CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT

The Grandin Theatre Film Lab is proud to announce that submissions are now being accepted for its inaugural Summer Intensive Film - Cotton Clouds. Previous films from the program have earned many local and regional awards including Best Picture, Best Local Film, Best Musical Score, and an Outstanding Achievement in Student Production and Best Long Form Fiction from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, National Capital Chesapeake Bay Region – the same organization as the EMMYS! Cotton Clouds will be shot in cooperation with professional area filmmakers and local historic landmarks giving both actors and students on the crew an inside look at the functioning of a movie set. All ages and experience levels are encouraged to submit!

Locations: Downtown Roanoke, VA and surrounding areas
Dates: July 9 th -13 th , 2018
Affiliations: Non-Union, Unpaid
Anticipated Distribution: Multiple festival submissions, local viewing opportunities
Logline: A firsthand perspective of a young girl in 1912 Roanoke, VA as she perseveres through heartache as well as
physical pain, working at a dangerous and depressing cotton mill in order to help provide for her family.

TO SUBMIT– Please send ONE Email to CottonCloudsCasting@gmail.com with the following:
**3 current photos and all of the information below. Please include at least one close-up of your face, and one full body - both facing square to the camera. No need for these to be professionally shot, recent and clear are key.**

1. Name
2. Phone
3. Email
4. City of Residence
5. Age Range
6. Date of Birth (if minor)
7. Height
8. Shirt Size (numerical)
9. Pants Size (numerical)
10. Any and all schedule conflicts between July 9th-13th - please specify if any conflicts are flexible.
11. Do you own any period-appropriate clothing? (Victorian age to early 1900s) Please include pictures if so.

Cotton Clouds Character Breakdown

• MAMIE WITT - (12 years old) Female, Caucasian, straight dirty blonde hair - Naturally cheerful but becoming more and more beaten down. Remains selfless and determined throughout many struggles.
• MAMA WITT - (30s-40s) Female, Caucasian - Overworked mother of four who wants what’s best for her family. Works as a housekeeper at the hotel, is forced to make heartbreaking decisions to feed her children.
• ROBERT WITT - (teens) Male, Caucasian - Mamie’s older brother who works full time at the railroad. Loving and supportive, often takes on the responsibility that his own father neglects.
• ADA WITT - (8 years old) Female, Caucasian - Mamie’s younger sister, not at work or school yet. Largely unaware of the family's hardships.
• LOLA WITT - (baby-toddler) Female, Caucasian - The youngest of the Witt family.
• FATHER WITT - (30s-40s) Male, Caucasian – Railyard worker, drinks heavily, perhaps because of his circumstances,
  or the other way around. Unsupportive father and husband, puts the stability of the family and Mamie’s future at risk.
• RONALD - (12-early teen) Male, Any Ethnicity - Doffer at the mill and one of Mamie’s best friends, like an older
  brother to Frank. A jokester and who likes to make his friends laugh.
• FRANK - (7 years old) Male, Any Ethnicity – Junior helper at the mill, very close with Ronald and Mamie.
• TEACHER - (20s-30s) Female, Caucasian, Asian, or Ambiguous Ethnicity - Mamie’s strict female teacher.
• OVERSEER - (30s-50s) Male, Caucasian or Ambiguous Ethnicity - In charge of Mamie’s section of the mill. Cold and
  unfriendly man usually seen with a jaw full of chewing tobacco.
• INJURED BOY – (7-12) Male, Any Ethnicity – A millworker with Mamie, terribly injured and in a great deal of pain.
• GRUFF MAN – (30s-70s) Male, Any Ethnicity – An average, tired inhabitant who startles Mamie on the way home.
• ELEGANT WOMAN - (late 20s-30s) Female, Caucasian or Ambiguous Ethnicity - Impeccably dressed, transfixes
  Mamie and later shares an awkward moment.
• ELEGANT GENTLEMAN - (late 20s-30s) Male, Caucasian or Ambiguous Ethnicity - Escort to the Elegant Lady.
• HOTEL COUPLE - (late 20s-50s) Male/Female - A beautiful couple walking to the hotel.
• YOUNG BOY & GIRL - (9-teens) Male/Female - Children of the beautiful couple outside the hotel.
• BELLHOPS - (20s-50s) Male, Any Ethnicity - Bright, hardworking, and eager to please – first greeters at the hotel.
• HOTEL GUESTS - (20s-70s) All Genders and Ethnicities - Travelers and well-to-do residents in the hotel lobby.
• SCHOOL CHILDREN - (7-teens) All Genders and Ethnicities - Mamie’s classmates in the one-room schoolhouse.
• RAILYARD WORKERS - (late teen-60s) Male, All Ethnicities - Men who work with Robert and Papa.
• MILL WORKERS - (7-60s) All Genders and Ethnicities - The people (mostly children) employed by the mill.
• NEWSIE - (9-11 years old) Male, Any Ethnicity - A thin newsboy shouting the news of sinking Titanic.
• SLEEPING BOY - (7-9) Male, Any Ethnicity - A little street dweller that has fallen asleep near the sidewalk.
• DOWNTOWN PATRONS - (teens-80s) All Genders and Ethnicities - Inhabitants of Roanoke, VA in 1912.
• BOYS PLAYING STICKBALL - (7-14 years old) Male, All Ethnicities - young boys of the neighborhood who have fun
  together and tease Mamie when she gets hit with the ball.
  
   

Please Note: Characters are intended to resemble, though not fully represent, true, historical events and personalities. All casting requirements are designed as such and are not intended in any way to serve as discriminatory. Many actors of all ethnicities, genders, and of a wide age range are needed. All roles are stylistically non-speaking, with many principal, supporting, and featured opportunities. Background actors are even more essential in this production than normal, and we appreciate all submissions.