Tales of Shady Grove: Book One - Casting Call #1
Project Overview
Tales of Shady Grove is a story very near to my heart. I have been working on this off and on for the last 5 years. I have put a lot of myself into it and my hope is that it will help inspire, change, and grow those who read or listen to it.
It is essentially a story about an unlikely hero and his best friend Together they team up to take on great forces of darkness, and in the process end up learning more about themselves and life then they would've ever dreamed.
I plan to write more books in the Shady Grove universe and am incredibly excited for this journey together!
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We're looking for an experienced audio engineer who is passionate and willing to assist us in producing Tales of Shady Grove Book One and/or one or more of our other series. Since we are a self-funded, small production company, we are currently offering a profit sharing agreement for this work. There will be 15 episodes in total, each approximately 10 - 25 minutes in length. We plan on submitting the pilot episode to Tribeca Film & Audio festival for the chance to get potential funding from larger companies.
For reference on the quality of our work, please refer to our series Life & Death on the Rim, available on all listening platforms.
- english
- audio production
*Say something you think would fit*
We need a composer to score this audio drama Shady Grove as well as our other project Past Pretense and perhaps others in the future. We're very excited to work with someone who has experience creating original soundtrack and we are more than happy to assist with things like producing the soundtrack and getting it distributed post-release.
The work will include creating a theme song which will play at certain times like perhaps during an intro each episode, as well as scoring the episodes to ensure listeners are captured by not only the adventure and ambience of the audio drama but also the music.
A profit sharing agreement will be offered as well for this project as well as other projects you may or may not work on in the future, depending on how things go for both parties.
Also, if you happen to use Ableton or if you'd like to use it, we currently have licensing for Ableton Live Suite 11 as well as many packs of instruments and we're more than happy to share that with you as long as we're working together. We are fine with purchasing, from time to time of course, packs for you to use on our projects as needed. We demand the highest quality in audio entertainment from ourselves and this cascades into every aspect of our business.
Please submit yourself for audition if you are up to this task and willing to lend your talent and skill!
*Say something you think would fit*
Lead character of the series. 8-years-old. (the name Parker has English origins and means Keeper of the Park; Conall is of Irish origin and means hero: Strong Wolf)
Birthday: March 29th
Dark-ish hair, shaggy, unkempt
Wears a green long sleeve shirt and tan cargo pants his father Jacob gave him recently, cheap blue tennis shoes.
He's growing up with two parents who are going through a rough spot in their lives and marriage. he has a few not-so-great friends at school that he's just a part of a friend group with but they don't pay much attention to him, and he doesn't do anything about it. He's in 4th grade currently and actually prefers it somewhat to being at home, because it feels like an escape.
Around the beginning of the school year, Parker starts having strange dreams that recur at random intervals, in which he is standing in a long room with blue walls that seems to go on forever. It's like being in a blurry, darkened space that his mind takes him to. he's somewhat familiar with Evelyn, the girl with dark hair who keeps to herself and sits in the back corner of class.
Parker can be bold but is mainly quite passive. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, and feels like it's not his place to interfere in his parents' relationship or the status quo in general. He typically retreats into himself and taking his negative emotions of how things are as signs of his weakness and ineptitude, thinking that if he can break through into who he wants to be, he'll fix the situation.
He becomes thrown into the new world of shady Grove when the dream becomes clear, the swirling symbol is shown to him and he has a call to action due to the torn shirt he finds, bloodstained, on the path to Shady Grove, a place he'd never noticed before.
Since this is a role created for a potential minor, laws and regulations on earning income from projects will apply and may void any ability for the actor to be paid for their time. Please keep this in mind when auditioning. We will review regulations and laws on a case by case basis.
Strengths:
- Strong sense of morality
- Survival Instincts
- Humble
- Resourceful
- Creative, Large Imagination to Tap Into
- Unsure of himself at times
- Gullible
- Timid
- Passive
- Impulsive
- english
- male child
- north american
- general north american english
“I found someone’s shirt back there, I think they may be in trouble.”
“Yes! Do you know where they lead? Do you think that person’s okay?”
"He told me he had rescued the person I was looking for.. but he just said that so he could get me into his home in there…He's a vampire I think."
Evelyn - German "Avi", possibly meaning "desired", from her father's side
Min-Ji - Korean, meaning "quick, clever, sharp, wisdom, intellect", from her mother's side
Evelyn is 8-years-old, and has long blonde hair that falls to her mid-back. She keeps it somewhat straight, although occasional tangling is, as you know, inevitable. She has green eyes, and wears conservative clothing. Her favorite outfit during winter might be a black long-sleeve sweater covered with a puffy jacket with fur in the hood, and jeans or some other pants and boots or tennis shoes.
Losing her mother about a year ago to a stroke at the age of 38, Evelyn has dealt with a rough hand in life recently. To better understand her circumstances as well as mother's death, she has turned to reading constantly as a coping mechanism. She has also distanced herself from friends, as she feels them to be dismissive and not understanding of what she's dealing with.
Through her reading, however, she has come to understand her mother's death better as well as a number of other topics. Her books are now like best friends to her, as she's received comfort from the knowledge and occasional escape they bring. Her relationship with her father is suffering currently as he has become somewhat reclusive and has resorted to drinking to cope with his wife's death. He often works graveyard shifts at the local mill, and it doesn't help the situation. She has to walk to school or take the bus. The situation does have its positive consequences, though, safe to say. She's become more independent, and is now comfortable doing things like cleaning, cooking, and helping around the house, which previously were unnecessary for her. This isn't to say her mother was ever a housewife; she was most certainly not. But as of late...her father has begun declining in terms of picking up responsibilities he used to share.
Currently, her goals are to crack the mystery of who is terrorizing the small town of Melania, and help her father become more at ease with the pain of his loss and be able to move forward.
Since this is a role created for a potential minor, laws and regulations on earning income from projects will apply and may void any ability for the actor to be paid for their time. Please keep this in mind when auditioning. We will review regulations and laws on a case by case basis.
Strengths:
- Resourceful
- Intelligent
- Brave
- Independent
Weaknesses:
- Disassociates from others
- Enabling to her father
- Untrusting
- english
- audiobook
- female child
- north american
- asian american
(aggressively inquisitive) "Why are you looking for a book on monsters?"
(thinking, recalling)“Well..first I heard a scream…it was a man…but he was terrified. My dad was working, he’s a shift manager over at the mill, so I went to check if the man needed help but there was nobody there. The street was empty, like nothing had ever happened. I went back inside, and that’s when I thought about the 'kidnappings.’”
“Yes, there’s been four now over the last few months. Before that..nothing..ever. Now, four in three months and all of them were from homes neighboring these woods..until last night. That means IF it's one killer, they decided to go further in for their last victim than usual.. they’re getting cocky.”
Sarah is the mother to our lead character Parker and the wife of Jacob, Parker's father. She is currently the breadwinner of the family and not necessarily enjoying that fact, as she is forced to work overtime constantly to make up for the fact that Jacob (or Jake to her) hasn't gotten back to work after losing his job about a year ago due to a crash in the economy.
Sarah works as a Social Services Administrator for the small town of Oregon in which she resides. The job includes Overseeing local social service programs, including assistance for low-income families, child welfare services, or elderly care. It does not pay as well as other, more specialized jobs may, but she is working hard at it in order to make ends meet.
Sarah is stressed by Jacob's lack of drive at the moment and wishes he would put more in. She feels like if he'd just put the same amount of energy into the marriage and being a father as she does, they would be perfectly fine.
Sarah is approximately 30 - 35 years old, and was born in the United States
- english
- female adult
- general north american english
- north american
(muffled, sleepy) Go make him something.
I swear, Jake, if you didn’t want to do this you could’ve told me BEFORE we had him!
Is this what I want? To feel like my husband is a child and I’m the only one who’s an adult in this house? Listen, I need to get some sleep, Jake! One of us has work tomorrow.
Jacob more or less starts as the immature father of our main character, Parker. He is not taking his responsibilities head on and has instead become lazy and a poor example to his 8-year-old son. In his mind, it isn't fair that he lost his job at the local mill simply because banks and the government screwed up completely and gave a bunch of homes and cars and whatever else to people who couldn't afford it. Now he's become one of those people that banks shouldn't give loans to, as he's been jobless for about a year now.
However, there is still hope for Jacob (or Jake as he's more affectionately called by his wife, Sarah), and he may yet rise to meet the challenges of his life and become a better husband and father.
Jacob is approximately 30 years old, perhaps closer to 35. Perhaps he feels he may have had his son too young and never got to explore more or work on his career. Nevertheless he is happy with Sarah and Parker and somewhere inside him he wants to be better.
- english
- male adult
- north american
- general north american english
He’s 10 years old! He should be taking care of himself by now, at least a little bit!
Will you be quiet? (sounds of frustration) Great job Sarah! This is great. Is this what you want?
(groggily) What is it, Parker?
Our narrator for Tales of Shady Grove will be our guide, our navigator through a fantastic world of light and dark, mystery and intrigue. The voice should give us a warm feeling of being taken on this adventure.
Looking specifically for someone who has an English accent that comes off beautiful and natural in the age range of 50 - 70, perhaps toward the latter side of that range.
- english
- male adult
- english (british)
- english (london)
- english (posh)
- narration
- male senior
A hallway... It was a hallway, he thought to himself. Long and dark with very little light, its walls some deep shade of darkened blue with black patterns everywhere, the hallway seemed to stretch on into blackness. But there was something there: a single door just at the end. It was almost haunting him now. When opened, he was afraid he may not like what he found.. But at last, the dream that had tormented him for months, blurred and confusing, was suddenly much clearer. He now knew that this was not the end but only the beginning of a journey that he had been preparing for.. although unknowingly.
(soft, reflective tone) Parker, wrapped in his blanket, tiptoed over the toy-littered carpet towards the window. The cold bit at his face as he shut the wooden panels with a soft click. Hunger gnawed at him, a stark reminder of the meager dinner earlier.
In a moment, Parker had put on his shoes, stuffed a few things of importance into an old backpack, and snuck quietly out of his room, shutting his bedroom door carefully behind him. Silently down the creaking staircase, through the front door, he ran swiftly into the night…the shutters of his window still hanging open...swaying in the icy breeze of the midnight air.
Supporting role.
Emil is 28-years-old, 6' tall, with long black hair that hangs stringy around his face and neck. He naturally holds himself with a hunch, like the predator that he is, as he is controlled somewhat by his vampiric urges. He has hungry, dark brown eyes, incredibly pale skin. When he needs to, he will adjust himself to get what he needs, playing the part in order to feed his desires. he typically wears all black, a long coat with a scarf wrapped around his face and neck in the winter time, black pants and shoes as well.
He waits for people to wander into the forest unknowingly and approaches them, conning them into coming back to his cabin deep in a thicket to feed on them where they won't be able to escape easily.
Emil is part of a semi-large family of vampires from Beia, near Transylvania, in Romania. He has grown up traveling quite a bit and has some but not all of his accent, although over the years he's become somewhat decent at putting on quite a few others as needed.
Strengths:
- Unlimited life if not killed
- Regenerative Power
- Cunning
- Persuasion
- Powerful Allies
Weaknesses:
- Thirst for blood and power
- mortality
- sunlight
can be impulsive
- english
- Adult Male
- romanian
- north american
- dark
- villain
(almost too assuredly) My home is just up this path. There is a fire there. You will be warm soon
(hungry and intense while trying to lie and reassure - think 'The Shining') Listen, if you just come out, I promise I won’t hurt you. I just tripped, I didn’t mean to frighten you. Come, let’s get the fire going, it is freezing in here!
(exclamatory, intense, angry, in pain) No one has ever escaped me! ... (he finds his prey, smiling) ... And you will not be the first.
Supporting Role
Eleanor is the librarian at the local library in fictional Melania, Oregon. She exudes a magical and fantastic excitement, charm, wisdom, and a sharp wit. If a book doesn't exist in the Melania Library's database, it doesn't exist in the library. She keeps a fierce eye on all books, check-outs, and returns that go on in her library, although she may turn a blind eye to the right reader.
She can be age 25+ and we encourage older female actors!
- english
- female senior
- female adult
- audiobook
How exciting! Check aisle H, and let me know if you have any trouble finding something.
(politely interested, yet hushed) "Is there anything I can help you find?"
This character can't be named at the moment. He is an older gentleman, late 30's. He has dark hair and works a manual labor type job. He is a bit grizzled, strong. He is a bit dark, mysterious, ominous, threatening when we first meet him. He speaks in a natural voice but the first time we hear him, it's like he's met someone who's onto his tail and he's scaring them.
- english
- male adult
- general north american english
- north american
- audiobook
- dark
- Sly
- natural
(slightly casual, sly, creepy, as if walking up and surprising someone) You really shouldn't be out here, you know..
You look like you've seen a monster..What are you doing out here?
Really? You're out here on this path just doing nothing? I find that hard to believe, don't you?
Mrs Grove is a character who is very interesting. If our town librarian exudes an almost magical enthusiasm for books, Mrs Grove is her fantastical mirror within Shady Grove. She has a small cottage which sits on the rolling hills beyond the Great Tree, and from it she can overlook a good piece of the woods and surrounding areas. She is a welcoming, wise old woman whose knowledge spans well beyond the barrier of topics most would consider.."normal"..
Mrs Grove has the countenance of a mentor, a person of infinite wisdom and knowledge who doesn't just want to show off, but instead wishes to be our guide as she assists us in learning and the universe and ourselves.
Age 50+
- english
- north american
- warm
- female adult
- female senior
- general north american english
Well, well…you must be Parker. Come inside, you're freezing!
Quite brave you are. And with a little studying you just might have your way. There is no easy road to doing what is necessary, however. That I can assure you. I will give you all the help I can. Evelyn, dear, have you found anything of use?
I assume you'd rather not be here all night. (She stares out at the silver moon rising into the clouded sky) It's 1am. We'd better get to it.
The Keeper is a wondrous, wise old owl who lives in the Great Tree of Shady Grove. He is its protector, and by duty the protector of many secrets which are harnessed by the power of the Great Tree. He speaks great English but simply can't help his "hooo"s from time to time, especially when excited.
As old age determinedly takes its toll, our favorite owl has taken to a small cane made from an ornate piece of carved wood, and is always seen wearing a pair of large round-rimmed glasses perched near the edge of its pointed beak.
The Keeper is quite old and growing a bit weary and so I'd like his voice to accommodate for this.
- english
- male senior
- english (british)
- wise
- male adult
- irish
- warm
- general north american english
- north american
- any
- audiobook
You must be Parker. Quite the little adventurer I must say, hooo.
(laughing) Hoo-hoo.. well I believe introductions are in order…I am the Keeper, and this is my faithful companion Beedle.
Hooo, yes. The night took some twists and turns, did it not? And yet…here we are once again. Never before have we had the need to bring in an ‘Outsider' to resolve an issue. But…hooo… there hasn’t been the need until now.. Something has taken Shady Grove. Something terrible. I'm afraid the bridge between our worlds may be at stake.
Mr Kurschwitz is the school janitor and he is a lovely man. Cleaning gum off the bottom of tables, unclogging toilets, all with a smile on his face...well let's say mostly with a smile on his face. This man is cherished by staff and pretty well-treated by most of the students as well. He's basically your janitor right out of a nice little novel.
- english
- male adult
- warm
- audiobook
- male senior
(banging his head as he's surprised) Oww!! Yes..?
No, thank you sweetheart, but that’s what they pay me the big bucks for.
(attempting to accost a student) Hey! Did you have anything- Hey!
This woman is experiencing an extremely difficult time at the moment. She's recently lost her husband, she is in the middle of Christmas break as a schoolteacher, and we find her as she's just trying to hold it all together as she sets up her classroom for the upcoming semester.
This role will be very minor in lines but I hope it will be profound in impact. Up to this point, the deaths caused by a local werewolf are more of an abstract, a tragedy that's affecting "other people". But in the moment we meet Mrs. Mitchell, we come face to face with what it's like to be a loved one of one of the victims.
Our main characters don't quite grasp this until they attempt to get into the school building by setting off a car alarm, which happens to be the vehicle belonging to Mrs Mitchell. And here she comes, hanging on by a thread, and finally it's the straw that breaks the camel's back. She's been inside the building trying desperately to just hang on a little longer, to save face and just finish setting up her classroom, maybe hoping against hope that maybe she'll drive home in her old automobile and when she arrives she'll see a police car waiting..the police have found her husband and he's there waiting for her..she runs into his arms..
but instead she finds herself walking out of the building, hands shaking, desperately attempting to shut off her car's alarm. After multiple times she finally gets it and simply bursts into tears, and the dam breaks.
This role can be any race/nationality
Age is 30 - 50
- female adult
(she's walking out of the school building, desperately trying to stop her car's alarm, and somehow it all just happens: she bursts into tears, completely breaking down from the pressure of it all; feel free to adlib, improv, etc)
This small town police officer is way over their head due to the recent "disappearances". They're just your average small town cop. They know the area well, as well as many of the residents, but maybe not all of them. They're stern when needed but also understand that each person has a need to feel understood.
Age is 30 - 50
- english
- male adult
- female adult
- audiobook
There haven't been any reports of missing persons tonight, are you saying you heard someone getting taken into the woods?
About what time did you hear it?
And what sort of noise was it that you heard?
Jonathan Gilford is an 8-yr-old boy who has a small role in our first book. He lives on the outskirts of town on a small farm, and is used to the more rural side of things. He enjoys this life and wouldn't trade it for anything. He's grown up his whole life so far in Melania, Oregon, and he may just live the rest of it here.
- english
- north american
- audiobook
- male child
- general north american english
My family doesn’t drink the city’s water so we don’t have to worry about pollution. We’ve got a well that my great-grandfather built when he bought our property a long time ago, so when we need water we just go out and get it...
Mr. Gilford runs a small family farm at the edge of the small town of Melania, Oregon. He's a rural man who was born here and plans to spend his last days at the family farm, tending the crops and such. He's a kind man but not to be trifled with.
We meet him as our main characters are trespassing on his property. He does not like this at all, and we like to see this in his voice, warning them to get off his property.
- english
- country american
- male adult
- male senior
- warm
- audiobook
Who’s out there?!
You better show yourselves! I’m giving you five seconds!
(to his dog) Go on! Get ‘em!
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