AUDITION | Are you Abigail?
Seeking Female Lead in a Short Film about an Indigenous Ballet Dancer
Auditions August, Brisbane
Criss Gidas is a screenwriter/producer and is looking for ‘Abigail’ – the lead role in her short film project titled I’ll Be There.
The film is a 15-minute coming-of-age dance drama centred around Abigail Cooper, a mixed race Indigenous ballerina struggling with her identity and tumultuous family life, who is auditioning for The Australian Ballet.
This is a passion-project for Gidas, who hopes to one day expand the short film into a feature length movie. Although not a ballet dancer herself, Gidas does have a background in ballroom dance and is fascinated by the world of ballet.
Along with the choreographer and director, Gidas will be holding auditions for this lead role as well as other cast NEXT WEEK in BRISBANE. Filming is planned for 3 days in early September in Brisbane.
Contact Criss Gidas directly to register for the audition and find out the full details. The Roles on offer are:
ABIGAIL COOPER — a mixed race Aboriginal ballet student, between 18-25 years of age, with experience in ballet and dancing en Pointe. Dancers will be required to perform a 1-2 minute routine en pointe in the audition.
YOUNG ABIGAIL COOPER — a 10 year old version of Abigail, mixed race, does not need to have ballet experience.
JACK COOPER — white; male; 40s to 50s; Abigail’s father; a drunk; and has bi-polar disorder. A former paramedic who was fired for stealing his bi-polar medication as he couldn’t afford it, he turns to alcohol to deal with his problems. Unable to keep a steady job and with Deborah leaving him, he descends into madness and unable to be the father Abigail needs him to be. EndFragment
DEBORAH COOPER — indigenous; female; 40s to 50s; paramedic; Abigail’s mother. Deborah met Jack when he worked as a paramedic and it was a whirlwind romance. It wasn’t long after that Abigail was born and Jack started to disintegrate into his present state. She did her best to give Abigail a dream that would get her as far away from their situation as possible but it soon got to the point where she could no longer be around Jack any longer.
NINA — English-Iranian; has to have the ability to speak with an English accent; 40s; former prima ballerina for the Royal Ballet in London. She’s very harsh and critical of Abigail, not only because she wants Abigail to do her best, but she wants her student to realise how luck she is to be in such a privileged environment. Her family managed to escape from Iran to London at a young age and she was able to pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina. As such, she has become very strict on her pupils to make sure they shine, even if her methods aren’t exactly kosher.
3 JUDGES — one line each, one altogether; two women, one in her 30s and the other in her 50s; one male in his 40s.
PARAMEDIC — Deborah’s co-worker and appears in one scene.
For full information about this film project and auditioning contact Criss Gidas at
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Follow the project on FACEBOOK @IllBeThereFilm
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