Free Casting Calls and Auditions

“FUEL”
Feature Film
SAG Ultra Low Budget
Director: Oktay Ortabasi
Writer: Oktay Ortabasi & Jefferson Bonar
Starts May 7th, 2007 in Los Angeles, CA, Lancaster, CA

STORY LINE: ELI MENDOZA is a 17 year old kid with a troubled past, from a
troubled family. The stepson of the abusive FRANK, Eli has one shot at
getting out of his limited southwestern town: winning a track scholarship.
Quietly devoted to SANDY, a girl with whom he grew up, whose future seems to
include only desperation and disappointment, Eli wants to rescue her, but in
the process he destroys his own life.

Seeking-

ELI MENDOZA AT 17 YEARS OLD: This Mexican/American boy lives with his mother
Ester and stepfather Frank in a small southwestern town. Gifted at track,
Eli is a star performer, but it doesn’t gain him much status at school,
because his family is poor and Eli is regarded as a weirdo, due to his bouts
of sullen silence and his dangerous explosions of rage. As his family life
deteriorates, with Frank growing more drunkenly abusive as his income
dwindles, Eli has only one dream, to escape from home with a track
scholarship and his girl. Even though her past threatens to keep them apart,
Eli is willing to sacrifice everything to protect her — to the point of
sacrificing his own future. LEAD (Brief nudity) (actor age 18+)
(Latino/Mexican/ American) .

SANDY AT 17 YEARS OLD: Eli’s only love, Sandy is a beautiful young woman,
but she dresses trashily, in a way that brings attention to certain parts of
her body. She lives with her dying grandfather in a trailer, but spends her
free time smoking pot with her boyfriend John. Used to the idea that her
life has no future, Sandy remembers Eli with some vague affection, and is
initially startled to realize that he’s still devotedly attached to her.
When her once-molesting grandfather dies, Sandy finds life spiraling even
more out of control. Convinced by Eli, Sandy childishly tries to run away
with Eli after Frank’s violent death, but neither of them get very far
before reality brings their flight to a quick, brutal end. LEAD (Brief
nudity) (actor age 18+)(White/Caucasia n).

ELI MENDOZA AT 7 YEARS OLD: This 7-year-old Latino boy is the son of Ester,
who has fallen in love with Frank, a man who runs a gas station in a small
southwestern town. Much against his will, he moves with his mother to live
with Frank — and it’s quickly clear that Frank intends to use Eli as help
around the shop. Obliged to “pull his own weight” by cleaning auto parts
with gasoline, Eli is miserable in his new life, pining for his father Julio
and desperate to return. Ignoring Frank’s increasing irritation, he makes
friends with Sandy, a girl who lives in a trailer down the street. It’s soon
clear that Eli has two things that set him apart from others: he can run
like the wind, and has an ungovernable temper brought on by his exposure to
gasoline fumes. LEAD(Latino/ Mexican/American ).

SANDY AT 7 YEARS OLD: A rebellious girl about Eli’s age, she lives in a
trailer down the street, and is quick to befriend Eli when he moves into the
neighborhood. Sandy lives with her grandfather, Jake, and it’s clear that
Sandy loathes the old man because he can’t keep his hands to himself. She
and Eli often escape together for brief periods, “running away” to be
together, free from the corrosive world of adults. LEAD (White/Caucasian) .

FRANK:A large, disheveled man, Frank is a semi-intelligent, blue-collar man
who runs a shabby gas station in a small southwestern town, and lives in the
attached house. A man with big dreams but no appetite for the hard work
necessary to achieve his vision, Frank hooks up with Ester and reluctantly
accepts Eli into his cramped home, without bothering to actually make a
place for him. Intent on using Eli as free labor, Frank doesn’t care if
gasoline fumes give the boy headaches and nosebleeds. Frank lives with Ester
for ten years, and as their life descends into poverty, Frank speeds up the
cycle by neglecting his business, drinking more, and cheating behind Ester’s
back. Inclined to blame his troubles on Eli, Frank tries and fails to stop
Eli from pursuing a track career, and tries to assert his patriarchal rights
by pawing Sandy — but that only inflames Eli’s explosive temper, and Frank
is soon accidentally killed. LEAD (White/Caucasian) .

ESTER: Eli’s mother Ester is a loving but somewhat incapable mother. Ester
has broken up with Eli’s father, Julio, and she’s begun a new life with
Frank, a smallish, semi-intelligent, macho man who owns a gas station in a
small southwestern. Ester shacks up with Frank, and uses her sexuality to
defuse early signs of strain in their relationship. But over the course of
ten years, Ester’s relationship with Frank deteriorates as Frank’s drinking
increases and his income dwindles. Inclined to quarrel loudly with Frank,
Ester lets her relationship with her husband grow ever more volatile when
she accuses him of cheating, and before long their battles go on non-stop
for hours. LEAD (Latino/Mexican/ American) .

COACH MARQUEZ: Eli’s track coach at high school, Marquez really believes in
Eli, and is convinced he has a bright future — if he can conquer his
self-destructive impulses. Unaware that Eli fuels his anger into his
running, Marquez has arranged for scouts from major universities to attend
Eli’s next track meet — but fears that Eli will destroy himself. Unaware
that Eli has been prescribed drugs that keep him in a fog, and equally
unaware that Eli’s private life is at a crisis point, Marquez is overjoyed
when Eli performs spectacularly at the meet — only to see his protИgИ throw
it all away. LEAD(Latino/ Mexican/American ).

JOHN: A meek stoner type, John is Sandy’s steady boyfriend at high school,
but John, who’s an arrogant pothead, isn’t sure that Sandy’s character is up
to his high standards. Afraid that she’s sleeping around on him, John is
threatened when she becomes friends with Eli again, and he clearly is
disgruntled by Sandy’s efforts to include Eli in the pothead clique. He
quickly abandons Sandy to her fate after her grandfather dies. LEAD
(ethnicity open)(18 to play younger).

SHANE: An honest local police officer, Shane loves his younger brother
Frank. Over the course of ten years, he grows very wary of Eli, having to
cover up for his fits of temper on more than one occasion. But when Eli
kills Frank in one of his explosive rages, Shane is determined to see Eli
pay for his “crime,” and when Eli runs away with Sandy, Shane un-holsters
his gun, ready to shoot his Eli on sight. (age 40-50)(White/ Caucasian) .

BETHANY: She is Sandy’s closest friend, another member of the pot-smoker
clique at the high school, who begrudgingly accepts Eli into the group
because he has prescription meds to share (age 18+)(ethnicity open).

WILLIAM: Bethany’s boyfriend, he’s another member of the pot-smoker’s clique
at high school (age 18+)(ethnicity open).

JULIO FERNANDEZ: Eli’s father and Ester’s ex-husband, he’s a Hispanic man
who lives in an apartment with a lot of other migrant workers. Unable to
keep above water, Julio sees his son one last time before Eli moves with his
mother to the southwest, and Julio sadly admits that he has nothing to give
his son as a going-away present (age 30-40)(Latino/ Mexican/American ).

DR. ANGELINA HART: First seen as a doctor in a local clinic, she tends to
Eli after his first fit of temper, but her conversation with him is cut
short by Frank. Ten years later, she’s assigned to his case when he gets in
a fight at school, and she prescribes mood-altering drugs for him (age
40+)(ethnicity open).

RICK: This drunken teenager stops by the gas station, allegedly to get some
gas, but also to hit on Ester. An aggressive flirt who won’t take no for an
answer, he ignores her efforts to deflect his attentions, but keeps on
trying to get her to go to a party — until an enraged Eli attacks him (age
19+)(ethnicity open).

JAKE: Sandy’s grandfather, he lives with her in a trailer, and almost
certainly abuses her sexually while no one is looking. In public he seems
like a sweet grandfather. A man who disapproves of Sandy’s friendship with
Eli, Jake ages greatly over the course of the next ten years, becoming
incontinent and bed-ridden (age 60-80)(White/ Caucasian) .

MARTIN: A kid in the neighborhood, Martin is a bully who rides by on his
bike, calling Eli a retard (age 7-9)(ethnicity open).

MATTHEW: He is another 17 year old kid in gym class, a buddy of John’s who
listens with interest as John discusses his troubled relationship with Sandy
(age 18+)(ethnicity open).

LUCINDA: She is Shane’s wife and Frank’s sister-in-law (age
35-45)(White/ Caucasian) .

JUAN: A Mexican man in dusty workingman’s clothes, he answers the door when
Ester comes looking for her ex-husband (age 25-40)(Latino/ Mexican/American ).

FERNANDO: This man calls out in Spanish when “the truck is coming” to take
them to work, SPEAKS ONLY SPANISH (age 25-40)(Latino/ Mexican/American ).

COLE: Rick’s buddy, he’s another drunken teenager who tries in vain to stop
Rick from his obsessive pursuit of Ester (age 19-25)(ethnicity open).

JAMIE: Another local boy, Marin’s friend, he too is a bike-riding bully who
tosses insults at Eli (age 7-9)(ethnicity open).

CLASSMATE: This classmate of Eli’s bumps him “accidentally on purpose” with
his book bag (age 18+)(ethnicity open).

MARK & DAVE: These two high school students taunt Eli unmercifully in the
locker room, accusing him of being a retard and a homosexual. (age
18+)(ethnicity open).

WALKER: He breaks up a fight in the parking lot between Eli and John, and
gets attacked himself by Eli (age 18+)(ethnicity open).

REAL ESTATE AGENT: This female real estate agent has placed Sandy’s home up
for sale, but claims not to know who or where Sandy might be (age
35-45)(ethnicity open).

SMOKER #1: A smoker outside a bar, he/she denies knowing Sandy.

SMOKER #2: Another smoker outside the bar, he intervenes decisively when
Eli’s temper gets out of control.

SMOKER #3: This smoker outside the El Chapparro Bar breaks the news to a
disbelieving Eli: Sandy has become a junkie and a hooker.

Send h/r to:

MARK SIKES CASTING
8909 24TH ST.
LOS ANGELES, CA. 90034