CASTING CALL - homoerotic horror short film

About the project and the company

Low budget independent short film ‘STRANGE FLESH’ (<15 min length)

PITCH: A young Mormon man, LUKE, tries to live the missionary life but is secretly conflicted by his deviant homoerotic fantasies. While proselytizing in the park, LUKE and his mission partner ELIAS encounter a mysterious man who crudely hits on LUKE and offers him his phone number. ELIAS shuts the interaction down and lectures LUKE on the evils of ‘homo sexxers’ but LUKE sneaks out of their shared bedroom that night in order to call the mystery man and travel to his home. LUKE submits himself to a bleak and disturbing sexual encounter. The next day, he returns pitifully to his Mormon missionary life.

GENRE: Mix of psychological horror, erotica and very black comedy stemming from LUKE’s lack of sexual fulfillment. The closest match in cinema is the so-depressing-it’s-hilarious work of Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness.)

ANTICIPATED SHOOTS: throughout November. Several outdoor scenes will be weather-permitting and so some schedule flexibility is ideal. At a maximum the principals will be required for 3-4 shoots lasting several hours to most of the day/evening. Seattle and surrounding.

PAYMENT: This project is entirely funded by me. I will pay a stipend to the four leading roles listed below- totally unrepresentative of the work you will put in, but a token of my vast appreciation for your commitment.

MY ACTORS: Professionals and inexperienced both welcome to audition. Don’t need to be gay but definitely need to be comfortable participating in a piece with gay themes and a bizarre sex scene (non-explicit but heavy on implication.) Need to be comfortable removing masks for scenes while otherwise following basic COVID protocols. Beyond a small stipend what I can offer is a highly professional project (my DP and I are both video professionals and we’ll be shooting on high end digital) that you can refer to proudly as part of your reel. It’s a passion project for me and I’m investing everything I have to make it great. When it’s complete I’ll submit to festivals and contests.

ROLES:

LUKE: (male 18-25) Mormon missionary with secret desires that disturb him. After a chance encounter in the park he has the opportunity to find some kind of sexual consummation but it ends terribly. LUKE barely speaks throughout the film but is in every shot. He is meek, depressed, mostly adrift in the bleak circumstances life presents him with. The ideal quality I’m looking for in LUKE is expressing a lot while trying to maintain a neutral face.

ELIAS: (male 18-25) Mormon missionary partnered with LUKE. He is LUKE’s opposite: comfortable with his Mormon world and eager to return to his Mormon girlfriend and start his family. His jocularity around LUKE is deliberately provocative, a subtle form of bullying. He joyfully quotes scripture at random. Jock type.

BRUCE: (male 30-50) A gay man, visibly older than Luke, who confidently and with great ease seduces Luke into his disturbing sexual project. He is mustached and wears large mirrored sunglasses; his face is never clearly seen. BRUCE is mysterious and can be interpreted as a cipher for LUKE’s desires.

LUKE’s STALKER: (male, adult) The film opens with a dream sequence in which LUKE is stalked through a forest and ravished by a large, muscled figure. His face is never seen. For this critical scene I am looking for a man with a really imposing physical frame. Ideally would shoot a few minutes nude. Will negotiate price for the right model.

EXTRAS: The film has several small but critical extra roles- people walking through a park and rejecting the missionaries’ entreaties, a homeless man who begs LUKE for change. Will pay for participation.

Interested? Email andrewdimitrov@gmail.com, tell me which role you are interested in. I’ll send you the script and if you’re still into it we’ll schedule an audition.

Location of Audition

Seattle

Audition requirements

Would prefer screen test, can do remote