PROJECT DETAILS

Harbor City is an original independent animation series of shorts following a group of friends, their families, their community, and the goofy, uneventful things that happen within it. The roles presented in this casting call currently only have concrete plans to appear in one short for now, but would be very likely to appear in more shorts down the line. So, if you’d like to audition for one of them, it would be awesome if you’d be open to further projects with the role after this one!
This short has a runtime of approximately two minutes.

WORK DETAILS

All voice actors will be paid for their work on this project. If you don’t have a method to receive payment, please let me know in your audition email so we can work something out, but the ability to be paid is a requirement for taking a role. I am willing to compensate in any remote method most convenient to you - Paypal, Ko-Fi, Venmo, etc. **Each artist will be paid a flat fee of $30 upon joining the project, and an additional $20/hour for recording sessions. **

The lines will be recorded via Discord, Teams, or Zoom call so we can have live feedback while recording - whichever is most convenient to you, although Discord is preferred.

I’ll be scheduling this session as soon as the roles are selected, and will get in touch with you to schedule via whatever contact information you specify in your audition email.

CONTENT

The series is a lightly comedic series of skits of a tight group of friends and family. The aim of the story, at large, is to illustrate the odd and inconsistent warmth of mundanity, and loving yet boring close relationships. The content doesn’t aim to preach, more to comfort and entertain all audiences while sharing stories featuring characters from all walks of life. Substantial LGBTQ+ representation is a central goal of the project - the characters Ted and Toby have a romantic relationship, and Ada is a transgender woman.

This particular short depicts Toby Young, Ted Groghl, and Ada Mantodea going to a hardware store with Toby's dad, Darmell Young. In the first half of the short, they get into some conversation in the car about a misleading (and distracting) promotional sale for sinks while Toby tries to remind his dad of their original purpose (to get a part for Toby's parents' car).In the store, Darmell is still a bit focused on the sale, and Toby and his mom Deja (over the phone) try to dissuade him from getting one. Other brief, unfortunate hijinks ensue, but can be viewed in their entirety in the script below!

The series's TV Parental Guidance rating would likely be TV-14, on account for language, light sensuality, and comic violence.

Concept Sketches:

CONTACT

Anyway, that’s about all! If you have any other questions or comments, please get in touch with me via email at [email protected] or via direct message on Twitter, Instagram, or Discord (@Pafbar). Thanks so much for reading, I can’t wait to hear your interpretations of these characters!

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Full Script (could face edits)
Previous Shorts
YouTube Channel
Twitter

RECORDING

To audition for a role, please visit the detailed sheet of the character you are interested in from the character list. (Make sure you've read this before choosing a character!) Read through the role to see if it’s right for you, and then take a recording of your takes on each of the audition lines shown in the sheet. If you’d like, you can even throw in a few lines from the full script! It can be in whatever format is easiest for you - MP3, WAV, or even video. Even if you think your microphone quality isn't that good, if you fit the voice we can make it work!

VOICE

Ted talks in a very casual, mild manner.

Generally Ted’s voice is fairly steady and unremarkable. He talks genuinely, without manufactured layers of sweetness or grace, like he’s just conveying his thoughts rather than trying to make a point. Think of Ant Man or Nathan Drake, but far less witty, and a bit more awkward. Usually, his voice sounds pretty mild and upbeat. Though in confrontational situations, he’s assertive. His voice in these moments should sound like a mixture of disappointment, annoyance and incredulity rather than fury or anger.

ROLE

Ted is the main character of the first three quarters of this animation.

In his scenes, Ted catches a snapping turtle out of a fish pond, breaking the news to the pest control team who was competing with him to get it out first. After this, he deals with the rich old man who hired him, who now says he won’t pay Ted for his service. He refuses on the grounds that Ted’s non-lethal methods took too long when compared with the pest control team. An argument ensues.

PERSONALITY

Ted is a short-sighted, yet polite and kindhearted guy.

I’d best describe his personality as just a pretty mild mannered, laid-back, irresponsible college student dude who just tries to scrape by and make himself and his friends happy. He’s healthily comfortable/confident with himself, doesn’t try to draw attention, and isn’t crushed by failure or outside disapproval. He’s fairly happy with his life, and is content not to push himself or others too hard most of the time. However, he knows when he or his friends are being treated unfairly, and will speak up against it accordingly.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Eric Edelstein, "Grizz", We Bare Bears
• (Original)

• Stephen “Thundercat” Lee Bruner
• (Original)

• Stephen Merritt, The Magnetic Fields
• (Original)

• Ian Jones Quartey, “Radicles”, OK KO Let’s Be Heroes
• (Original)

• This animation generally captures his voice
• (Original)

REFERENCE SHEET

VOICE

Ada speaks in a relaxed and casual tone.

Ada normally speaks in a very casual, confident tone of voice. She doesn’t come across as arrogant, just unconcerned with her word choices. Generally, kind of think of her as the cool older girl at a birthday party who beats everyone at ping pong. When irritated, she expresses it clearly, sounding more angry than insulted.

ROLE

Ada is one of the main characters in the last quarter of this animation.

In her scene, Ada is getting up to leave with Toby, one of her best friends, after spending the day with him at the mall helping him look for a shirt for his date with Ted that evening. The search was unsuccessful, but she doesn’t want the anxious Toby to feel bad for wasting her time. She offers encouragement to Toby, and as she leaves, she has a brief squabble with her brother Eric who came with them.

PERSONALITY

Ada is absent-minded, confident, irritable, and caring.

Ada, overall, is very confident, comfortable, and direct with people, sometimes to the point of inattentively insulting them. She loves spending time with her friends, and will go to great efforts to bring up their spirits, especially with Toby. She’s easy to annoy and escalates situations rapidly, but in some cases is just as quick to let go of an issue once the moment has passed.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Laura Les, 100 Gecs
• (Original)

• Quenlin Blackwell, “quensadilla”
• (Original)

• Nat Puff, Left At London
• (Original)

• “@skatie420fanaccount” on Tiktok
• (Original)

REFERENCE SHEET

VOICE

Toby speaks awkwardly, and often nervously.

Toby generally speaks in a tentative and low tone, and often doesn’t sound quite sure of himself. He doesn't speak shakily, he expresses his anxiety more through his quietness rather than stuttering. He mostly gets his sentences out without stammering, but he can get verbally caught sometimes trying to piece together words, starting and stopping abruptly in between them. He doesn’t need to sound nervous all the time though - he’s capable of speaking normally, even stubbornly, but even in these moments very slight indicators of his nerves can still creep through.

ROLE

Toby is one of the main characters in the last quarter of this animation.

In his scene, Toby is sitting at a mall food court table with his best friend Ada and her brother Eric after spending the day with Ada looking for a shirt for his date with Ted that evening. The search was unsuccessful, and Toby feels terrible, believing he wasted her time for being so picky. On top of that, he’s anxiously dreading the date, worried about how he’s going to come across to Ted. He tries to weasel out of the date, saying he needs to go home, but is stopped by Ada.

PERSONALITY

Toby is anxious, withdrawn, rigid, and has low self-esteem.

Toby, overall, is very hard on himself. He keeps himself far away from others out of fear of disappointing them, and often spends a lot of time by himself. However, he is genuinely comfortable with Ada, and does wish for fulfilling relationships. He puts a lot of pressure on the few interactions he has with people he doesn’t know, often trying to win them over with humor and wit, becoming very embarrassed and cutting ties with anyone who he thinks he’s failed to reach. When he is taken out of his comfort zone, he often schemes and tries to wriggle his way out of social events, back to his house to sit by himself, and will try to deflect if he gets caught doing this.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Michael Cera, “Scott Pilgrim”, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• (Original)

• Bobby Moynihan, “Panda”, We Bare Bears
• (Original)

• “wen” on YouTube
• (Original)

• Rob McElhenney, “Mac”, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• (Original)

• Jason Ritter, “Dipper Pines”, Gravity Falls
• (Original)

REFERENCE SHEET

VOICE

Eric does not speak very expressively.

Eric speaks with a fairly monotone, but not robotic, inflection. He sounds like your average teenager who’s just spent the day playing a video game he barely likes - not depressed or joyful, just at an unremarkable midpoint between the two. He can also at times have a hint of pushy questioning in his voice - with every sentence, he sounds like he might be trying to understand the boundaries of the conversation, like he’s testing the waters.

ROLE

Eric is one of the main characters in the last quarter of this animation, but he doesn’t speak much.

In his scene, Eric is sitting at a mall food court table as Ada, his sister, is getting up to leave with Toby. Eric has skipped work to go to the mall, frustrating Ada since he was supposed to be covering her shift. After he wasted money from their shared bank account on an expensive game console, further infuriating Ada. She still is, but it doesn’t bother him.

PERSONALITY

Eric is focused, oblivious, questioning, and flat.

Eric is a somewhat selfish character at times - often pursuing strange schemes and ideas to ridiculous lengths for his own gain, to the irritation of those around him. He isn’t very self-aware and frequently overestimates his abilities and resources. This usually brings his plans crashing down, after which he is very remorseful to his friends and apologizes. He’s very ambitious, oddly astute, and inquisitive about the world around him, and loves his friends even if he himself doesn’t really know it at times.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Faisal Ahmed, "guy with wifi" on Vine
• (Original)

• Robert Pattinson, "Edward Cullen", Twilight

• Charles White Jr., “penguinz0”
• (Original)

• Adam Perkins on Vine
• (Original)

REFERENCE SHEET

VOICE

Darmell speaks in a fairly flat, mostly withdrawn tone.

Darmell talks at a very steady tone - not quite monotone, but approaching it. He’s dryly expressive with his voice sometimes, but overall he shouldn’t sound easily excited. (If you’d like to give him a very subtle southern drawl, absolutely give it a shot. Bonus if he can switch to a bad British or Scottish or Irish accent sometimes just for his own amusement!)

ROLE

Darmell is one of the main characters of this planned short.

In this first planned short, Darmell makes conversation with his son and son’s friends whom he is familiar with on a trip to a hardware store. He is intrigued by a specific promotional event that isn’t why they are supposed to be there, and lightly defends his desire to check it out to the gang and his wife at home over the phone.

PERSONALITY

Darmell is a plain, selectively observant, a little stubborn, and a touch sarcastic dad.

Darmell, is a very plain, sturdy guy, quietly optimistic, and self sufficient. He has a penchant for biting off more than he can chew and being a little stubborn and resistant to things sometimes. He’s sharp, a little sarcastic, and likes giving his son and anyone else a hard time.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Billy Dee Williams
• (Original)

• Giancarlo Esposito
• (Original)

• Levar Burton
• (Original)

MODEL SHEET

VOICE

Deja has a soothing voice that can turn to anxious really quickly.

Deja talks with a kind and warm cadence, that can turn on a dime into sharp panic. She is fairly expressive and can be a little affectionately teasing in her tone. She should sound like someone who's gotten well used to being patient and calm until she doesn't. (If you’d like to give her a very subtle southern drawl, absolutely give it a shot.)

ROLE

Deja is one of the main characters of this planned short.

In the second half of this planned short, Deja talks to her son and husband on the phone while they are in a hardware store, trying to steer her husband away from an unnecessary purchase he has gotten stuck in his head. She then talks to her son and asks about his boyfriend who she knows and is affectionate for. Then, at the end she takes a major nervous turn at the mention of the word “swelling” and starts rattling off solutions and courses of action into the phone.

PERSONALITY

Deja is a caring, easygoing yet easily intensely worried mom.

Deja is an eccentric and kindhearted lady, an odd combination of carefully procedural, obsessively preparatory, and improvisational and carefree. She has an easygoing and calming presence, but is prone to bouts of anxiety that easily wig out her son. While generally she lets the people around her find their own way, she gets a bit of fun out of reeling in her husband.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Sheryl Lee Ralph
• (Original)

• Angela Bassett
• (Original)

• Viola Davis
• (Original)

MODEL SHEET

VOICE

Tim talks in a very collected, cool manner.

Tim should sound unhurried, calm, and certain when he speaks. On the occasion that he feels slighted, though, a trace of passive-aggression should enter his tone. Generally, his voice should resemble that of a sort of bland plumber or exterminator who shows up, does his job, and goes home.

ROLE

Tim is one of the side characters of the first half of this animation.

In his scenes, Tim is an eccentric but plain contributor to the conversations of the pest control team.

PERSONALITY

Tim is a quiet, self-assured oddball.

Tim is the sort of guy to casually, dryly air a very bizarre observation or thought into a conversation, sitting unaffected as others react with incredulity and frustration. His general air makes him seem as though he’s very experienced with life in general, but many of his observations are not based in sound logic or reality.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Thomas Haden Church, “Lowell Mather”, Wings
• (Original)

• Lakeith Stanfield, “Darius Epps”, Atlanta
• (Original)

• Dermot Mulroney, “Nick Mercer”, The Wedding Date
• (Original)

REFERENCE SHEET

VOICE

Barb talks in a deadpan, plain tone.

Generally, Barb sounds like an honest-working woman. She doesn’t sound excited, but isn’t monotone. She should sound sort of like a plumber who’s just impartially, unexcitedly estimating the damage caused by a leak. She is also occasionally a bit sarcastic. When confronting someone, she will raise her voice and sound irritated.

ROLE

Barb is one of the side characters of the first half of this animation.

In her scenes, Barb is a moderate, speculative, slightly analytical contributor to the conversations of the pest control team.

PERSONALITY

Barb is plain, laid back, and distantly interested.

I’d describe her personality as somewhat bland, but remotely involved in her surroundings. Barb almost comes across like a mechanic, due to how methodically and genuinely she approaches things, but she can be sarcastic at times. She will call people out on their BS, as she does with Moby in the animation.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Rosie O’Donnell, “Becky”, Sleepless in Seattle
• (Original)

• Julie Kavner, “Lucy”, Forget Paris
• (Original)

REFERENCE SHEET

VOICE

The Rich Guy talks indignantly, with anger and resentment.

The Rich Guy almost always either sounds like he’s just been affronted, or like he’s half a tone away from that state - he usually sounds angry, but sometimes he might just sound slightly miffed. Generally, he should sound like Scrooge after he’s just been asked to donate three cents to charity at the grocery checkout line. He also mutters angrily to himself occasionally.

ROLE

The Rich Guy is one of the main characters of the second third of this animation.

In his scenes, the Rich Guy complains about Ted Groghl’s long and careful removal of a snapping turtle from his pond, and refuses to pay him. In the ensuing argument, he’s rude and belittling, leaving Ted with a threat.

PERSONALITY

The Rich Guy is entitled and rude.

I’d describe his personality as privileged, aggressive, cowardly, and apathetic to the struggles of those around him. He’s your basic rich old villain.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Ron Leibman, “Dr. Leonard Green”, Friends
• (Original)

• Al Pacino, “Willy Bank”, Ocean’s Thirteen
• (Original)

• Don Johnson, “Richard Drysdale”, Knives Out
• (Original)

REFERENCE SHEET

VOICE

The Rich Wife talks in two separate cadences: one that sounds very sweet, and one that sounds cold and irritable.

The Rich Wife opens her scenes with a very accommodating, soothing tone, but follows it with a very callous, hateful sounding one. She can generally sound like a two-faced realtor or talk show host being very superficially gracious to a guest/customer, then turning around and interacting with an assistant in a very condescending and bitter manner.

ROLE

The Rich Wife is one of the side characters of the second third of this animation.

In her scenes, the Rich Wife comes to act as “good cop” after Ted Groghl is mistreated by her husband, offering compensation to Ted for his work getting a snapping turtle out of their pond. However, she quickly drops the faux-warmth after doing the bare minimum for Ted, disgusted by his smell she tells him to leave.

PERSONALITY

The Rich Wife can feign kindness, but is very entitled and blunt when that falls away.

I’d describe her personality as someone who believes that after sharing an almost insulting slight gesture of generosity or goodwill, you are allowed to be as curt or rude as you like to the recipient.

VOICE EXAMPLES

• Toni Collette, “Joni Thrombey”, Knives Out
• (Original)

• Joanna Gleason, “Mrs. Donolly”, The Wedding Planner
• (Original)

• Meryl Streep, “Miranda Priestly”, The Devil Wears Prada
• (Original)

REFERENCE SHEET