Details
Union:
Union
Area of media:
Other
Network:
Paid?:
No
Rates:
We are operating as an approved MIP project, with each performer owning a share in the final production. We are currently awaiting an application for funding, and if this is fulfilled, we will be offering an honorarium of $1000 to each performer for the project along with the aforementioned share. Until further notice, please consider this to be an unpaid gig.
Deadline:
Nov 14, 2026
Shooting starts:
Jan 3, 2027
Shooting finishes:
Jan 16, 2027
Shooting locations:
Concordia University ALLAB
Cities for response:
Montréal
Comments
The Hermitage is an Audio Drama presented in a Podcast format. We are looking for grounded performances, however are happy to hear more "out there" character choices as well. Performers do not have to fit the age range of the character, as long as the voice lends itself to that quality.
Storyline
LOGLINE: Syd, in order to avoid dealing with the cracks festering in her relationship, leaves her girlfriend back in Vancouver and embarks with friend and mentor Oskar – his own cryptic fascination in tow – on a research trip deep in the Canadian Rockies.
FULL SYNOPSIS: After receiving a terminal A.I.D.S diagnosis in the fall of 1985, Oskar Kett, a world renowned anthropologist and highly lauded professor at the University of British Columbia, is unexpectedly given an exciting opportunity: Syd Rimer, a colleague and friend of Oskar's, is planning an ecological research trip up to the secluded mountain town of Hemlock Ridge, nestled deep within the Canadian Rockies. Outcast as the only female researcher on an all-male team, Syd is no stranger to getting the short end of the stick, and this trip is no exception. Sidelined yet again, Syd is to make the tedious trip up to the Rockies in order to collect samples and make observations of a landscape ravaged by peculiar wildfires.
For centuries, settlers and Indigenous peoples alike have told tales of the horrors that dwell in the ancient pine forest. Though the Lheidli T'enneh Nation gave the area a wide berth, the settlers that arrived decades later decided to stay, despite being warned to avoid Hemlock Ridge entirely. For years now, Oskar has researched the history of this area, its inhabitants, and the folklore surrounding it all, collecting spook magazines and newspaper clippings with mentions of the mysterious town.
For Oskar, it’s as if the universe is putting everything in line. A chance to finally research something he’s always considered too frivolous to pursue, and with it, a distraction from the growing pressure to reveal his condition to those he loves. A final project. A final escape.
But in Hemlock Ridge, nothing is as it seems. Fundamental rules start to bend. The impossible becomes the natural. And somewhere between the unraveling of Oskar and Syd’s perception of the world around them and the growing complexities of their personal lives, a quiet question demands to be answered…
FULL SYNOPSIS: After receiving a terminal A.I.D.S diagnosis in the fall of 1985, Oskar Kett, a world renowned anthropologist and highly lauded professor at the University of British Columbia, is unexpectedly given an exciting opportunity: Syd Rimer, a colleague and friend of Oskar's, is planning an ecological research trip up to the secluded mountain town of Hemlock Ridge, nestled deep within the Canadian Rockies. Outcast as the only female researcher on an all-male team, Syd is no stranger to getting the short end of the stick, and this trip is no exception. Sidelined yet again, Syd is to make the tedious trip up to the Rockies in order to collect samples and make observations of a landscape ravaged by peculiar wildfires.
For centuries, settlers and Indigenous peoples alike have told tales of the horrors that dwell in the ancient pine forest. Though the Lheidli T'enneh Nation gave the area a wide berth, the settlers that arrived decades later decided to stay, despite being warned to avoid Hemlock Ridge entirely. For years now, Oskar has researched the history of this area, its inhabitants, and the folklore surrounding it all, collecting spook magazines and newspaper clippings with mentions of the mysterious town.
For Oskar, it’s as if the universe is putting everything in line. A chance to finally research something he’s always considered too frivolous to pursue, and with it, a distraction from the growing pressure to reveal his condition to those he loves. A final project. A final escape.
But in Hemlock Ridge, nothing is as it seems. Fundamental rules start to bend. The impossible becomes the natural. And somewhere between the unraveling of Oskar and Syd’s perception of the world around them and the growing complexities of their personal lives, a quiet question demands to be answered…
Roles
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring Principal | Dr. Abel Ford | Male 35 - 48 Years old |
Description Black - One of the members of the Henricus Meteorological Survey Team close friend and colleague of its team lead, Dr. Jean-Luc Du Bois, Dr. Ford is a tactfully headstrong leader. After his superior begins to lose his way following strange obsessions with the supernatural, Dr. Ford is left to attempt to guide the committee against all odds to complete their mission of establishing a weather-monitoring outpost in Hemlock Ridge. He’s made a life of working to be better spoken and more collected than his contemporaries in order to combat prejudice, though he too has his limits. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring Principal | Chris Klein | Male 29 - 39 Years old |
Description Any Ethnicity - Syd’s douche-y colleague, and lead on the wildfire study she’s apart of. When we meet Chris, he has cut his portion of the research somewhat short in order to make it out to Big White to go on an impromptu ski trip. He is not a total asshole, though his tone usually edges on condescending. Always talks like he’s the smartest guy in the room. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Recurring Principal | Bill Miller | Male 49 - 65 Years old |
Description Any Ethnicity - Bill is in love with an idea of what Hemlock “ought” to be. He moved to town once his hometown grew too large and populace, and he spends his time running a bar and hunting. He knows most of the folks around on a first name basis and is extremely suspicious of the incursion of the two academics from Vancouver. Bill is a quiet, smart man who navigates social situations very similar to how he hunts deer: he takes his time, he uses what’s around him, holds his cards close to his chest, and never gives up his pursuit. | ||