Casting deaf actors or actors who know ASL – DC area casting call for an educational video.
Auditions for “Safe in the City”
ACTORS Deaf professional actors, student actors, and/or hearing actors, fluent in ASL from the metro D.C. area. Auditions will be held to produce an educational video on HIV/STD prevention geared solely to the deaf community. Actors that are selected will be paid a daily rate for their role.
Deaf Reach, a local United Way agency serving the Deaf community, received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to produce and examine the effectiveness of educational videos to prevent the spread of AIDS, HIV and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the Deaf community.
About Safe in the City:
The video series include three short, soap opera style vignettes that will be developed for adults, students and clinic patients from the Deaf community. The vignettes are interwoven with one another through their characters. They face some of the common barriers to condom use and sexual safety in different types of relationships, including steady relationships, dating relationships, and casual one-night stands. There are some “clean intimate” scenes involving kissing and close contact. The videos are being adapted from existing videos that CDC has on the internet: www.safeinthecity.org and we suggest you review them prior to the audition. The videos we are producing will be done exclusively in ASL.
Vignette 1:
Paul and Jasmine: Paul and Jasmine are a couple ready to move their relationship to a more serious level. Paul suggests that they stop using condoms, but is persuaded by Jasmine that it is important that they keep being “careful.” When Paul has a brief fling with an ex-girlfriend, Theresa, things become more complicated – particularly when Theresa informs him that she has been diagnosed with an STD and suggests that he get tested. He is faced with the decision of what to do and what to tell Jasmine.
Paul: fit, muscular-looking African American Deaf man in his mid to late 20s
Jasmine: attractive African American Deaf woman in her mid to late 20s
Vignette 2:
Theresa and Lionel: Theresa meets Lionel at a restaurant where she works. He asks her out, and she agrees. She is surprised at how quickly things heat up. Cautious after a past STD diagnosis, Theresa insists that they use a condom despite Luis’ initial resistance. After Theresa’s effective negotiation, Luis becomes determined to find a condom – despite their current lack of one.
Theresa: natural-looking, down-to-earth, Deaf woman of Caucasian ethnicity; mid to late 20s or early 30s
Lionel: average-looking Deaf man, African American ethnicity; mid to late 20s or early 30s
Vignette 3:
Ray and Tim and Christina: Ray has been involved in an ongoing, but not exclusive, relationship with a woman named Christina. One evening while out at a bar, Ray meets Tim who is now single after breaking up with his boyfriend. They share a few drinks, one thing leads to another and Tim and Ray have a casual sexual encounter. Several days later, Christina observes Ray’s symptoms of an STD. Angry and hurt, she insists they visit the STD clinic.
Ray: average looking, Epicurean-type, African American Deaf man; mid 20s to early 30s
Tim: average looking, Caucasian Deaf man; mid 20s to early 30s.
Christina: average-looking Deaf woman, non-Caucasian, or of mixed ethnicity; late 20s to mid 30s.
Other Roles to cast include:
Bookstore/Pharmacy Clerk
Clinician/ Doctor
ASL Interpreter
Bar and Restaurant Patrons — extras
The filming will be done at Gallaudet University in Mid-February or Early March.
You can obtain a copy of the script prior to the date if you contact: Jeffrey Kramer (kcam@his.com) to confirm your appointment and indicate what character listed below you would like to read for the audition. Or you can come prepared to do a cold reading/signing of a short segment of the script. The auditions will be videotaped and reviewed before final decisions will be made.
Audition Date: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2011 at 3:00PM
Location: Eastman Studio Theatre, Gallaudet University
Requirements: Headshot/Resume, Fluency in ASL