Job Specifics:

Details:

TO LET is a new 21-minute mockumentary pilot about the world’s most incompetent housing agency, produced by an creative team from the University of Hertfordshire’s award-winning Film & Television Production course.

Shot in the style of The Office, Parks & Recreation, The Thick of It and other fly-on-the-wall mockumentary series, TO LET is an opportunity to add a piece of ensemble TV comedy to your showreel.

A script sample is linked below:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53493913/To%20Let%20-%20mockumentary%20pilot%20-%20sample%2001.pdf
Production Infomration
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53493913/TO%20LET%20-%20Production%20and%20Casting%20Information.pdf


The size of our cast coupled with student budget restrictions mean that roles in this project will be unpaid; this also extends to crewmembers, who are volunteering their time free of charge. However, travel expenses will be reimbursed and free food and drinks will be provided on all filming days. You will also receive a professionally-designed and printed DVD of the pilot together with a digital copy for your own promotional needs.

No commitment to further episodes is required, although we will be showing the pilot around various channels and broadcasting houses (All4 Exclusives, BBC Three etc.) upon completion.

The size of our cast coupled with student budget restrictions mean that roles in this project will be unpaid; this also extends to crew members, who are volunteering their time free of charge. However, travel expenses will be reimbursed and free food and drinks will be provided on all filming days. You will also receive a professionally-designed and printed DVD of the pilot together with a digital copy for your own promotional needs.

No commitment to further episodes is required, although we will be showing the pilot around various channels and broadcasting houses (All4 Exclusives, BBC Three etc.) upon completion.


AUDITIONS:
5pm -9pm on Monday 19th October in The College Arms located in central London.

SELF-TAPE POLICY:
We encourage actors to meet our creative team directly at the audition space in mid-October; however, if this is impossible due to other commitments, we also accept self-taped auditions. Please introduce yourself, confirm your availability (or signal any potential issues) with regard to the shooting dates, and perform at least one of the character sides presented.

The ideal candidate will have mastered the ability to deliver lines in the most naturalistic and artless manner possible; to portray a character so believably that viewers tuning in midway could be forgiven for thinking that they were watching an real documentary. To that end, we encourage stutters, filler language and natural pauses; the ‘you knows’, the ‘likes’ and the ‘erms’, especially during talking head sequences. Delivering the lines exactly as printed on the page is not as important as making them sound like genuine speech.

Characters

NAME:
Alexander Hamilton-Bamforth

CHARACTER DETAILS:
Posh, privileged and working in a dead-end job in a housing agency. Alex Hamilton-Bamforth is a mess of contradictions.
Fundamentally selfish, Alex is nonetheless desperate to be liked. His father views him as a crushing disappointment – Alex didn’t manage to get into Cambridge, even after his family donated a new wing to the library – and so beneath Alex’s attempts to impress lie a deep insecurity. The one thing he’s never told anyone is that his father threatened to cut off his inheritance if he couldn’t get a job.

Unfortunately, Alex’s self-restraint is about as well-developed as his understanding of other people, which means friendship never comes easy. Alex has no qualms about telling vividly detailed stories about his past misdeeds; he frequently mistakes shock for awe and is incapable of knowing when to stop.

NOTE: The ability to do a convincing upper-class accent is a must; much of the comedy stems from the incongruity between Alex and his workmates. Alex is also said to have recently graduated, although how recently is unspecified; the part could be played by anyone from 18 to 28.

GENDER:
Male
ACCENTS:
Upper-class
MINIMUM AGE:
18
MAXIMUM AGE:
28

NAME:
Kozu Nakao (Name subject to change on nationality of actor)

CHARACTER DETAILS:
As International Liaison for the housing agency, Kozu is the only competent worker in the building and views his fellow employees as tragic wastes of skin. He speaks only his mother tongue at all times and as such, has all his dialogue subtitled – which frees him up to be the resident deadpan snarker, since no one around him has any idea what he’s saying.

Of course, Kozu can actually speak English perfectly; he just doesn’t bother so that he never has to talk to his colleagues. He exudes a quietly lethal air of menace and never speaks about his past, although it’s heavily implied during his talking heads that he came to England to escape retribution after a failed assassination attempt. His eyes light up whenever he talks about it.

IMPORTANT: Ideally, actors interested in this role will be bilingual. As presently written, Kozu is of Asian descent, but we actively encourage all bilingual actors to apply for the role. We will adapt the script to suit the right actor.
GENDER:
Male
MINIMUM AGE:
18
MAXIMUM AGE:
35

NAME:
Flossy Brown

CHARACTER DETAILS:
The first thing you should know about Flossy is that her name is not actually Flossy. Her real name is Charlotte, but Alex nicknames her Flossy on her first day because of her habit of flossing her teeth. Which is actually less a habit than a nervous thing – because whenever Flossy gets stressed, she reaches for the mouthwash or the hand sanitiser or the toothbrush. And in one of the talking heads, Flossy will be asked about this, and her response is that while she knows no one can actually smell your breath down the phone�� what if they can?

And that’s Flossy in a nutshell – painfully eager to please, determined to think the best of people and chronically afraid of answering the phone. Which is a shame because that is basically her job.

Flossy is probably the most likable character on the show, although she does have her moments. She shares a close rivalry with Alex, who views her with a mixture of bemusement and affection�� which leads to him underestimating her at some crucial moments. Perhaps the best compliment that Flossy has ever received came from Kozu, who once expressed that he despised her slightly less than all his other colleagues.

GENDER:
Female
MINIMUM AGE:
18
MAXIMUM AGE:
28

NAME:
Ted/Tessa Cheer

CHARACTER DETAILS:
NOTE: This character is described as male in the script, but we believe that a female interpretation would work equally well and would strongly encourage female actors to apply.

On the surface, Ted looks like the kindest, twinkliest older gentleman ever – always ready with a smile or a handshake. Underneath all that, however, he’s viciously apathetic about his job and bitterly unhappy about being transferred to a student housing agency. Much of the comedy comes from the stark contrast between how he looks and what he says.

As the episode opens, Ted is brought in to supervise the agency after the departure of the old boss, and is also tasked with finding a replacement. Trouble is, the only applicants are Alex and Flossy – who he loathes equally. Strangely enough, he gets on reasonably well with Kozu. Perhaps they’re united by that warm glow of hatred.
Ted is presently envisioned as a grandfatherly-type gentleman, although this is not vital to the character and younger actors are welcome to offer an alternate interpretation.

GENDER:
Any gender
MINIMUM AGE:
30
MAXIMUM AGE:
65

Apply Now

  Job Closed  

We're afraid you've missed your chance to apply to this job. If you haven't already make sure you register so you don't miss any more Castings as they appear on the site.

Don't Forget: Check your email settings from your Account Menu to make sure you're receiving all the latest castings as they appear and add our email address to your safe list - we don't want you missing your dream job!