Casting: Sundance Lab Feature Film by Sean Wang ("DÌDI")
Project Description: A Sundance Screenwriters Lab feature film written and directed by Sean Wang, set to film during Summer 2023. Fremont, CA. 2008. In the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable thirteen-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt and how to love your mom.
Roles:
CHRIS WANG, aka WANG-WANG, Male (11-14) - Chinese / Taiwanese American – Impressionable, angsty, and charmingly bracefaced. Manga enthusiast, amateur cameraperson, and fledgling skate nerd. Wrestles with a complex inner sense of identity that he can’t fully comprehend yet: too Asian for the white kids, too white for the Asian kids.
*Must be able to speak conversational Mandarin. Skateboarding experience a plus.*FAHAD MAHMOOD, Male (11-14) - South Asian American – Charismatic, lovable, young brown casanova (or so-he-thinks). A natural storyteller. Comes from a religious family, but Dave Chapelle, Russell Peters, and Kevjumba are his Gods. Cares about two things and two things only: staying fresh & mackin’ on girls.
JIMMY KIM - aka SOUP, Male (11-14) - Korean American – Loudmouth, no-filter goofball. Lives on a healthy diet of kimchi-jjigae, Monster energy, and underground hip-hop: Blue Scholars, Atmosphere, Nujabes are the soundtracks to his life. A loose cannon of untamed emotion. Gochujang on everything, DGAF about nothin’.
VIVIAN, Female (16 - 22) - Chinese/Taiwanese American – Precocious. Booksmart. Attending UCSD in the Fall. Bright and independent, but wrestles with low self-esteem due to her constant eczema flare-ups, especially in the summer heat. Constantly bickering with Wang-Wang, but loves him deep down, even if she can’t admit it.
DONOVAN, Male (16 - 25) – all ethnicities – hometown hero & hustler with a heart of gold. Looks for every chance to make some change: odd jobs, charging gas money, slanging shoes, etc. Would rather earn one dollar than steal ten. Wants to be sponsored.
*Must know how to skateboard*NUGGET, Male (14 - 20) – all ethnicities –Happy-go-lucky skate rat. Showers once a week. Radiates positivity – never not smiling.
*Must know how to skateboard*CORY, Male (16 - 22) – all ethnicities –Seemingly standoffish, but just shy and awkward. The only one of the group still in school. The worst skater of the 3, but skates less now anyways because he’s studying for the SATs – wants to go to Berkeley.
*Must know how to skateboard*MADI, Female (13 - 18) Hapa. Ambitious & driven. Band geek & secret Maplestory nerd. Wang-Wang’s crush. A high school Freshman – not much older than Wang-Wang, but at that age, one grade is an eternity.
JADE, Female (12 - 18) – all ethnicities – Bold, sassy, smart & stylish. 4.0 Honors student from the sister school. Into streetwear and raw denim. Wears Stüssy on picture day
ELLIE, Female (12 - 18) – all ethnicities – Jade’s “best friend” and/or underling. Observant, always putting on. Nicer than she seems. Shier than she acts
JOSH, Male (15 - 20) – East Asian American – Academic. Athletic. Awkward. A try-hard, but Asian excellence in all the ways his mother would want.
Dates: Summer 2023
Compensation: TBC
Submission Instructions:
Submit your details here.
Please note that casting is handled by respective casting agencies and not Babel Film Workshop. If you would like support from us, please send us an email.
