ALBANY POST ROAD
Project Title
The Pilot
Production Type
1 Hour Serialized Drama
Genre
Institutional critique, family and crime drama, hyperrealist
Union Status
Non-Union
Compensation
Non-paid
copy, production credit, meals, photos & demo reel
Production Company
No Gimmicks Productions
Directed by
Meeko Kolledi
Project Description
An atmospheric, grounded, character-driven independent drama set against the raw, working-class industrial backdrop in the Hudson Valley. Heavily inspired by the visual language and tone of prestige television series like Snowfall, The Wire, and Ozark. The narrative explores themes of survival, shared histories,
and quiet, high-stakes confrontation.
Rehearsal & Production Dates
Summer- Fall 2026
Production Location
Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange Counties.
The Story
A recently released blue-collar ex-con tries to rebuild his life in a Hudson Valley
town where construction, politics, narcotics, and family power struggles
are all part of the same economy.
Audition instructions
Audition Type
Camera phone submission (Phase 1)
In-Person Callbacks (Phase 2)
Audition Instructions
We are keeping our physical footprint streamlined.
Initial auditions will be conducted strictly via digital self-tape pre-screenings.
After submitting the form below and adding your email to our mailing list
list, we will request the following;
Pictures and/or Videos
Acting Resume
Work Resume
Social Media and links
Your Contact Information
After you submit, casting will email you the sides to read for your audition based on the role criteria.
Create a cameraphone video of you reading with a partner off camera and email us your submission!
We encourage everyone to submit! We have a large cast! Actors must be comfortable shooting
in a naturalistic documentary setting.
The submission deadline is July 1st, 2026.
Selected actors will be contacted to appear for an in-person callback audition in the Hudson Valley.
Actors should be prepared to read their entire character and work alongside
other potential cast members to gauge chemistry.
Auditions will close by August 1st, 2026.
Preferred location of Applicants
Local to NYC / Tri-State Area / Hudson Valley preferred.
Transportation to Westchester/ Putnam County is a must.
Tentative Shooting Date
August-October 2026
SEEKING
Age Range: 18–70
Ethnicities: All Ethnicities
Role Description
Seeking distinct, authentic, real-looking local faces to populate the background of
neighborhood streets, waterfront piers, and industrial spaces.
Real local flavor is highly desired.
Please review all available roles below and select your preference.
The required form is at the bottom of the casting list.
The Main Players
VINCENZO "VINNY" DILELLO
Series Lead
Male, 28-40, Italian-American
Muscular, restrained, observant, and methodical. A blue-collar welder newly paroled
under an experimental progressive reform program. Vinny wants nothing
more than peace and quiet, but his deep family ties and his protective nature force
him to become the unwilling catalyst and shadow mayor
in a slow-burning war over his town's future.
OFFICER RAYMOND SANTOS
Series Lead
Male, 35-50, Dominican-American
Stocky with a commanding, grounded presence. A career Tannerville PD officer and a recovering
cocaine addict who relies on his N.A. meetings to stay centered. Santos possesses deep insight into what truly
deserves police work; he is a man whose humanity outshines his badge. which forces him to rely on
off-the-books community policing and informants to protect his streets.
ALFRED HOPKINS
Series Lead
Male, 50-65, African-American
Wiry, dense, and built tough from a lifetime of blue-collar labor. A survivor of a 1970s police shooting,
Alfred is a fierce objector to mass development that affects community interests. Driven by an overwhelming
desire for fairness, he constructs a parallel justice system to protect Black-owned
businesses and employment within the community.
MARK LOMBARDI
Series Lead
Male, 30-40, Italian-American
Chubby, smug, with a spoiled "born on third base" mentality. Vinny’s cousin and the heir to a multi-million-dollar
contracting empire. He is manipulative, highly ambitious, and exploiting the town's waterfront renewal project.
He must juggle his guilt over marrying Vinny's ex-girlfriend with his relentless drive for power.
VANESSA HOPKINS
Series Lead
Female, 24-34, African-American
Styled with natural hair and earth tones. A dental hygienist, single mother, and
Alfred's niece. She is the unshakable moral grounding of the series, fighting for the community's progress.
As Vinny’s primary love interest, she is forced to re-evaluate her
boundaries about what is truly best for the community.
DANIELLE LOMBARDI
Series Lead
Female, 24-34, Italian-American
Emotionally charged and deeply conflicted. She is Vinny's ex-girlfriend who married his cousin,
Mark, while Vinny was incarcerated. She aggressively helps run her husband's business but lives in
constant anxiety regarding Vinny's return to the neighborhood.
LUCA DADDARIO
Series Lead
Male, 30-45, Italian-American
Husky, heavyset, and built like a tank. The true blue-collar heart of the working class and Vinny's
fiercely loyal best friend. As the owner of Golden Arms Welding, he struggles under crushing
financial stress to provide for his wife and son. His desperation pushes him to broker
a deal that will change his business forever.
MAYOR CLAUDE SIMMONS
Series Lead
Male, 50-65, Caucasian
A moderate politician desperately trying to salvage his legacy by pushing a massive
riverfront redevelopment. He fights to be the "heart" of the town while juggling state initiatives,
organized crime, and angry local voters.
RANDY VAN BUREN
Series Lead
Male, 50-65, Caucasian
A Vietnam War veteran and a proud member of the "old guard".
He operates a chaotic metal shop and organizes a confederation of landowners to aggressively combat
the town's development.
RASPY
Supporting
Male, 30-40, African-American
Built like a linebacker. Paroled alongside Vinny, he returns to Tannerville trying to stay out of trouble.
He becomes Alfred's apprentice and the reluctant neighborhood watch regulator, repelling a
new wave of narcotics in the town.
DR. STACY DIAZ
Supporting
Female, 30-45, Latina
A highly professional, sharply dressed clinician at Evanworth Mental Institution. Secretly affiliated with
a quasi-political utopian group, she weaponizes her authority to manipulate parolees.
ZIO FRANCO
Supporting
Male, 40-55, Italian-American
Vinny's uncle. A slick, connected developer transitioning from street-level crime to
white-collar real estate. He uses and manipulates his nephews to carry on the family legacy.
LEO GUSTO
Supporting
Male, 30-40, Puerto Rican
An Iraq War veteran suffering from severe PTSD. The wildcard of Vinny's old crew,
he struggles with a heavy drug addiction but remains fiercely loyal to his brothers.
JIMMY MERLIN
Supporting
Male, 22-30, Biracial
Luca's anxious B-mechanic and childhood friend.
He provides comic relief and embodies Gen-Z's temperament on the streets.
SUBMISSION FORM BELOW
THE DAYPLAYERS
FADE SEVILLA
Male, 25-35, Hispanic
A smug, ambitious South-Side gangster/ informant.
His ambition leads him to believe he can control the local drug trade.
OFFICER THOMAS CARLSON
Male, 25-35, Caucasian
Fresh out of the academy, he is Officer Santos' young rookie partner.
He is forced to decide where his loyalties lie as Santos pulls him into off-the-books police work.
MARIE DADDARIO
Female, 25-35, Italian-American
Luca's high school sweetheart and wife. She desires stability and love but cracks
under the pressure of utility shutoff notices and the stress of raising their son, Mario.
BIG SMOKE
Male, 25-35, African-American
Drug dealer operating out of Logan Estates, pushing fentanyl and
laced weed.
SKIP CRAVEN
Male, 55-65, Caucasian
Blue collar outlaw and Vietnam veteran with a 1970s hippie aesthetic.
He is Randy's right-hand muscle and trusted confidant.
RITA
Female, 35-45, Hispanic
The Mayor's dutiful, observant secretary who understands the town's political machinery better than anyone.
GIOVANNI
Male, 40-50, Italian-American
The owner of Romo's Cafe and Zio Franco's trusted number two.
ZIO CLAUDIO
Male, 55-70, Italian-American
The older uncle and a stroke victim who walks with a cane.
He holds deep resentment over the family business.
ROBBIE
Male, 40-50, Italian-American
The local deli owner. A Tannerville resident who witnesses the changing, developing landscape of his neighborhood.
ELOUISE HOPKINS
Female, 25-35, African-American
Vanessa's cousin and Alfred's daughter. A struggling drug addict desperately trying to get clean and rebuild her life.
MOE REYNOLDS
Male, 40-50, African-American
Alfred's quiet, physically imposing right-hand man and shop foreman. A confidant of sorts; zero
hesitation in supporting Alfred's vision.
JALEESA
Female, 25-35, Open Ethnicity
A local real estate agent navigating the aggressive property buy-ups happening in town.
P.O GINA RODRIGUEZ
Female, 40s, Latina
As the parole officer managing Vinny's new experimental release program, she is unafraid to assert her dominance;
she conducts unannounced home visits and strictly enforces the fine print of his parole.
VILLAGE CHARTER MEMBERS
LAURA
Female, 30-40, Open Ethnicity
A highly progressive village charter member. She wholeheartedly believes in waterfront
revitalization and in pushing the town into the modern era.
BILL
Male, 50-70, Caucasian
The retired, blue-collar voice of the charter. He fiercely opposes the Mayor's plans, demanding rent
control and property tax relief rather than new coffee shops.
DARYL
Male, 40-60, Asian- American
A charter member focused entirely on commercial development, boosting tax revenue, and reducing blight.
HAROLD
Male, 50-70, African- American
A blue-collar traditionalist who believes the town, not the charter, should decide its future.
PETE & CORY
Males, 40-60, Caucasian
Randy Van Buren's drinking buddies and loyal charter allies who help plot
aggressive measures against the town's developers.