Casting Call — A Trailer for the Novel, The Stromness Dinner

We’re looking for two skilled actors to play the roles of ED and CLAIRE in a concept trailer for the novel. The novel has been adapted in-house to function as a movie-style trailer. In terms of tone, think high-end TV series opening credits combined with an artistic mood film.

CASTING BREAKDOWN

We’re looking for two skilled actors to play the roles of ED and CLAIRE in a concept trailer for the novel. The novel has been adapted in-house to function as a movie-style trailer. In terms of tone, think high-end TV series opening credits combined with an artistic mood film.

Synopsis: Ed Beech does plastering, joinery, roofing, and decorating. He turns up with a tape measure and pencil, gives you a quote—if you like it, he’ll do the job. Ed Beech is easy. Stromness is a town situated on one of Scotland’s most northerly Islands. Stromness is wild, windswept, and anything but easy.

Ed (29)

A large man, made from the sort of thick, undefined muscle you only get after years of manual labour. Ed is a working-class, Bermondsey local. He speaks with a cockney accent. He’s the very definition of a ‘sound bloke’. You be good to him—he’ll be good to you.

His world revolves around his work as a builder, painter, and decorator with his dad. His life is dictated by a simple but effective formula: do a good job, leave the place as neat (if not neater) than you found it, get down the pub and call it a day.

Ed is fiercely loyal to his family and those that are a regular fixture in his life. But, while he’s just as much a part of the makeup of Bermondsey as his family and friends, he can’t quite claim to be content.

He’s going through the motions. Living a life dictated by routine and familiarity. But underneath his skin, there’s a creeping itch. A curiosity rising to the surface.

This curiosity manifests itself in his passion for food and cooking. Food is a natural passion for Ed as he experiences the world primarily through the primal senses of smell and taste. We get the feeling that Ed has smelt and tasted everything life has to offer him in Bermondsey. That is until a job offer takes him away from his daily routine and offers his senses the opportunity to indulge in their need for something different. For something more.

Keywords: Sturdy, fair, stoic, curious

Claire (mid to late 20s)

Claire is a highly successful, young risk-analyst for a top London investment firm. Her work has been her life for as long as she can remember, and her friends tell her she should be grateful for all she has. But, she doesn’t feel grateful. In fact, in recent months she feels as if London is beginning to swallow her whole. So, when her father passes away in his home in Stromness, Orkney, she takes the chance to put as much distance between herself and her life as possible.

The only thing is, Ed will be staying while he freshens up the place. But that’s not a problem. He seemed nice enough. In fact, she liked the way he had looked at her when she shook one of his rough but delicate hands.

Keywords: Confident, elegant, bored, playful