinely funny performer with a strong and distinctive personality. The comedic reference is Dwight from The Office, but the performance should remain original, grounded and specific to Blake. Requires sharp comedic instincts, physical comedy and the ability to make an exaggerated personality feel sincere rather than cartoonish. The performer should be comfortable handling café items, wearing a production-provided apron and potentially appearing in cycling clothing. Content Considerations: No nudity, partial nudity, intimacy or violence currently indicated. The role includes workplace conflict, physical comedy and moments of heightened emotional stress. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring | Ingrid | Female 62 - 75 Years old |
Description Ingrid - Woman, 68, East Aisian, with Korean heritage preferred - An elegant, precise and quietly formidable café regular. Ingrid arrives with one fresh flower each day, completes her crosswords in pen and notices everything happening around her.She says very little but can correct an entire personality with a single observation. Ingrid loved CT and does not automatically extend the same affection to Maninder, who must slowly earn her approval. Requires exceptional stillness, dry comedic timing and the ability to land brief lines with quiet authority. The character’s surname appears as both Park and Chin in the current development materials. The final character name will be confirmed before production. Content Considerations: No nudity, partial nudity, intimacy or violence currently indicated. The role includes verbal conflict and dry insults. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring | Felix Harcourt | Male 68 - 80 Years old |
Description Felix Harcourt - Male, 72, Caucasian - An elderly café regular with thick glasses, enormous books and an almost heroic ability to occupy the same chair without ordering anything.Felix has been part of Chai Tea for so long that the other regulars consider him part of the architecture. Maninder sees him as a business problem, while everyone else sees him as part of the café’s soul. Felix is quiet, dry and almost mythic. He says very little, but every line lands. Requires understated comedic timing, strong listening skills and the ability to communicate through stillness, silence and small reactions. Content Considerations: No nudity, partial nudity, intimacy or violence currently indicated. The character is confronted about leaving the café and participates in mild verbal conflict. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring | Tyler | Male 32 - 40 Years old |
Description Tyler - Male, 35, Caucasian- Denise’s estranged partner and one half of the breakup couple who refuse to give up their shared café.Tyler and Denise separated approximately eight months ago, but both continue visiting Chai Tea. They sit separately while carefully monitoring each other’s emotional progress and frequently turn coffee orders, seating arrangements and café food into full relationship arguments. Tyler is defensive, stubborn and still far more invested in Denise than he wants anyone to know. Requires excellent comedic rhythm, grounded emotional delivery, natural banter and strong chemistry with the performer playing Denise. Content Considerations: No nudity, partial nudity or violence currently indicated. The role includes frequent verbal arguments and relationship conflict with Denise. No physical intimacy is currently indicated. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring | Denise | Female 32 - 40 Years old |
Description Denise - Female, 35, Caucasian - Tyler’s estranged partner and the equally stubborn other half of Chai Tea’s ongoing breakup drama.Denise is intense, quick-witted and unwilling to surrender the café simply because the relationship ended. She and Tyler can turn a shared coffee order or the last sandwich in the display case into a full emotional battle. Beneath the hostility, it is clear that neither of them has fully moved on. Requires excellent comedic rhythm, grounded emotional delivery, natural banter and strong chemistry with the performer playing Tyler. Content Considerations: No nudity, partial nudity or violence currently indicated. The role includes frequent verbal arguments and relationship conflict with Tyler. No physical intimacy is currently indicated. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring | Karen Greer | Female 35 - 45 Years old |
Description Karen Greer - Female, 38, Open Ethnicity - A permanently stressed Vancouver-area realtor who uses Chai Tea as her unofficial office, client lounge, crisis bunker and emotional charging station.Karen storms in and out between showings, rearranges furniture for video calls and is always one bad offer away from collapse. She is demanding, intense and frequently exhausting, but fiercely loyal when someone she cares about is threatened. Requires sharp verbal comedy, strong energy and the ability to move quickly between rage, vulnerability and genuine warmth. The performer should be comfortable with fast-paced dialogue, handling a phone and moving café furniture or props as directed. Content Considerations: No nudity, partial nudity, intimacy or violence currently indicated. The role includes heated verbal conflict, threats made for comedic effect and heightened emotional outbursts. | ||