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Acting role
Minor
JANESSA MOSS
Melanated Christmas · Film
Casting requirements
Age range
20–29
Gender
Female
Openings
1 slot
About the role
A flaky vendor, former friend, or junior committee member who is unreliable but not evil.
- Occupation
- vendor, former friend, or junior committee member
- Core traits
- flaky, personable, well-meaning, disorganized
- What they want
- Get through her Ball-related responsibilities without full accountability.
- Inner need
- To become more dependable and direct.
- Main conflict
- Her unreliability causes Ball prep setbacks for Mia Brooks.
- Arc
- flat-negative to slight-growth
- Voice
- casual, apologetic, upbeat
- Performance range
- light comedy, grounded realism, mild dramatic friction
- Required abilities
- believable excuse-making, natural ensemble play
- Preferred abilities
- improv, warm comedic timing
- Physical performance
- busy, scattered energy
- Accent
- standard American
- Language
- English
- Comparable performances
- warm, flaky, well-meaning supporting player
- Audition sides
- late vendor call, committee apology, missed-detail scene
- Casting notes
- must read unreliable but not evil; should create friction without villain energy
The character breakdown from the writers, so you know who you'd be playing.
Audition sides
Scene 17 INT. BALLROOM VENUE - EARLY EVENING
The ballroom is mid-setup and mid-chaos. Open boxes line the perimeter. Half-dressed tables sit in uneven stages of completion.
MONTEZ CARTER
So am I going to see you tonight?
Mia looks at him with overwhelmed and at her table, the command table is fuller than before -- vendor binders, a seating draft, swatch cards, and a ringing cell phone she is already reaching for. Montez makes a I understand face and walks across the room.
MIA BROOKS
(into phone)
Hi, this is Mia Brooks calling to confirm tomorrow's entertainment load-in and final program timing.
She listens. Her face stills.
MIA BROOKS
(careful)
I'm sorry -- what do you mean you're still waiting on a signed agreement?
Across the room, Montez is adjusting a row of chairs with two VENUE WORKERS. He looks up at Mia immediately, reading the shift in her posture before he hears a word.
MIA BROOKS
(into phone)
No, I was told the date was being held.
A beat. Worse.
MIA BROOKS
(lower)
Understood. Thank you.
She ends the call slowly, already reaching for a contract folder, flipping pages fast. Montez crosses to her.
MONTEZ CARTER
(quietly)
What happened?
MIA BROOKS
Entertainment is not confirmed.
MONTEZ CARTER
Not confirmed like delayed, or not confirmed like nobody finished the paperwork?
MIA BROOKS
(tight)
Apparently "in discussion" meant nobody finished the paperwork.
She finds an email printout, scans it, then another. Her jaw sets.
MONTEZ CARTER
Okay. That's fixable.
MIA BROOKS
It should've already been fixed.
JANESSA MOSS rushes in from the rear hall carrying a clipboard and one badly crushed box labeled CANDLE RINGS.
JANESSA MOSS
(breathless)
Mia, before you say anything, the inventory issue is not as bad as it looks.
Mia closes her eyes once. Never a good sign.
MIA BROOKS
(without looking up)
Janessa, if that sentence is true, today will be the first time.
JANESSA MOSS
Okay, wow. So. Some of the gold charger plates were counted twice because the broken ones were still in the usable stack, and the ivory runners are not actually ivory.
MONTEZ CARTER
(under his breath)
That's never what you want after "not as bad.
MIA BROOKS
(to Janessa)
What color are they?
JANESSA MOSS
(small)
Champagne.
MIA BROOKS
Champagne is not ivory.
JANESSA MOSS
In low light, it kind of minds its business.
Montez fights a reaction. Mia does not.
MIA BROOKS
Janessa, I asked for a verified count yesterday.
JANESSA MOSS
I know. I just thought if I got the sponsor call done first--
Mia stops, looks up sharply.
MIA BROOKS
(still)
What sponsor call?
JANESSA MOSS
The follow-up for A SPONSOR. You said to confirm whether they were staying at the original level.
Mia reaches for another sheet. Finds nothing attached. Her pulse starts to show.
MIA BROOKS
And?
JANESSA MOSS
(hesitating)
They said they'd emailed revisions.
MIA BROOKS
Revisions to what?
JANESSA MOSS
Their contribution.
That lands hard. Montez's eyes flick to Mia.
MIA BROOKS
(controlled)
Reduced?
JANESSA MOSS
(quietly)
By half.
A silence drops around the command table. Venue noise continues in the background, but farther away now.
MONTEZ CARTER
(gently)
Mia.
Before he can say more, heels click across the ballroom. Ms. Evelyn approaches, taking in the faces, the open files, the strained stillness.
EVELYN PRICE
Why does this table feel anxious?
MIA BROOKS
(turning)
I'm sorting a few updates.
EVELYN PRICE
Then sort them out loud.
Mia glances once at Janessa, then at the paperwork. No clean version available.
MIA BROOKS
Entertainment was never formally contracted. And A SPONSOR appears to have reduced their commitment without that revision making it into my packet.
Ms. Evelyn's expression does not explode. It tightens, which is worse.
EVELYN PRICE
(to Janessa)
You received revised terms and did not escalate them?
JANESSA MOSS
I was still trying to confirm before I brought incomplete information.
EVELYN PRICE
Incomplete information becomes expensive when it sits.
Janessa lowers her eyes. Ms. Evelyn turns to Mia now.
EVELYN PRICE
And entertainment?
MIA BROOKS
I was operating from prior verbal assurance.
EVELYN PRICE
(pointed)
We do not build a Ball on verbal assurance.
Mia absorbs that like a slap she knows she cannot react to. She straightens the nearest stack of papers instead, buying herself half a second.
MIA BROOKS
(steady)
Understood.
EVELYN PRICE
Is it?
Ms. Evelyn looks over the open folders, the incomplete notes, the crushed box in Janessa's arms. Her restraint is exacting.
EVELYN PRICE
Because from where I'm standing, too many things in this room are depending on interpretation.
JANESSA MOSS
(quietly)
Ms. Evelyn, that's on me.
EVELYN PRICE
It is on you.
Janessa lowers her eyes further. Ms. Evelyn turns back to Mia -- not absolving her, not attacking her, but making clear where responsibility sits now.
EVELYN PRICE
But you are leading this event.
MIA BROOKS
(careful)
Yes, ma'am. And I'm addressing it.
EVELYN PRICE
Address it quickly.
EVELYN PRICE
(measured)
We do not have room for avoidable surprises this close to the Ball.
Mia nods once. Controlled. Too controlled.
MONTEZ CARTER
(practical)
I can start calling around on entertainment. See who's local, available, and not gone charge us like it's New Year's Eve.
Mia answers before Ms. Evelyn can.
MIA BROOKS
No. Not yet.
A small beat. Montez clocks the edge in that immediately.
MONTEZ CARTER
Alright.
MIA BROOKS
(to Ms. Evelyn)
Let me review the vendor list, confirm what can still be recovered, and I will bring you an updated plan before the end of the night.
Ms. Evelyn studies Mia a long moment. She can see the pride. The embarrassment. The instinct to tighten instead of lean.
EVELYN PRICE
I would prefer a solution over a performance of control.
That one lands even harder than the last.
MIA BROOKS
(tight)
You will have a solution.
EVELYN PRICE
Good.
EVELYN PRICE
(to Janessa)
I want every sponsor email, revision, and contact forwarded to Mia within the hour. No summaries. No memory. Documents.
JANESSA MOSS
Yes, ma'am.
EVELYN PRICE
(to Mia)
And entertainment should have been confirmed on paper the day you first heard the word "discussion".
Mia takes that one cleanly, even as it stings.
MIA BROOKS
Yes, ma'am.
Ms. Evelyn gives one final look at the table, then turns and walks off toward the far end of the ballroom, where a pair of ELDERS wait near the archive display. Janessa stays rooted in place for half a second, mortified.
JANESSA MOSS
(low)
I was trying to fix it before it became a thing.
MIA BROOKS
(without looking up)
It became a thing when you knew and didn't say it.
JANESSA MOSS
Right.
MIA BROOKS
Send me everything. Then recheck inventory from the beginning.
JANESSA MOSS
(small)
Okay.
Janessa slips away fast. Now it's just Mia and Montez at the command table, with the room moving around them.
MONTEZ CARTER
(gently)
Hey.
Mia keeps flipping pages. Too fast to actually read them.
MIA BROOKS
I'm fine.
MONTEZ CARTER
I didn't ask that.
Mia stops on a page she isn't seeing.
MONTEZ CARTER
This is messy, not fatal.
MIA BROOKS
(low)
That's easy for you to say.
MONTEZ CARTER
No. It's calm for me to say.
Mia finally looks at him. She wants comfort. She hates that he can tell.
MONTEZ CARTER
Let me help.
MIA BROOKS
(professional)
I need to handle this.
MONTEZ CARTER
Handling it and doesn't mean alone.
MIA BROOKS
Montez--
MONTEZ CARTER
(softly)
Mia.
That almost gets through. Almost. But across the room, Mia catches Ms. Evelyn glancing back toward the table.
MIA BROOKS
(pulling back)
I said I have it.
A beat. Montez hears the wall go up in real time.
MONTEZ CARTER
Alright.
He steps back, giving her space she did not ask for but clearly chose.
MIA BROOKS
I need the updated venue availability list. And every local contact you've got for backup entertainment. Just send it. I'll take it from there.
MONTEZ CARTER
(after a beat)
I'll send it.
Mia nods, already back in the paperwork.
MIA BROOKS
(without looking up)
Thank you.
Montez lingers a beat, wanting to say more. Mia gives him nothing to work with.
MONTEZ CARTER
Alright.
He steps away. Mia flips to a clean page and writes in hard, deliberate letters: RECOVERY PLAN.
Across the room, EVELYN PRICE watches Mia for a moment, unreadable, then turns away.
CLOSE ON Mia's face -- tight, embarrassed, determined, and shutting down in real time.
CUT TO:
Record yourself, upload it to YouTube (unlisted is fine), Google Drive, Vimeo or Dropbox, and paste the link with your application. Make sure the link can be viewed by anyone who has it.
Skills required
- believable excuse-making
- natural ensemble play
- improv
- warm comedic timing
- none
About the project
Mia Brooks is a gifted, tightly controlled event planner who creates warmth and elegance for everyone but herself. As Christmas lights and community traditions fill the Eastside, Mia’s own apartment remains bare, reflecting how emotionally closed off she has become. In client meetings she is sharp, funny, and impeccably professional, but she shuts down even harmless flirtation and keeps real connection at arm’s length. At her office, her loyal friend Tiffany Hall notices the cracks beneath Mia’s polish, especially when Mia reacts to a call from Kevin Rush, a man who seems to represent an old pattern of disappointment and inconsistency. Tiffany also shares a rumor that the Eastside’s prestigious Melanated Christmas Ball may need a new planner. Though Mia is clearly intrigued, she doubts that talent alone is enough to gain entry into such a legacy event and worries she will never truly be trusted in those circles. Later, at her parents’ Christmas-filled home, Mia is surrounded by easy family love, ritual, and partnership. Watching her parents and her sister Nadia move through their relationships with comfort and familiarity forces Mia to confront what is missing in her own life. In a quiet kitchen conversation, she admits that despite her success, she expected to have built a fuller life by now, not just a flawless schedule. The excerpt ends with Mia exposed in her loneliness, setting up a story about ambition, belonging, and the possibility of love.