WHEN WE PLAYED

CASTING CALL

VOICES FROM THE GARAGE

When We Played is seeking actors, musicians, and voice performers for a full-cast immersive audio motion picture.

This is not a traditional audiobook.

It is a cinematic 3D audio experience built from performances, original music, rain, garage ambience, cassette tapes, footsteps, old memories, and voices that seem to come from places they should not still exist.

We are looking for performers who can bring honesty, emotion, humor, pain, and lived-in reality to the world of When We Played.

The story is set in Southern Illinois and moves between the present day and the mid-1980s, following an older man who begins hearing his teenage band playing again inside an old detached garage.

Some roles will be recorded in person. Others may be recorded remotely, depending on the role, equipment, and performance needs.

Experience is welcome, but the most important things are presence, emotional truth, reliability, and the ability to make people believe what they are hearing.

WHAT WE ARE CREATING

When We Played is a full-cast immersive audio motion picture designed for headphones.

Actors will not simply read lines into a microphone. They will help create a world.

A listener may hear your footsteps moving across gravel. Your voice may come from inside the garage. A laugh may drift through the rain. A whispered line may land just behind someone’s shoulder.

Every performance matters.

CURRENTLY SEEKING

YOUNG PHIL

Male, playing 12 years old

A quiet, observant boy with long hair and an old soul. Young Phil is caught between childhood and the future version of himself he does not yet understand.

He rides a bicycle with baseball cards in the spokes. He carries memories before he knows they are memories.

Must be able to deliver natural, emotional dialogue without sounding overly performed.

ANGIE MERCER

Female, late teens to early 20s for flashback scenes / possible older voice for present-day scenes

Angie is warm, smart, strong, and emotionally grounded. She represents first love, unfinished conversations, and the version of life that might have been.

She must be able to play tenderness without making it sentimental, and pain without making it melodramatic.

GLENN

Male, late teens to early 20s for flashback scenes / possible older voice for present-day scenes

Glenn is one of Phil’s old friends—funny, blunt, loyal, and deeply human. He is the kind of guy who uses humor to avoid saying what hurts.

The role requires strong timing, natural dialogue, and the ability to move between comedy and emotional weight.

DENNY

Male, late teens to early 20s

The lead guitarist. Talented, restless, intense, and tied to the music that still lives inside the garage.

Musical experience is a strong plus, especially guitar knowledge or the ability to understand band chemistry.

DAVID

Male, late teens to early 20s

The drummer. David carries an easygoing energy, but there is something sad beneath him. He is part of the band’s heartbeat—and part of what the story has lost.

Musical experience is helpful but not required.

SCOTT

Male, late teens to early 20s

The bass player. Tougher around the edges, unpredictable, funny when he wants to be, and carrying more baggage than he lets anyone see.

This role needs a performer who can make roughness feel real without turning the character into a stereotype.

MRS. GALLO

Female, 50s–70s

A neighbor who has seen enough life to know when something is not right. Sharp, curious, practical, and more emotionally connected to the story than she first appears.

MR. OBENCHAIN

Male, 50s–70s

A local figure with history, opinions, and the kind of voice that sounds like it has lived through every storm in town.

MRS. KOENIG

Female, 50s–70s

A quiet but memorable presence from Phil’s past. She carries the feeling of someone who remembers more than she says.

ADDITIONAL VOICES

We will also be casting smaller speaking roles, background voices, musicians, friends, neighbors, and atmospheric performers for scenes involving the old garage, the band years, and present-day memories.

MUSICIANS

We are also interested in connecting with musicians who can help shape the sound of the band.

Especially welcome:

• Lead guitar players

• Rhythm guitar players

• Bass players

• Drummers

• Musicians comfortable with 1980s garage-band energy

• Players who can help create original instrumental material, riffs, textures, and unfinished songs

You do not need to be a polished session player.

You need to understand the feeling of a band trying to become something before life gets in the way.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Please send:

• Your name

• Your city or region

• The role or roles you are interested in

• A recent photo

• A short acting or voice sample, if available

• Any music experience, if relevant

• A few sentences about why this story connects with you

For remote performers, please include what recording equipment you have available.

Email submissions to:

phillipemcclary@gmail.com

Subject line:

WHEN WE PLAYED – CASTING SUBMISSION – [ROLE NAME]

A NOTE FROM THE CREATORS

This project is personal.

It is about music, illness, friendship, memory, regret, survival, and the strange feeling of hearing your old life calling from somewhere in the dark.

We are looking for people who want to help make something honest.

Something atmospheric.

Something that does not just tell a story.

Something people can close their eyes and enter.

Put on your headphones.

The garage is waiting.