Like Water Like Mud
Feature Film
Non Union
Melbourne
Like Water Like Mud is a collaborative, semi-improvised feature film project, developed by a community of filmmakers, writers and performers through an emergent and interactive process. Collaborators are invited to participate in workshops where they will build on core story elements to develop characters, relationships and scenes through improvisation with other actors. Our goal is to use collaboration and iteration to establish a community of creatives, and to develop characters and relationships that appear and feel as real and complex on screen as the people who portray them. To provide a framework for our creative exploration, we’ve come up with a broad narrative and formal structure. We’re developing these core elements into a rough treatment outlining characters and key scenes, which will serve as a foundation for collaborators to build on and flesh out through workshops and improvisation. Nothing is set in stone, and collaborators will have the opportunity to really shape the story. Broadly, Like Water Like Mud follows a group of friends over a long weekend on the Hawkesbury River. 32-year-old Cam is back in Sydney after two semi-successful years acting in the US, but is questioning their future career. Meanwhile, their best friend Nic has just landed their first big role, but hasn’t told Cam. Joining them for the weekend are Cam’s sibling, Dylan, and a bunch of their old friends from high school, drama and music school. The film begins as an ensemble piece, giving equal weight to each of its characters, presenting a tapestry of personal and interpersonal moments of introspection, connection, tension and play. As the weekend unfolds and people drift home, the focus narrows to Cam and Nic, whose relationship is unsettled when Nic reveals their news on the first day. Through its characters’ attempts to confront the shifting sense of who they are and what they’re committed to, Like Water Like Mud explores questions of art, work, identity and friendship..
Roles For This Project
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Submissions Due:
03/14/2026
Nic has been struggling to break in since graduating uni, but after years of hustling, has finally landed a big role. Likes to make people laugh but takes their work as a performer seriously, something people often misjudge them for.
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Submissions Due:
03/14/2026
Cam is seriously committed and driven and has put their acting career above everything else since they were a student. Was getting some good roles in LA, but fucked up their latest part and has returned home in search of community and connection (and reassurance). Now questioning their future career... [See More]
More Roles For This Project
-
Submissions Due:
03/14/2026
Nic has been struggling to break in since graduating uni, but after years of hustling, has finally landed a big role. Likes to make people laugh but takes their work as a performer seriously, something people often misjudge them for.
-
Submissions Due:
03/14/2026
Cam is seriously committed and driven and has put their acting career above everything else since they were a student. Was getting some good roles in LA, but fucked up their latest part and has returned home in search of community and connection (and reassurance). Now questioning their future career... [See More]
