It Takes a Wolf Logo

It Takes a Wolf - Casting Call Phase 1

Overview

Title: It Takes a Wolf
Format: 9 episode Audio-drama (Episodes 30-45 minutes each)

Timeline

  • Casting call will run from Sep 1st to Oct 3rd at midnight.
  • This casting call will not close early
  • Recording Phase 1: Recording for Phase 1, episodes 1 and 2, will happen through October/November.
  • Further recording Fundraising for Phase 2, the complete Season, will happen Q1 2026 with the remainder of the recording happening Q1 and Q2 of that year.

Payment

This is a non-union project.
Pay Rate: $0.17 per word with $20 minimum per phase.

Synopsis

It Takes a Wolf is a gritty supernatural noir, charged to the brim with all the tension the mean rain-slicked streets of a city can handle. It follows the protagonist (The Fool/The Beast), a werewolf and former ‘war-dog’ as he is drawn into the clutches of the rulers of this neck of the world: a family of gangsters who happen to be vampires, or vampires who happen to be gangsters. Take your pick. Either way, they are the Blackwoods.

Led either by Stirling Blackwood (The General) or his son Creed (The First-born), depending on who you ask, the Blackwood family is the preeminent criminal organization. Drugs and Sex and Gambling and anything a little sticky are handled by Algernon (The Fuck-up). Most of the killing is handled by Arcadia (The Fiend). Along with a gaggle of house dogs and the usual muscle. But if you want anything actually done, the one to look to is Desdemona (The Pillar), who has been assigned as our protagonist’s handler. Someone has been killing their members it seems, including to one of the siblings and the Pillar’s husband. And they’re going to dangle our protagonist in front of the suspects and see who tries to kill him.

But, of course, nothing is ever as simple as that. And soon we have buildings burning to the ground, and a few attempted murders, and some casual drugging between siblings. And things will only get worse as we get closer to revealing who’s really behind all this.

Meanwhile, as the world starts to burn around them, the protagonist and the Pillar find themselves drawing closer together, and perhaps doubting the loyalties that brought them here.

Less literally, It Takes a Wolf is a story about identity, the imposed identities that we all find thrust upon us versus the identities we find for ourselves. It touches on the nature of monsters and what makes them so, or makes them appear so, and what it’s like to view yourself that way. A little bit, it’s about living with a part of yourself you hate and learning not to so much. It’s also a chance to tell some werewolf dick jokes.

About the Team

Library of Cursed Knowledge is a small podcast network started by Scott Paladin (Breathing Space, The Monster Mechanics Podcast, the N7 Project). He… well… I wrote this whole series and I’ll be directing and doing most of the editing. You can follow the development process in podcast form over at Behind the Locked Doors.

Content Warnings

It Takes a Wolf is a markedly adult work in its content. As the episodes are still being finalized, content warnings are also still subject to change. Here’s what you can expect:

  • Violence and Gore - Including dismemberment and exsanguination. Gun violence. A lot of deaths (a good number of them fascists). As there are vampires, blood plays a prominent role. There is also medical horror including first person description of surgery.

  • Loss of Agency - Bodily autonomy and the loss thereof is a large theme of the work and features heavily in several ways including coerced servitude, drugging without consent, and non-consenting medical procedure.

  • Sexual Content - This is a self described “horny werewolf project”. There are sexual situations and discussion thereof. Things get hot and heavy but no actual “on screen” sex takes place.

  • Substance Abuse - Alcohol, drugs, and tobacco use feature heavily. Including a description of a drug trip from first person.

  • Political Extremism - There are some outright fascist characters in this. They get to spout some of that ideology. They die pretty horribly quite soon after.

Audition Parameters

Quality Requirements

Audio should be as clean and clear as you can make it. It should be a good representation of what you can produce as a final product. We highly recommend recording with an external microphone of good quality and moving to or erecting a treated space to reduce background noise and reverb.

Recording Format

  • Start your recording with: “This is [YOUR NAME] auditioning for the part of [CHARACTER NAME].”
  • If submitting takes with a different voice, please arrange by ABC-ABC.
  • Export as mono wav file
  • Filename should include Your Name and Character Name (e.g. “John Smith - The Pillar.wav”)

Submission Guidelines

SUBMIT YOUR AUDITION HERE

If you wish to audition for more than one role, you will need to submit via the form for each role.

Casting and Recording

When the casting call closes on October 3rd, it may take a little time for decisions to be made. A brief VOIP interview will be required before we can cast certain roles. This will be arranged through email in the week or so after the call closes.

Recording will be synchronous when possible and asynchronous otherwise. Production communication will be handled through email or the LoCK discord.

Note to Auditioners

Do not self-select.

If you vibe with a character and you think you could deliver a good performance for them, please go ahead and audition.

Things like a character’s pronouns or voice notes are provided to give you context; they are not the end-all-be-all of who’re looking for in a performer. We encourage everyone to audition for all roles they are interested in performing

Characters (Phase 1)

Click on any character below to view their full description and audition lines:

Main Characters

Phase 1 is casting for the following characters. Some roles have already been filled.

The Pillar
(she/her)
Reliable. Restrained.
~500 words in Phase 1.

The Councilor
(prov. he/him)
The general’s right hand. ~300 words in Phase 1.

The Fiend
(she/her)
Kills to live. Lives to kill. ~100 words in Phase 1.

The Fuck-up
(he/him)
King of vices. ~200 words in Phase 1.

The Accomplice
(she/her)
Live fast and steal everything. ~50 words in Phase 1.

Ensemble Roles
Multiple smaller characters
$20 minimum per episode. Various character types and voices needed.

If you have questions or concerns, you can find us on Bluesky or tumblr or email scott [dot] paladin [at] library [dot] horse