• What: Open-casting audition for “We The Animals”
• When: Nov. 21, noon to 4 p.m.; Nov. 22, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.; and Sunday, Nov. 23, 12:30-3:30 p.m.
• Where: Albany School of Humanities, 108 Whitehall Road (Nov. 21-22); Creative Connections Arts Center, 305 E. Main St., Amsterdam (Nov. 23)
• How much: Free
A Brooklyn-based production team – headed by acclaimed documentary director, Jeremiah Zagar – is preparing to spend the summer filming in the Capital District, and is currently auditioning local talent in search of the lead role.
Based on the 2011 best-selling novel “We The Animals” by Justin Torres, the film focuses on the harsh, yet loving dynamic, of a mixed-race, working-class family, as seen through the eyes of the youngest of three sons.
“This book is certainly about a family that is dysfunctional,” said Zagar. “It’s a very loving family that has its problems. … My first documentary was about my family. I had a very difficult but loving family, similar to the one that’s in this book. And, also, it’s a family of artists. This book is about a young man becoming an artist in many ways.”
The Philadelphia native has a dozen directorial credits under his belt, including the documentary on his own family called “In a Dream,” which screened theatrically across the United States and in film festivals around the world. It was broadcast on HBO, was shortlisted for an Academy Award, and ultimately received two Emmy nods, including for Best Documentary. The young director recently had another feature on HBO, titled “Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart,” which premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on television in August.
However, Zagar said the past several years have been spent on what he describes as a “passion project.” It started once he found Torres’ book at a local bookstore.
“Basically, I picked the book up at the bookstore, read it right there,” he said. “At this point, I must have read it 40 times.”
It wasn’t long before Zagar reached out to the author with the intention of bringing the story to film.
Zagar has since earned a fellowship with the Sundance Institute to aid in funding the production. He’s teamed up with Heremy Yaches, who produced “In a Dream,” and Dan Kitrosser, with whom he co-wrote the screenplay.
“This is the main thing I’ve wanted to do for the past three years,” said Zagar. “It will go on. Something I work on every single day, all day. As you start to make more and more work, the work becomes more of a fabric of your life. It makes you, and you make it. You can no longer separate it from yourself. The themes and emotions that run through it have to remain constant with your loves and dreams.”
With an in remaining authentic to the original book, which takes place in rural Upstate New York, Zagar plans to film in and around the Capital District.
“I’m very much interested in things being as real as possible, and that’s also why we wanted to cast in Upstate New York and the surrounding areas, he said. “And, we want to use real kids, not actors.”
An open-casting audition in partnership with the Albany School of Humanities is scheduled for Nov. 21 from noon to 4 p.m., and Nov. 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Albany School of Humanities, 108 Whitehall Road. Auditions are also scheduled in Amsterdam at the Creative Connections Arts Center (305 E. Main St., Amsterdam) on Sunday, Nov. 23, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
