Only for a Day

Production Company
Vancouver Film School
Producer(s)
Elias Humphrey
Director(s)
Kyungbin Park
Casting Director(s): 
Elias Humphrey, Kyungbin Park
Union Status
Non-Union
Project Type
Film
Student Production
Yes
Compensation Details

This is a volunteer project. Actors will be unpaid. Catering and craft service provided. IMDb credit will be provided.

Audition Date(s)
October 18th
Audition Location
Self Tapes Only
Shoot / Performance Date(s)
November 13th to 15th
Shoot / Performance Location(s)
Greater Vancouver Area
Submission Deadline
Thursday, October 16, 2025
Submission Instructions

Please submit resume, headshot, and demo reel (if applicable) to Onlyforadaysf@gmail.com and indicate which role out of the four characters, or Background / extra roles you'd like to be considered for. The selected actors will be sent a script with self-tape instructions, which are due by October 20th. The director and producer will review the self-tapes and call back the chosen actors for an in-person audition. After reviewing, the final cast will be locked immediately after the audition.

Project Synopsis
Yunseul, a lonely seven-year-old Korean girl livingin Canada, longs for her absent father. Yunseul feels different from other families, she has trouble connecting with her peers, so she isolates herself in social settings. To protect her, her mother, Junghee, hires a struggling Magician to play the role of a “dad” for just one day. The trick enthusiast Magician and his acquisitive assistant, Chuy, hold an entertaining party for Yunseul with tricks and laughter. At first only in it to pull off some nifty tricks and earn a buck, the make-believe begins to feel real; a family is formed. Near the end of the day, The. Magician, Chuy, and Junghee discuss the “One Day” deal Inside Junghee’s home. Yunseul overhears their discussion and learns the truth of The Magician not being her real father. Devastated, she clings desperately to the illusion by slowing a puzzle game down she plays with The Magician, knowing it will be her last moment with him. The Magician not wanting to ruin the magic, grants Yunseul’s wish to have a birthday party. It’s rushed, but it doesn’t matter to Yunseul, she cherishes the party to the end. The Magician performs his last disappearing trick, where he leaves Yunseul with a memory of their bond. Yunseul grows up living contently with her difference, and understanding the love behind Junghee’s lie.
Additional Information & Safety Protocols: 

Parent /Guardian is required to be on-set with the minor during the film days.
A Minor Coordinator will be on-set.

Character 1
Yunseul
Age
5 - 12
Gender
Female
Description
A vulnerable and innocent Korean girl living in Canada. She feels different from the other children around her and carries a quiet sense of loneliness. Though she cannot fully express it, she longs for the father who is not in her life. Her habit of twisting her hair reveals her anxiety and her wish to be someone else. Yunseul is a believer at heart, able to find wonder in the smallest gestures, and when she meets the Magician, she dares to imagine that magic might be real. Fragile yet full of imagination, she is the emotional center of the story, embodying how a fleeting moment can live forever in the memory of a child.
Character 2
The Magician
Age
25 - 35
Gender
Male
Description
A Korean American man who performs small birthday shows to get by. On the surface he is witty, playful, and quick with a joke, always deflecting responsibility through humor. Beneath that charm lies a man weighed down by absence and solitude, someone who hides his wounds behind tricks. Taking the role of a father begins as an opportunistic way to earn money, but Yunseul's innocence slowly strips away his armor. In her belief he finds something real, and for a brief moment he becomes more than a performer. Though he cannot stay and his disappearance feels inevitable, what he leaves behind is a memory that lingers stronger than permanence. He is opportunistic yet caring, a man changed by the fragile magic of a child's trust.
Character 3
Chuy
Age
25 - 35
Gender
Male
Description
A Mexican man. The Magician's close friend and assistant, playful and humorous, who often lightens the weight of the story. He is quick with jokes, casual in his presence, and feels like an "uncle" figure to Yunseul, easing her loneliness through warmth and levity. Yet beneath the humor, Chuy carries an honesty that keeps the illusion from becoming too comfortable. He understands the fragile boundaries of magic, reminding us that its power lies in its impermanence. Playful, supportive, and lighthearted, he is also the quiet guardian of the film's delicate wonder.
Character 4
Junghee
Age
25 - 35
Gender
Female
Description
A Korean mother who carries both strength and fragility. Outwardly she is protective and determined, doing everything she can to hold her family together. Yet in the quiet moments she is haunted by guilt, weighed down by the lie she tells to shield her daughter that her absent father was a magician who lives in another world. Hiring the Magician is not an act of naivety but of desperation, a choice born from love and the longing to give her daughter something to remember other than loss. Junghee embodies a mother's paradox: protective yet guilty, loving yet unable to offer the truth. She is the silent pulse of the film, expressing love through the stories she creates to ease her child's pain.
Additional Characters

Birthday Parent
Age 25 - 35
An attendee of a child's birthday party. They watch over the kids and speak with other parents during the party.

Birthday Party Kid Guest
Age 5 - 12
The child will be part of a birthday party, enjoying the party activities with other kid party members.