"Casting Call" -- for Horace Mann Docudrama!

FranklinTV is currently in pre-production on the first episode of a 4-episode oiginal docudrama series, Victory for Humanity, which explores the life of Horace Mann. Utilizing modern actors combined with cutting edge virtual sets, Episode 1 chronicles his time as a teenager in the early 1800s, becoming a student at Brown University in the 1820s, then a law student down in Litchfield, CT, and ends with him in his mid-twenties becoming a lawyer in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Production on Episode 1 is tenatively scheduled for the week of July 27th, 2025. Auditions will be held at the FranklinTV studio, 23 Hutchinston St., on June 7th and 8th. Character descriptions can be found below. Interested parties can reach out to Chris Flynn for more info at cflynn@franklin.tv

EP 1 CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

HORACE

Adolescent Horace: 12 years old, skinny, medium-length dark hair

20-year-old Horace: nearly 6 feet tall

LYDIA

10-year-old Lydia, long dark hair, little bit of spunk

18-year-old Lydia, slightly worn-down

REBECCA

21 years old, blond hair, protective of her sister

THOMAS STANLEY

20 years old, red hair, tall and happy-go-lucky

STEPHEN

16 years old, brown hair, playful and rebellious

REBECCA MANN

Mother of the Mann family, thin with dark hair, round face and wire-rimmed glasses, late

40s

THOMAS MANN

Father of the Mann family, tall and thin, early 50s

NATHANAEL EMMONS

Church minister, balding, slightly heavy in his fifties, with long white hair

HORACE’S FRIEND, two ages

STEPHEN’S FRIEND, 16 years old

DISTRICT SCHOOL TEACHER

ASA MESSER

President of Brown University, stocky man in his fifties, short greying hair with a bald

patch on the back of his scalp

IRA BARTON, Brown University classmate, tall, academic-looking with medium-length

dark hair, kindness in his eyes

SAMUEL GRIDLEY HOWE – Brown student in his late teens

TRISTAM BURGES – teacher at Brown University

CHARLOTTE MESSER – Youngest daughter of Asa Messer, 12 years old, dark hair,

playful, slightly smitten with Horace

MARY MESSER – Oldest daughter of Asa Messer, 20 years old

CAROLINE MESSER – Middle daughter of Asa Messer, 15 years old

WELCOME BURGESS – Tapping Reeve Law School classmate

HENRY ROGERS – Tapping Reeve Law School classmate

JUDGE GOULD – Tapping Reeve Law School instructor, tall, imposing with long hair

pulled back, thick sideburns