PROJECT 4: HOMESTAYING
Writer: Mayumi Yoshida
Logline: With the arrival of a new homestay AYANA, a group of misfit immigrants in East Van form an unlikely family and deal with their dreams, relationships, and identity as they try to find a place to belong in their home away from home.
Characters for Casting:
Scene 1 Characters:
AYANA: FEMALE 20s – 30s JAPANESE –
A sheltered rich girl who dreams of escaping her comfortable but suffocating life in Japan. Sensitive but curious, Ayana often feels stuck and unsure of what she wants. She jokes around with her childhood friends but secretly worries about her future and whether her life will ever amount to anything. Moving to Canada is her attempt to start over and find her own path.
JOJO: FEMALE 20s – 30s JAPANESE –
A chihuahua in human form. Small, loud, and full of attitude, Jojo is a mischievous jokester who loves teasing her friends. She hides her serious feelings behind humor but is deeply loyal to the people she cares about. Despite being in her 30s, she still acts like a kid who refuses to grow up.
SANTA: MALE 20s – 30s JAPANESE –
A lizard in human form. Laid-back, tired-looking, and quietly sarcastic, Santa is a convenience store worker who has accepted his rather uneventful life. He jokes about his own misfortunes but secretly feels lonely and forgotten. Around his childhood friends, however, he can still laugh and feel like a kid again.
Scene 2 Characters:
AYANA: FEMALE 20s – 30s JAPANESE – (More context)
Ayana is the newest resident of Mako’s homestay, arriving from Tokyo with two suitcases, no plan, and the quiet hope that moving abroad will magically solve the dissatisfaction she’s been running from. Responsible, thoughtful, and painfully self-aware, she’s spent most of her life doing what was expected of her—until one day she quit her job without knowing what came next.
Expecting a nurturing Japanese host family, Ayana instead finds herself under the roof of Mako: a chaotic, boundary-less woman who seems to have no interest in acting like a proper adult. Mako’s impulsiveness drives Ayana insane, but what frustrates her most is that Mako seems completely unapologetic about living life on her own terms.
Ayana prides herself on being practical and mature, yet beneath her composed exterior is someone terrified of making the wrong choice. As she navigates the wonderfully dysfunctional household, she’s forced to question whether she’s actually responsible… or simply afraid to live boldly.
MAKO: FEMALE 60s JAPANESE –
Mako is the eccentric host mom of the homestay and the last person anyone would choose to run one. Once a talent agent in Japan’s modeling industry, she still dresses like she’s heading to Fashion Week and judges everyone within seconds of meeting them—usually by their shoes. Decades ago, she followed her husband to Canada believing love would lead to a glamorous new life. Instead, he disappeared, leaving her with an aging house, a son she accidentally raised in chaos, and a mortgage she keeps afloat by renting rooms to international newcomers.
A terrible host by conventional standards, Mako forgets boundaries, gives unsolicited opinions, and treats every resident like an unwilling participant in her latest scheme. Yet her greatest gift is seeing potential in people long before they see it themselves. She refuses to let anyone waste their life playing it safe—a philosophy she pushes onto Ayana with relentless enthusiasm.
Behind Mako’s fearless confidence is someone who has spent years pretending disappointment doesn’t hurt. She has reinvented herself so many times that she’s forgotten which version is real. Ayana’s cautious outlook infuriates her, but it also forces Mako to confront the parts of herself she’s spent decades avoiding.
CHRIS – MALE Mid 20s FILIPINO –
A gay Filipino jewelry designer who has come out to literally everyone except his parents. He’s sassy horny and always complaining about transit and the lame Vancouver nightlife, but he knows how to have fun.
LARA – FEMALE Late 30s AUSTRALIAN –
Lara (38) moved here with her fiancee and then he cheated on her with their roommate. A laid back Aussie and a talented hairstylist, if you’re okay with getting a Joe Exotic mullet when all you wanted was a trim.
KAYLIE – NONBINARY Mid 20s CANADIAN –
Kaylie is a non-binary nomad from Prince George who lives in their ’89 Delica parked in the driveway. When it’s too cold, they curl up under the staircase. They don’t pay rent… They just do everyone’s dishes and cooks breakfast occasionally. Wise soul despite their age, and the good listener of the house.
