THE GRAND DUKE (Patreon)

THE GRAND DUKE

Feature Film

Grayshack Films

Casting Director: Nina Day

Start Date: January 2024 TBC

Location: Upstate New York

Cast:
Steve Buscemi - Nick

[ ISAK ]
white, Russian, 40-60. A wiry forty year old whose ravaged appearance is more like that of a sixty year old drug addicted ‘Popeye’. Smokes cigarettes. A ragged smile filled with half missing teeth. Terrible breath. Svetlana's husband, presumably from wealth, has a building in Brooklyn. Thick Russian accent. SUPPORTING

[ SVETLANA ]
white, Russian, 35-40. Squat forty year old emigree with a clubfoot. Lives in Brighton beach. Wrapped in a ‘fuzzy’ British flag sweater with a faux fur hood. A quiet, diminutive woman. DAY PLAYER

[ MARIA ]
white, Russian, 20s. Curvy. She has a puffball Pomeranian pressed into her armpit that matches the faux fur hood on her Juicy tracksuit. Isak and Svetlana’s daughter. Should be able to sing beautifully. DAY PLAYER

Storyline: 50 year old NYU film professor Nick (Steve Buscemi) is determined to finally finish his low budget film when family troubles call him back home to his weed smoking 90 year old mother. She tries to help him secure funding for his film by organizing a reunion with presumably rich distant family members. Amid flashbacks and psychedelic trips, we get to know these hilariously lovable and wild characters - from his mother’s 40 year old boyfriend, to Nick’s teenage daughter, his supportive wife, hardened sisters, and their supposedly wealthy family members. The film takes us on a chaotic ride through family ties, 19th century Russia, and legendary parrots.