Production Dairy: Casting

My film will only include 5 characters. The protagonist, love-interest, antagonist, and two side characters.

The protagonist, Danny, will be played by Alistair Grant. I have chosen him as he is happy to take the role, and is also a likeable, relatable person. He is also dating the love-interest in real life, which will help to create chemistry between the two main characters. I also plan on making him look younger by giving him a wig or hat and darkening his beard. using the same actor in both periods will reduce the chance of anyone being confused as to what the match cut was supposed to signify.

Sam Grant, Alistair’s son, will play the younger version of him if he agrees to be in the film. If not, I will use Alistair for both time periods and find a way of making him look younger, perhaps with a wig or by darkening his beard.

The love interest, Emma, will be played by Tracy Cairns. She is a charismatic person, who can get along well with people, which makes her suitable for the role. She is also very sociable with strangers, which is something that her character, Lisa, is also, as seen in the opening scene when she meets the protagonist.

The antagonist, Mark, will be played by Trevor Cairns, who has experience in work environments like this and in this career, so can match these manager characteristics accurately. The antagonist is not an antagonist in the sense that they create a conflict in the film or set events in motion, but rather exists and is written to emphasise the hostile work environment that the protagonist works in. The worse the workplace is, the more meaningful and powerful the protagonists depiction to take it will be as a result. A big aspect of the story is that this person sees their own future and the grim nature of it, assuming they take the job, but the bond that they built with one of their co-workers was so strong that the reality of their potential future was not a factor in their depiction to take the job. They’ve been given the chance to avoid having this awful job, but disregard its negative qualities because of this person.

The two side characters will be played by Donovan Miles and Harry Batkin. These will be two unnamed office workers who serve as extras for most of the film, mostly for the purpose of making the office space feel more real. However, one, Donovan Miles, may have a negative interaction with the protagonist or antagonist at one point to signify the un-kind nature of this workplace and the protagonists isolation in working there.