Scrapbox
Project Overview
Introduction
Howdy! This casting call is for an animated pilot of a new indie animation series titled Scrapbox, produced by a new team named Studio ReWrite, and we're excitedly looking to cast new voice talent! With the help of animators, artists, and editors we're creating a test pilot episode to be uploaded on YouTube, which will lay the groundwork for our pitch to the public at-large to obtain enough crowdfunding revenue to produce an 8-episode 2D animated series.
We're casting for six voices to be used for this pilot episode. Those selected for casting will then be provided a full script (presently 14 pages total including/across all roles) which will highlight your specific role's lines for easy reading. If you're not cast for one of these specific roles, but your voice still stands out as one we'd like to use, we may save your audition (and notify you directly of as much if/when we do) to keep you in mind for future episode casting - as we (in the event this pilot produces enough crowdfunding to produce a full series) will be very interested in seeing if you are still available in the future to voice any of our slew of recurring characters.
All roles are primarily in the English language, though two roles require the ability to speak sporadic lines in Spanish - to be clear, we are not requiring that talent interested in these two roles be fluent Spanish speakers, only that (with preparation beforehand) they can learn to pronounce Latin American Spanish words and phrases correctly, when needed. Translations will be provided in these instances so that talent can understand what they're being asked to say in Spanish, if desired.
For all six roles, we're paying a flat rate of $60 per VA for the project. All payments are made through PayPal.
We'll showcase our voice actors in the credits of the pilot, which includes voice actors' preferred name/alias, a preferred photo (which can be of your personal brand's image or just a candid photo of yourself), and can also include your contact information/social media links if you would like.
For business communications, we use three methods: Casting Call Club direct messages, Discord, and email. Initial contact and notifications are made via Casting Call Club DMs - from there you can either be invited to the project's Discord server to keep up with animators and editors also working on the project, or if you prefer direct and transactional communication we can simply use emails to communicate only what is essential for your role.
If your audition is selected and you are cast in a role, you will be required to sign and agree to a temporary non-disclosure agreement. We promise that we're not going to put a full-stop gag order on you. You will be free to disclose your role in the project and things like how much you're paid, we simply don't want our animators' and artists' hard work and WIPs being disclosed to the public before they are ready to be shown, particularly via verbal slip or posting screenshots of their ongoing works.
What is Scrapbox?
Scrapbox is a short-form comedy series, prioritizing character-motivated storytelling and a dash of darker humor intended to make the audience laugh whilst also reflecting on morally-grey issues and controversies existing in our world today. Its genre is science fiction (in the mid-future to be specific), but rather than using fanciful sci-fi babbling and pointless words to try justifying and explaining the lore of the setting, our show seeks the much smaller story of a crew attempting to make their corner of the world a better place.
Our narrative follows Scrapbox - a small ragtag team of six individuals employed by the Explosive Disposal & Extrication eNterprise, or EDEN, as they assist in reconstruction and cleanup efforts following the end of a calamitous civil war. The team specializes in EOD, or Explosive Ordnance Disposal, attempting to defuse, disarm, and dispose of the explosives left over from the previous conflict, protecting those still alive from falling victim to the dangerous lingering remnants of war. Despite this seemingly-despairing atmosphere, the team stays in high spirits whilst carrying out the risky work of removing landmines, grenades, and other unexploded ordnance from areas so that the civilian populace can move on after the war finally ended.
Audition Deadline
The deadline for auditions is December 17th, 2023, and there are no plans to extend this deadline as the script is already complete and awaiting voice actors to add their talent to the work. We will notify voice actors who were selected and cast for the roles by December 22nd, five days after auditions close (if not sooner). The full script will be sent on the same day of notification, but due to the impending holiday season thereafter, the full deadline for script readings will be January 31st, 2024. We won't be asking anyone to record during the December holiday season. If you are unable to record between January 3rd, 2024, and January 31st, 2024, please do not audition. To be clear, this doesn't mean we need you every night for over four straight weeks, just that you need to be able to take a few days/nights during that period to record your lines for the full script. We can-and-will work with your schedule and availability.
Importantly, if we find and cast the roles before the deadline, the project will be closed early. If the project closes and you haven't received a reply from us, then you were not selected for callbacks. We originally planned to notify everyone directly even if they weren't chosen, but with several hundred auditions, this is no longer a realistic idea. We apologize for that.
What We're Looking For
- Please submit clean audio recordings - ideally recorded on professional or high-end consumer microphones - that contain minimal audio pollution (no dogs barking, no fan or fridges humming, minimal room echo, etc.). Though we can always perform post-production audio edits, the point of this audition is for us to hear your voice clearly and listen to what your talent brings to the project. If your submissions are difficult to hear in the audition, then we can't assume your performance after casting will be better.
- Please don't add any special effects to your lines. Again, we just want to hear your voice talent, and if we need a muffle or echo or electronic distortion for a role, we'll add it later ourselves.
- Feel free to cut/edit your submissions to use your best and favorite takes. You don't need superb splicing or anything, just make sure you don't leave in any takes that you don't want us to consider. If you'd like to submit additional alternate takes with different accents/inflections for your audition, we'd love to hear it - but please, only three takes total per VA, per character.
- On the note of alternative takes, some characters do not require a specific accent, and are listed as roles with multiple different accents. For these characters, you can audition with the accent you're most comfortable with and believe you perform best as. As an example: There's nothing in the story requiring the character 'Blooper' speak with an Australian or British accent over an American one, nor vice versa, so he can be auditioned for with almost any voice from the Anglosphere.
- Please submit your recordings as either a .wav or .mp3 file, whichever one you prefer better.
- Though these are animated characters, we're not looking for voices that are too ridiculous. For reference, we're looking for something like Archer and Futurama in terms of voices, which have plenty of personality without being overbearing - we're not seeking a Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny type-of-voice that would feel incompatible with a character's brief moments of serious reflection.
- We are looking for the right voice, not the right face. What we mean by this is that we're going by the rule established by shows like Futurama, where the right voice actor doesn't need to look like the character. If you're trans/non-binary and want to audition for both gender roles, feel free! If you're black and want to audition for a white character, feel free! If you're Asian and want to audition for a Hispanic character, feel free! We're not intending to limit our talent's demographics to the "matching" character demographics, we just want the people who sound like the best voices of these characters.
- Finally, as we are casting for a pilot, we'd love your consideration for sticking around should we get funded to make a full series! We're not asking for an exclusivity contract, nor are we requiring that you be available for future roles that haven't been set in stone yet. If you're only auditioning for a one-and-done role, that's totally fine! We just want to plant the seed that, should you not have any contradicting scheduling, we'd love to have you for the full series in the future!
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Character's real name is Henry Overeynder.
Brought in as the only one who understands how to drive a stick shift vehicle, Blooper is the newest employee hired to join Scrapbox and taxi them around from location-to-location, observing each member's role in the group and trying to understand what drives them to work such a depressing and dangerous job without breaking under pressure. Naturally curious and a bit naïve, Blooper is trying to understand the crew and find his place in it, as he watches them all handle struggles that would break a normal person. Imagine being a 19 year old who works with people crazy enough to go towards undetonated explosives.
For motivation with these particular lines:
1.) Genuine curiosity, and confusion. Trying to learn more about why things are done in a particular way, even when it seems less efficient and safe.
2.) Regret, awkwardly realizing that joining up and signing a contract might have been a mistake.
3.) Rage and shock, coming from seeing someone nearly blow themselves up.
Important Note: Just to reiterate, the accents listed for this character are possible accents you can audition with. You do not have to apply with multiple. If you just do American, that is fine. If you just do British, or Aussie, or Kiwi, or Canuck, those are all fine too. We're just keeping the character open to multiple interpretations. Audition with what YOU think you do best, and what YOU think fits the character!
- english
- male young adult
- male adult
- animation/character
- all american accents
- all english accents
- australian
- new zealand (kiwi)
- canadian
Why don’t we just blow them up anyway? We already have det cord, we could just throw it over the probables, blow it, and take them all out in one go. Why risk a human life trying to defuse them?
I’m really regretting my decision to apply for this job...
Really!? So you tested whether or not it was a landmine by throwing shit at it!? What happened to everything you said about being careful!?
Real name is Isabel Herrera.
Vehicle fixer and equipment repairman, Izzy is a spastic individual frequently frustrated with her shitty company gear. A local of the planet, who applied with the corporation to earn a living as her hometown (and therefore, her job prospects) were thoroughly destroyed in the previous war. Loud music normally blasts from the garage where she works and tinkers with anything mechanical, always trying to fix or improve their cheap corporate-issued equipment.
For motivation with these particular lines:
1.) Facetious monologuing, stated loudly and obnoxiously to intentionally poke, prod at, and eventually piss off another member of the team.
2.) Said as an explanation for a problem that's clearly her own fault, and then abruptly attempting to shift blame.
3.) Stated deadpan, unflinchingly, as a threat.
Important Note: Just to reiterate, the accents listed for this character are possible accents you can audition with. You do not have to apply with multiple. If you just do American, that is fine. If you just do Hispanic/Latin American, those are fine too. We're just keeping the character open to multiple interpretations. Audition with what YOU think you do best, and what YOU think fits the character!
- english
- female young adult
- female adult
- animation/character
- all american accents
- hispanic american
- latin american
Your pragmatic logic is oppressing my creative spirit. I may be a humble mechanic, but that doesn’t mean I’m not an incredibly artistic individual.
I sent it out on a mission yesterday to bring back beer from Doug’s Den... and obviously, this neighborhood isn't what it used to be.
If you don’t hire me, expect arson.
Real name is Mina Crosby.
Responsible for the health and [relative] safety of those on the team, Doc is only meant to treat and assist EDEN company personnel or billable UNE forces, but unofficially she helps civilians where possible - and occasionally even combatants, for a fee. Doc sees herself as the second-in-command of Scrapbox, behind Anciano, and thus has to constantly put up with Izzy, Bucket, and Tinhead’s antics whenever Anciano’s away from the team.
For motivation with these particular lines:
1.) Exasperated, struggling to comprehend the stupidity of who she's replying to.
2.) Deadpan, matter-of-fact statement.
3.) Awkward, like she doesn't want to reveal bad news.
Important Note: Just to reiterate, the accents listed for this character are possible accents you can audition with. You do not have to apply with multiple. If you just do American, that is fine. If you just do British, or Aussie, or Kiwi, or Canuck, those are all fine too. We're just keeping the character open to multiple interpretations. Audition with what YOU think you do best, and what YOU think fits the character!
- english
- animation/character
- female adult
- all american accents
- all english accents
- canadian
- australian
- new zealand (kiwi)
Who the hell are you to talk about professionalism when I found you waking up still-drunk?
I mean, I was an aid worker until I ran out of money.
We tried to tell you, boss. But only one person could reach you.
Real name is Jessica Hudson.
Bucket is the team's investigator, in charge of finding possible ERW (Explosive Remnants of War), and navigating the team to new areas and ordnance that need defusing. Given the extremely poor charts mapping some of the air strikes and mines placed during the war, this is no small task. A high-functioning alcoholic, she's frequently struggling on a spectrum between sobriety and intoxication, and is often blunt & brutally honest in speaking as a result (as listed below).
For motivation with these particular lines:
1.) Deadpan question asked aloud, to no one in particular.
2.) Question asked with an incredulous, "isn't-it-obvious" tone, simultaneously arrogant in delivery.
3.) Deadpan, but spoken with a somber and sad tone, accepting the reality of the situation.
Important Note: Just to reiterate, the accents listed for this character are possible accents you can audition with. You do not have to apply with multiple. If you just do American, that is fine. If you just do British, or Aussie, or Kiwi, or Canuck, those are all fine too. We're just keeping the character open to multiple interpretations. Audition with what YOU think you do best, and what YOU think fits the character!
- english
- animation/character
- female adult
- all american accents
- australian
- all english accents
- new zealand (kiwi)
- canadian
Do you all ever think about how we have such a professionally-unprofessional work environment?
What the hell am I supposed to investigate when the rebels didn’t chart where they placed their mines or when they placed them?
Look, some idiot three years ago had some other idiot plant them in the road, and in the fields, and in the cities; And now people can’t go to work, kids can't play outside. Life can’t go on.
Real name is Lyubomyr Kovacs.
Tinhead is a disgruntled combat veteran, specifically former military EOD, now working as a specialist in the private sector. Always wearing the heavy, sweaty bomb suit and a clunky blast helmet, he's the easily-agitated and cynical smartass who directly handles the explosives. It's the most dangerous job, and he reluctantly does it to pay off his debts.
For motivation with these particular lines:
1.) Pissed off, stated as if it were a real threat to someone.
2.) Said as a nonchalant reply, totally brushing off a massive threat to life that could have killed everyone in the team.
3.) Condescending and belittling another character's intelligence.
- english
- male adult
- all american accents
- animation/character
Both of you better shut the fuck up, or I’m going to set this bitch off on purpose and make us all a statistic!
Nah, trouble already passed. We had a daisy chain of five earlier that would’ve blown the road in half. 'Took care of it.
Movies normally show IEDs. They’re much more fun to look at for easily-entertained people like you.
Real name is Alexander Murillo.
In charge of the shitshow, Anciano supervises the team and communicates their progress with those at EDEN corporate. An exhausted middle-aged middle manager, handling upper-level politics threatening their work, and controlling the gagglefuck of a team and their shenanigans. His wife took his family and left long ago, making Scrapbox his surrogate family in the years since. In his late 50s, life has worn him down over time.
For motivation with these particular lines:
1.) Agitated, like having to chastise a child for acting up.
2.) Exasperated, angry response to a serious safety failure not being reported.
3.) Reluctant, unfortunately admitting that despite the problems the crew causes, he sees them as worth the extra trouble.
- english
- spanish
- hispanic/latino
- male adult
- latin american
- latin american spanish
- animation/character
- south american
- south american spanish
Can we at least feign some semblance of competence in front of the Unies? (Last word pronounced like you-knees.)
Que? Why the hell wasn’t I told earlier!?
As much as it pains me to say it, we probably make the Unie MPs earn their pay just as much as the locals. But I’ve got a mechanic who doubles as the best supply officer in the region too, so I’d say that it all evens out... morally speaking.
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