Open Auditions for Lead & Supporting Roles:
Casting Director Damian Bao holding nationwide for CHINESE SCHOOL, a Sundance-supported coming-of-age comedy feature film about a lackadaisical Chinese American teenager who learns to appreciate the people and places that have been with him through thick and thin.
Casting is open to union and non-union actors, represented and unrepresented talents as well as talents who have no prior acting experience. Our casting office specializes in discovering unknowns and we are open and committed to giving everyone, no matter their acting level, a chance at auditioning.
Please note this project’s casting notice is very long and spans multiple pages.
ABOUT THE PROJECT:
A coming-of-age story set primarily in NYC’s vibrant Asian communities, CHINESE SCHOOL will reveal a pocket of America whose dynamism cinema has fallen woefully short in capturing. As it celebrates the food fueling us and the music moving us, the film will also examine with verve and daring our part in the American fabric, which is all too rarely portrayed with nuance, humor, and pride.
The world of CHINESE SCHOOL will be crafted tenderly, populated by lived-in, eccentric yet empathetic characters and vivid Chinese New Yorker details that will resonate with Asian Americans—and any child of an immigrant household.
CHINESE SCHOOL is supported by the Sundance’s Feature Film Program. For this project, writer/director William Kwok was the recipient of the 2021 Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship and was a Screenwriters Intensive Fellow.
CHINESE SCHOOL was also a semifinalist for the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship (top 1.8% of scripts considered in 2021) and participated in The Gotham Week Project Market (one of just 24 U.S. fiction feature film projects; one of four showcased at its annual New Voices! SAGindie Reading Series) in 2021.
Casting Notice:
PROJECT: Chinese School
TYPE: Feature Film
GENRE: Coming-of-Age Comedy
WRITER/DIRECTOR: William Kwok
CASTING DIRECTOR: Damian Bao
SHOOT START DATE: May or June 2024 (TBC)
SHOOT LOCATION: New York City
CONTRACT: SAG Modified Low Budget (open to union and non-union talent)
CASTING TALENT NATIONWIDE FOR THE BELOW MAJOR ROLES. PRODUCTION WILL PROVIDE FLIGHT AND LODGING FOR TALENT BASED OUTSIDE NYC.
OPEN CALL ROLES:
LEAD ROLE:
JACKY – (LEAD ROLE / Male, 15, Chinese American)
“Good enough” is the ethos of 15-year-old Chinese American teenager JACKY. He could try harder at everything he does—his critical junior year of high school, his nightly sessions of “Call of Duty,” showing his longtime friend Monica some appreciation, the Chinese language school he attends every weekend—but what’s the point of standing out?
For the leading role of JACKY, casting is open to male-identifying talent of East Asian descent between the ages of 14-25 from anywhere in the United States and Canada. Travel and accommodations will be provided for lead talent coming from outside the NYC metro area. Whoever is cast for JACKY will need to be able to speak both Cantonese and Mandarin with some proficiency by the time of filming as well as be comfortable with singing (even if you are not super great at it) as JACKY is in a band.
Please note that for the lead role of Jacky, we are open to talent who currently are not fluent in Mandarin and/or Cantonese. If selected, we will hire a dialect coach for Jacky.
SUPPORTING LEAD ROLES:
MONICA – (SUPPORTING LEAD ROLE / Female, 15, Chinese American)
15-year-old Chinese American teenager MONICA is in the running for class valedictorian at the immensely competitive Brooklyn Technical High School, but you’ll never hear from her a peep about any of her academic successes. She’s stubbornly devoted to the few constants in her life: The Cure, her hard-working Chinese grocer father who she lives with most of the week, and Jacky, her longtime partner in crime at the Chinese language school they attend. MONICA has a semi-androgynous look and styles herself “light” emo.
For the role of MONICA, casting is open to female-identifying talent of East Asian descent between the ages of 14-25 from the NYC metro area. Whoever is cast for MONICA will need to be able to speak Mandarin with some proficiency by the time of filming as well as be comfortable with singing (even if you are not super great at it) as MONICA is in a band.
CINDY – (SUPPORTING LEAD ROLE / Female, 16, Chinese American with mixed race ancestry)
CINDY is a 16-year-old for whom puberty came hard and fast. In a league of her own, she is street smart and immensely gifted academically and artistically. She takes her education seriously but finds high school rather dull and most of her peers’ social concerns puerile. Somewhat of a loner, Cindy spends much of her free time helping out at her parents’ old-school Chinese bakery, tinkering on her computer (e.g., making beats for sale, building video games), and serving as a voice of reason and motivation for her shiftless cousin Jacky. She’s in a new relationship (her first “real” relationship!) with her girlfriend Sidonie, a cool and effortless 18-year-old dance student from abroad.
For the role of CINDY, casting is open to female-identifying talent of East Asian descent who are of mixed heritage (i.e., other races/ethnicities in addition to East Asian) and between the ages of 16-25 from the NYC metro area. Casting is also open to all heights and body types for the role! Whoever is cast for CINDY will need to be able to speak Mandarin with some proficiency by the time of filming.
OWEN – (SUPPORTING LEAD ROLE / Male, 43, Chinese American)
Queens native OWEN, 43, tried to make it as a Hollywood actor in the early 2000s. But on his way to yet another long-shot audition for yet another Asian-accented one-line part, he found himself driving straight to LAX and getting on the next flight to Taipei, where he found a modicum of success as an actor and a model. A rough breakup brought him back home to New York City—he now lives in Bushwick and is giving acting in the U.S. another shot (while he teaches at the Chinese language school that his aunt runs, to help make rent). Owen is tall and can be athletic and fit; he is conventionally handsome but somewhat “edgy.” Tattoos are welcome.
For the role of OWEN, casting is open to male-identifying talent of East Asian descent who are between the ages of 40-50 from anywhere in the world. Travel and accommodations will be provided for talent for this role coming from outside the NYC metro area. Whoever is cast for OWEN will need to be able to speak Mandarin fluently. We are also interested in OWEN’s ability to speak an additional Chinese dialect, such as Taiwanese Hokkien or Shanghainese.
MRS. CHEUNG – (SUPPORTING LEAD ROLE / Female, 49, Chinese)
MRS. CHEUNG, 49, emigrated from Hong Kong more than two decades ago, where she had been a take-charge tour guide wrangling over-enthusiastic tourists. Today, she is the most sought-after nail technician at the upscale nail salon where she works, tending to the fancy fingers and toes of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. She is also Jacky’s no-bullshit mother.
For the role of MRS. CHEUNG, casting is open to female-identifying talent of East Asian descent who are between the ages of 40-55 from anywhere in the world. Travel and accommodations will be provided for talent for this role coming from outside the NYC metro area. Whoever is cast for MRS. CHEUNG will need to be able to speak Cantonese fluently.
ABIGAIL/AIMEE – (SUPPORTING LEAD ROLE / Female, 17, Caucasian)
Every weekend, ABIGAIL, 17, commutes from her mother’s (and stepdad’s) McMansion in Dover, New Jersey to her record store owner father’s Gravesend, Brooklyn, two-bedroom house that she spent her early childhood in. Otherworldly pretty, she almost always gets her way. A preternaturally gifted musician, she aspires to go to Julliard—largely because she thinks that’ll impress her beloved Pastor Matt. (She is an excellent singer and pianist.)
AIMEE, 17, is Jacky’s dream girl, existing in his suburban fantasy. She is likely a version of a primary character from an extremely 1990s teen comedy that Jacky and his sister grew up watching. AIMEE bears a striking resemblance to ABIGAIL.
*** Abigail and Aimee are to be played by the same actor. *** For the roles of ABIGAIL/AIMEE, casting is open to Caucasian female-identifying talent, who are between the ages of 16-30 from anywhere in the United States. Whoever is cast for ABIGAIL/AIMEE will need to be a great singer!
PASTOR MATT – (SUPPORTING LEAD ROLE / Male, 45, Caucasian)
When he was in his glorious 20s, Laguna Beach native PASTOR MATT turned heads on the street as “the guy with the abs from those denim ads” or “that guy from that thing on TV, I think.” Now 45, he has found a new stage, moving from West Hollywood to become the pastor of a church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. PASTOR MATT is tall, with an athletic and fit build; he’s so conventionally handsome that it’s almost kind of comical.
For the role of PASTOR MATT, casting is open to Caucasian male-identifying talent, who are between the ages of 40-55 from anywhere in the United States.
Supporting Roles on next page: Next Page>
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