Skynetessa: steampunk audio adventure (2018) - a job post by Nicholas Alexander

About the job

Skynetessa: Steampunk Audio Adventure [2018 Reboot]

A non-commercial episodic adventure set in a steampunk fantasy setting. Created and written by "Hero of Time" composer George R. Powell, and produced by "Bacorium Legacy" author Nicholas Alexander. This is a renewed project, aiming to complete the unfinished audio drama started in 2012. Most of the original cast are returning, and I am currently looking for actors to fill the parts that are open.

Synopsis:

Set in Awyr City, a steampunk utopia populated by humans and an elven race called the Ymroi, the story follows college professor/proficient inventor Alexander Tordill. Tordill is a man with a great ambition to understand the Ymroi technology that the city is founded upon, and wishes to follow the rumors spoken about in academic journals that there are ancient Ymroi ruins outside the city filled with secrets long forgotten. The problem is: leaving the city is strictly forbidden by the tyrannical Ymroi emperor, Lord Caerwyn.

When Tordill's friend Alistair Slocombe, the college's dean of Anthropology, offers aid in illegally leaving the city by introducing Alex to his contact in Ceisio (an underground Ymroi rebellion organization), he is pulled into an adventure he could never have imagined.

With the company of Emily, a young girl he found in an alley who has no memory of where she came from; Iola, the Ymroi chieftain of Ceisio; and Ymroi espionage-artist and former-assassin Garnock, Tordill embarks on this journey where they encounter friends and foes, secrets and hardships, victories and defeats all of which lead up to revelations of what the world of Skynetessa really is and what role they all play!

History:

The original Skynetessa production began in 2012. George R. Powell wrote, directed, and produced two full seasons of content consisting of 12 episodes. And despite the need to recast several key roles in the third season, he continued on with another two episodes in 2015. However, while working on the 15^th episode, a combination of real-life issues and a hard drive crash resulted in the project coming to a halt. George moved on to other projects, setting Skynetessa aside to return to it another day.

Fast forward to late 2017, when cast member Nicholas Alexander (who took the role of Garnock in season 3), came to George with an offer. Wanting to get started in audio drama production himself, and having been disappointed in not getting to see Skynetessa through to the end, Nicholas asked to take the reins and redo Skynetessa from the beginning, to which George agreed.

The original episodes are still on youtube, and can be viewed here. Keep in mind that this new production will be different in several ways, the main being that it will be a traditional audio drama, with no visual element.

Requirements and Details:

The currently open parts are four characters of intermediate importance: each appears in about 6 episodes of 18 (for reference, an episode is about 10 minutes long). If you do not think you are a good fit for any of the open parts, do not be afraid to send in an audition or demo reel anyway, as there are also various extras that appear throughout the series, the requirements for which are looser. You may also be considered for future projects. Details on the open parts will be found below.

As this production is not being worked on at an episode-by-episode basis, you will be free to record and send your lines at whatever pace works best for you. There are no strict deadlines, but if you have reason to believe you will be unable to finish your recordings in a reasonable amount of time, please have the courtesy to mention this.

Clear audio is a must. Your microphone must be one of respectably professional quality, and your recording environment must be free of background sounds (such as computer fans and street noises). For reference, I myself use a Blue Yeti USB mic, and will use this as the quality standard for all the other parts.

George’s original production had the cast using english accents, and had strict guides on how to pronounce the many character and location names. I personally don’t mind what dialect you use, as I think trying to force an accent can hinder an actor’s performance. If you are cast, I will provide guidance on the pronunciation, but for the auditions just say them however you want. Don’t sweat it.

Your audio will need to be sent as 16-bit, 44.1KHz samplerate WAV files. Audition lines can be sent as MP3s if need be, but if you are to be cast you must be able to provide lossless recordings.

You will be credited by name, not your online handle. If you do not want to use your real name for this, please give me either a pen name or alias to use. Going uncredited is only acceptable if you are playing extras.

Please send your audition by email only! Please do not attempt to audition through comments or PM – they will most likely be ignored. Title your email as “Skynetessa VA Audition – Character”, replacing Character with whoever you are auditioning for. This is to ensure easy organization on my end, and will help your chances of landing the part. You can audition for multiple parts if you wish, but please send separate emails for each.

Email address to send to is bacorium@gmail.com

Cutoff for auditions is 3/31/18.

Characters:

Name: Alistair

Character Type: Secondary Protagonist

Commitment Level: Medium

Age: 40s

Sex: Male

Voice Range: Any

About: The dean of Anthropology at the Machlud College. He is over the division where Tordill teaches, and is a great friend to Tordill. Alistair is an idealist of sorts who believes in the notion that the people of Skynetessa should be free. This is why he allied himself with Ceisio and offered their help to Dr. Tordill in hopes that it would spark some movement in the right direction.

Lines:

1. (trying to encourage Tordill in his disappointment from the seminar)"Sadly, not very many are as ambitious and passionate as you. I'm afraid some people feel more comfortable being told what to believe."

2. (Laughing at how silly Tordill sounds opposing his offer) "Come now, Alex. Don't be silly. You didn't think that you could lead an excavation team and just waltz right out of the city's front gate?"

3. (Pleading for his friends’ lives) "Yes! Please, let them go! I am the one you want. I'm the one who has been in contact with Ceisio!"

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Name: Hawthorne

Character Type: Minor Protagonist

Commitment Level: Low

Age: 40s

Sex: Male

Voice Range: Rough and Low

About: Hawthorne is Ceisio's human frontman. He runs the photography studio that acts as a front for their underground headquarters. He is a very dirty-minded man who believes that his rudeness is actually quite funny.

Lines:

1. "Welcome back to Gwyll Daguerreotypes! I got the call that you'd all be coming this evening! Here for a late-night photography session?"

2. "Heheh, my little "extra-curricular activities. Everyone needs a hobby ,right?"

3. "Is "gettin' outta here" still the plan? I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for tongue wrestling later!"
   

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Name: Meta

Character Type: Secondary Protagonist

Commitment Level: Medium

Age: none

Sex: Female

Voice Range: Monotone and robotic

About: The heart of the Neurex race (a race of machines). She is a cyborg-like mechanism that thinks and acts like a machine, though she occasionally makes failed attempts at trying to appeal to "organics".

Lines:

1. "State your reasons for disrupting the floral growth process!"

2. "Meta wanted to test theory that Professor Alexander Tordill would soil himself if put in life-threatening circumstances."

3. (throws a projectile that hits someone else)"Meta was actually aiming for Caerwyn. May need to recalibrate accuracy mechanism."

Do note that as Meta is a robot, the voice lines for her will be digitally altered to sound more robotic. Don’t worry about this in your audition, though, just send in clean lines.

Name: Maelona

Character Type: Secondary Antagonist

Commitment Level: Medium to High

Age: late 30s (in appearance)

Sex: Female

Voice Range: Mid to low. Sneery and cocky. Vocally speaking, enjoy every single inch of your evilness.

About: Wren's sister and general of the Imperial Army. Maelona is a sexy femme fatale with an insatiable lust for blood.

Lines:

1. (giving a public execution speech)"Alistair Slocombe, dean of Anthropology at the Machlund College; Alexander Tordill, professor at the Machlud College; and Iola, district chieftain of Ceisio - you are all found guilty of conspiracy to high treason, the punishment of which......is death!"

2. (as if she feeds on the prisoner's fear)"Perhaps I could use this scalpel here and CARVE the truth out of him."

3. (sneering)"Pathetic to hear that from Awyr's number one killer! (spits)You are truly worthless after all!"
   

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You can attach your audition file to your email, or through a file-sharing service like Mega, Google Drive, or Mediafire.

If you have any additional questions, about the characters, the story, or the production, I will respond most quickly through email. Again, the email address to send to is bacorium@gmail.com

I look forward to working with you!

– Nicholas Alexander