SAG-AFTRA Casting Call for 'Desert' a Navajo story

Sorry Everyone: I got this in my email box just one day before submission deadline for June 7, 2017. You can submit to casting director down the road if she is casting in the Southwest. You never know..., 

(SAG-AFTRA logo 2017)

Production: DESERT

Contract: SAG-AFTRA Low Budget Modified Affirmative Action (Status Pending)

Directors: Frederic Choffat, Julie Gilbert

Producers: Jessica Huppert Berman, Anne Deluz, Philippe Gompel, Birgit Kemner

Production Comp.: Intermezzo Films

Writers: Frederic Choffat, Julie Gilbert, Jihane Chouaib

Casting Director: Carla Hool

Casting Associate: Kim Williams

Shoot Location: "Flagstaff, Arizona and Flagstaff, Arizona. Local hires only. However, those who reside in the surrounding areas of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as other Navajo Nation Areas will be considered."

Start Date: Approx. September 25

"Ten years ago, Alex and Bernardo were both in love with Jade.  All their lives have diverged during the course of a decade.  When Alex and Bernardo are summoned to meet Jade on a Navajo reservation in the desert of Arizona, they have no idea why -- but they both come immediately. Escorted to Jade's mobile home by her pre-teen daughter, FRIDA, the two men are presented with a problem that leaves them both gutted: Jade is dying of pancreatic cancer and has only days to live -- each thinks that Frida could be his daughter. Jade entrusts her daughter's future to the two men she loves best."

Submission Instructions: "Please send your headshot and resume to kimwilliamscasting@gmail.com. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, June 7 at 6 p.m. PDT."     

Seeking Performers Able To Portray The Following:                                

[RYAN] "55 years old, hugely built, a NAVAJO Native American with long hair, a small mustache and a bandana tied around his head. He is a local medicine man who wears a leather waistcoat with fringes. A man who drives a Harley Davidson and carries a drum strapped across his shoulder, Ryan pays a call on Jade, and gives Alex a prescription, probably for pain pills.  He later appears after Jade's death, and gives Alex and Bernardo instructions for performing a proper Navajo funeral ceremony."

• 5 speeches & 14 lines, 4 scenes
• Must speak Diné and have an deep knowledge of the Navajo traditions 

[JOSH] "30 years old, muscular, a local drug pusher, Josh wears a t-shirt and a baseball cap and has a tattoo of an eagle sprawled across his torso. NAVAJO or CREE, he refers to his desert homeland as "Mars," and obviously wants to know quite a bit more about Alex before selling him $200 worth of white pills."

• 3 speeches & 20 lines, 2 scenes
• Must speak Diné or Cree

"We strongly encourage Navajo actors to apply for these opportunities."

"We are committed to diverse, inclusive casting. For every role, please submit qualified performers, without regard to disability, race, age, color, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity, or any other basis prohibited by law, unless otherwise specifically indicated. This email is being sent as a courtesy to the signatory producer and as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members in the New Mexico Local. SAG-AFTRA has no responsibility for the email’s content or for the referenced project. Any questions should be addressed the production or casting director. This email is not intended to serve as an endorsement of any party or project referenced herein."