Casting and seeking crew for "2," an independently produced New Media Streaming Series set in the U.S. Southwest Desert. Synopsis: Parts psychological thriller, classic tragedy, urban fantasy, sci-fi, modern-day myth, and Neo-Western Noir.

ROLES:-
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Hope
Lead. Female. 18-31

She is wise beyond any "girl next door" demeanor (to an inexplicable degree). Trapped (in at least one way more than typical) in a bad relationship (with Dowan), Hope is also a touchstone for the protagonist (Grayson), providing connection and assistance in ways that speak of a history deeper and with greater significance than is initially revealed. Is she a love interest? Well, that's complicated. A friend? Clearly, but is she the friend that will help extricate the protagonist from his trouble, or did she help him into it? Or both? Hope is complex, alluring, and enticing but distant in an otherworldly way. She has been honed by more life than we can imagine. She is not "the girlfriend." She is a force of nature: the kind we all wish for. Mid-20s. Attractive; beautiful, in fact, but underplayed. Jeans, shirt, and boots; she is casual. Natural. She is smooth, equine in her movements."
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
Required Media: Headshot/Photo

Dowan Tenant
Lead. Male. 25-40

Taken from the initial introduction of the character in the script: "He's 35, give or take, but playing catch-up in terms of maturity. He is attractive enough and fit without reason, but probably wasn't always. Now, the soft life of too much money and too little class hang on him like a shadow."

He is a rogue, unsavory, and general waste of carbon. Self-absorbed, he is the kind to not only take the last slice of pizza without asking, but announces he’s doing so as he does. Violent? He can be, when insecurities flare, although it is as often out of boredom as it is from intent. He is an equal opportunity offender, aloof, superior, and even dismissive of men, women, animals, and probably even plants. Unfortunately, he is charming when it is a means to an end. You would not cross the street when you saw him approaching… the first time. He can "pass" as a civilized person, but generally for only a short while and only when there is something in it for him. Ruthless in both love and war; he is the personification of the blackness that lives in the depths of too many men.
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
Required Media: Headshot/Photo

Big Jon
Supporting. Male. 40-60

Forty...fifty...maybe sixty years ago, the hard-baked ground of the southwest desert cracked open and spit out BIG JON ALLEN. A hulk of a man, sporting perpetual stubble, and most at home in battered hat, duster coat, and tired boots. The bastard son of a bastard son and rough-hewn in all manner, BIG JON overcame the burden of being born a sweet kid managing to grow into a bitter, crust of a man, meaner than 700 Hells and out for no one and no thing as much as himself. Ownership of a Desejo County casino, brothel, drug enterprise (and a handful endeavors even less reputable), as well as most of the county’s rural lands have resulted in quite an empire for the self-made king. But just how much of his soul did he have too barter to claim it? No need to cross the street at BIG JON's approach — if it's you he's coming for, he'll already be waiting for you on the other side.
Ethnicity: Latino / Hispanic, White / European Descent
Required Media: Headshot/Photo

Mama Freya
Supporting. Female. 35-59

Fixer, Manager, Protective Mother-figure to "her girls," Counsel, and Confessor; Mama Freya is equal balance intrinsic beauty and hard thorns. Day-to-day oversight of The Honey Trap, one of the sparse county's brothels is the focal point of her life, fiercely mothering the staff and keeping order. Her years working for the owner, Big John, have earned her a grudging trust and what passes for respect. She stands down to no man, but she also prioritizes addressing issues in the earliest stage with a quick, authoritative air that takes clear there is a time for nonsense and a time for none. Beauty, strength, loyalty, and judgment are rarely found in the interwoven quality that they are in Mama Freya. Note: This role has been conceived as having a distinct ethnicity (though not locked into any specific one). Though a decades-long resident of the desert southwest, Mama Freya is written as having been foreign-born. We are open to modifications for the right actor, but we also encourage all ethnicities to apply.
Ethnicity: All Ethnicities
Required Media: Headshot/Photo

Ying
Day Player. Female. 14-25

YING (can appear anywhere from 12 - 30). Literally an old spirit / soul currently in the form of a young Asian woman / girl. A “working god,” known throughout Desejo County as the greatest of tattoo artists who works in a Heavy Metal; Goth-toned parlor (We are happy to consider all actors, but YING is not envisioned as heavily tattooed or even having any necessarily).

YING is, in fact, the spiritual guide and a resident master of the supernatural / fantasy element of the story. In her meetings with HOPE, she is both a overseer and taskmaster, counsel and mentor. HOPE is but one of the “Wish Grantors” for which YING is responsible, and without question, the most challenging, questioning, and rebellious. The principal meeting between the two in Season One involves YING reprimanding HOPE for the complications she has brought to the work they do and the "order" of their corner of the universe.

(Role is listed as "Day Player" but is recurring/supporting in subsequent episodes / seasons.)
Ethnicity: Asian, South Asian / Indian, Southeast Asian / Pacific Islander
Required Media: Headshot/Photo

Juliana
Supporting. Female. 20-27

Taken from the first introduction of the character in the script: "Early-20s, she is blatantly 'of the desert;' small build, leaning toward scrawny, unfazed by sun or heat or desolation. More than anything... a survivor." JULIANA (as well as LATHROP, COLBY and AIDEN) are written as a "desert hillbillies." Each of the four (COLBY and AIDEN do not appear in Season One) were children living on city streets, unknown to each other. A kindly desert rancher (deceased) took each of the four into his home, raising them as siblings. Now grown, the four live together on the 600-acre ranch, running drugs and other “enterprises,” fiercely taking care of one another, and… surviving. Though not educated beyond a half-hearted completion of high school, JULIANA is quick, smart, resourceful, and arguably the unacknowledged glue (or even "leader") that holds the clan together, and a young woman ready to taken action on ambitions of her own.
Ethnicity: White / European Descent
Required Media: Headshot/Photo

Lathrop
Supporting. Male. 19-27

Taken from the first introduction of the character in the script: "LATHROP, Barely-20. Desert-worn and a young soul. Innocence and hardscrabble rolled into one." LATHROP (as well as JULIANA, COLBY and AIDEN) are written as a "desert hillbillies.” Each of the four (COLBY and AIDEN do not appear in Season One) were children living on city streets, unknown to each other. A kindly desert rancher (deceased) took each of the four into his home, raising them as siblings. Now grown, the four live together on the 600-acre ranch, running drugs and other “enterprises,” fiercely taking care of one another, and… surviving. While LATHROP managed only a decent portion of high school, he is instinctual, street savvy (if you give him a few moments), and resourceful enough. Just back from a jail stay, he is anxious to plug back into the desert existence. He is the loyal family dog — instinctively sweet and endearing, but quickly protective when threats arise.
Ethnicity: White / European Descent
Required Media: Headshot/Photo

Savannah
Day Player. Female. 18-25

The tragedies surrounding SAVANNAH (18) are not only her running away from home — not due to any abuse or threat, but because... well, boredom — but fleeing a small, two-light rural desert town, headed for the bright and fast life of some coastal metropolis, only to land on the other side of the Rio Fortuna, in the middle of nowhere: the enormous path of desert that is most of Desejo County.

Too attractive for small town back-seat gropes, but clueless about a look that turns big city heads, she is innocent but strong, guileless and romantic, making the best of things in the last place she should: Desejo's sole legal brothel, The Honey Trap. What started as a housekeeping job to earn the money needed to get her to the coast turned into SAVANNAH working the brothel’s line-up. For those few months, she has managed to evade burnout or cynicism, keeping sun in her disposition and holding fast to the belief that her current situation is just a stop along the way — an admirable outlook, but the kind of naïveté that can leave a young woman vulnerable.
Ethnicity: Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, White / European Descent
Required Media: Headshot/Photo

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Dates & Locations
Shoots internationally in 2025.

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COMPANY DETAILS
Desert Palm Productions
Greg Anderson, creator; Don Laikowski and Dakota Lupo, prods.