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Film from Vernon writer/director dials up casting call

Women actors sought for film to be shot in Vernon in May

A Vernon indie film is looking to fill out its cast.

The Knitting Diaries is the latest offering from Vernon independent filmmaker Janalee Budge, who wrote and will direct the movie. 

It's a "quirky short film about a Chinese grandmother/shopkeeper who entangles her family in a web of secrets and betrays when her unorthodox business scheme, involving a group of Mennonite grandmothers, goes off the rails."

"This short film pays homage to strong, small-town grandmothers across the country," said Budge. "How they rise above things like discrimination, archaic traditions, and small-town hardships to fight collectively to survive. And, in this case, they occasionally get themselves tangled into complicated situations."

Budge is looking for passionate, talented actors to join the predominantly female cast and crew for a collaborative, fun project shooting in the Okanagan this spring.

Needed are actors to portray Grandma Wong, a Chinese woman in her 60s; Francis Wong, a Chinese woman in her late 20s; and two Caucasian women in their 60s-70s to portray Mennonite grandmothers.

If you're interested, you are asked to email a head shot, resumé, demo reel, and where you are based to with subject line "TKD - CASTING SUBMISSION-ROLE before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

The future plans for the film, said Budge, after its festival run and Telus Storyhive screening, are to use it as a proof of concept for a series.

Budge's film, Grandma Lee's Dress, which she directed, made the final and finished top-three out of nine in the 16th annual season of CBC-TV's Short Film Face Off in 2023.

The short movie also won several film festival awards, including Best International Short Film at the Huntington Beach Cultural Film Festival.



Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
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