Veronica Johns as FERRARI
Esmé Rideout as RICK
1. It’s not for sale at any price
Alice Campbell as ILSA
Braden Lam as SAM
4. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue
Andrew Campbell as RICK
Mhari Rhiverson as ILSA
7. We’ll never see each other again
Otis Pritchett as RICK
William Ainscough as RENAUL
2. Lazslo must never reach America
Kylie McGowan as SAM
Casey Pritchett as RICK
5. Boss, let’s get out of here
Victoria Kazantseva as ILSA
Sean Thomas as VICTOR
8. Were you lonely in Paris?
Hannah Jane Zirke as ILSA
Grady Ainscough as SAM
3. Some of the old songs, Sam
Madison Godfrey as ILSA
Hunter Dillon as RICK
6. I’ll meet you at the station
Sarah Madison Barrow as ILSA
Ty Consiglio as RICK
9. You were fighting for the same thing
Anne Campbell as ILSA
Seth Isaac Johnson as RICK
10. You’re getting on that plane
DIRECTOR: Sara McIntyre is a director of screen and stage, and a writer, dramaturg and instructor of story-making. She is a graduate of Women in the Director’s Chair, the Praxis Story Editor Internship, and develops projects through Kiss Dust Pictures in Vancouver.
AUDIO ENGINEER: Wes Swales has been recording and mixing cartoons at KOKO Productions for over 15 years, contributing to hundreds of series, animated features and video games.
ASSISTANT ENGINEER: Kale MacCharles is the assistant engineer and editor at KOKO Productions in Vancouver. He is a graduate of Nimbus School of Recording and Media.
ILLUSTRATOR: Maddy Peters is an illustrator and voice actor in her junior year at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Detail of her life (and sketchbook) can be found on Instagram.
Over dinner, Caroline mentioned she wanted to do something fun with her young voice actors. Something to unite the group and add unexpected material to their demo reels. We batted around ideas – and then, “What if we gave them scenes from a classic movie? One that adults would recognize, but would be new to the kids.” Our shared excitement confirmed the idea and I started digging around for recognizable film scripts.
“Casablanca” is often referenced as one of the best American screenplays ever written, and after spending intimate time with those pages, I have to agree. I chose ten scenes that tell the Casablanca story through the relationships between Rick, Sam, Ilsa and Victor. They needed to be engaging for an audience, and offer a range of challenge for the young performers. We arranged telephone casting sessions so I could cast the roles by ear, then booked studio time at Koko Productions and production was underway.
The sessions with these young actors and this astonishing material have been the most fun I’ve had in an audio studio. All talent were prepared and eager, and their willingness to play and work hard was a joy. Our audio engineer, Kale MacCharles, introduced them to the technology and made them comfortable in the environment. I focused their performances on personal expression and connection with each other.
Maddy Peters’ illustrations of the performers in these roles are the icing on the cake. She took photos from the studio sessions and interpreted the scenes to give visual expression to the fun we had.
We didn’t want to replicate the 1942 film, we wanted to hear fresh voices play with this material and make it something new and entertaining. I’m proud of the story we’ve brought to life here – the charming material and the confidence that the actors gained through this work.
Here’s looking at you, kids!
– Sara McIntyre
We have had great fun putting these scenes together. Commercial voice-over demos for these young actors can be found on The Characters Talent Agency’s YOUTH Voice Roster page.