As it's been going down well in performance, and has a narrative that would lend itself well to being told visually, I've decided to make a short film of my new univocalist poem 'Blind'.

The brilliant Luca Rudlin from People Staring has come on board to shoot and direct it, and the lovely folk at Wilson's in Manchester's Northern Quarter have kindly agreed to provide a location.

All we need now are some actors! The two main characters in the poem are described below, they're non-speaking parts as I will be narrating the story on camera, and we also need people to be in the background of the bar location.

We have no budget, everyone is giving their time and skills for free, so these are unpaid roles. But we're going to make the production values as high as possible and hope to enter the finished product in competitions/festivals, so we hope it will be widely watched and will definitely be a strong addition to the actors' show-reels. Everyone involved will be fully credited of course, and we'll make sure everyone's well looked after with food/drink and any out-of-town travel expenses reimbursed.

If you're interested please read the casting call below and get in touch ASAP. The shoot will be scheduled for March, date TBC.

Casting Call

For short film - ‘Blind’, produced by Ben Mellor and Luca Rudlin (People Staring).

People Staring and Ben Mellor are shooting a video for Ben’s univocalist poem ‘Blind’. The poem tells the story of an ill-fated date between Liz and Crispin, two twenty-somethings meeting for the first time in a bar.

We are seeking two actors for the parts of Liz and Crispin. These will be non-speaking parts as the poem will be narrated by Ben, but the actors will be required to portray the inner thoughts and outer expressions and gestures of the characters non-verbally (spoiler: they don’t kiss!).

Character descriptions:

Crispin: Early 20s. Pursuing a career in The City. Thinks he’s way cooler than he is. A bit Brexity - gammon in training. Fancies himself as something of a ladies’ man. Virgin.

Liz: Early-mid 20s. ‘Kiwi, living in Hitchin. Bright pink lipstick. Bindi. Knits.’ Into alternative living, crafts, astrology. Probably has an Etsy store.

The shoot will be scheduled on a day in March, (date TBC) at a Northern Quarter location. If any additional shots are required these will be arranged with the actors, but we envisage getting all the necessary shots in one day.

There is no budget for this film and as such these are unpaid roles, but we will cover food/drink/travel expenses. This will be a high-quality addition to an actor’s show-reel and we will be pursuing opportunities to enter the film into competitions, festivals etc. to ensure the widest possible audience for the work.

Please send CV/Headshot/Spotlight/Show-reel to ben[at]benmellor[dot]net ASAP.