Tania Notaro - Writer Biography
Tania Notaro is an actor and screenwriter from Dublin. She has a 1st class Master's degree in Screenwriting for Film & TV from The National film school, IADT, and Warner Brothers offered her a scholarship to do so. In 2020 she was inaugurated into the Warner Brothers Creative Talent team as an exceptional artist and one-to-watch.
Her first script Boxed won her the John Boorman Scholarship at Irish Film School and she got to direct with Boorman himself. She is the winner of The Ronan Phelan Writers Award at IndieCork, 2020. Her feature screenplay Elephant earned her one of 10 places on the Nostos Screenwriting retreat in Italy and it also earned her a place on the X-Pollinator Elevator programme. She was selected for the Actor As Creator scheme from Screen Ireland and made her directorial debut with her short Glitterbug. She is one of 12 writers chosen from all of Europe to participate in the Eureka Series Mania training programme this autumn in Lille, France.
She is hoping to make socially conscious films from a female perspective.
Cabaret Cartel - Short Synopsis
A group of drag performers struggling to survive find themselves indebted to a local drug lord, which puts them in some dangerous situations and forces them to question their own morality.
Cleo, Big Daddy, Twink and Blue are four broke best friends who live in a flat over a struggling dive bar and perform drag shows together. When one of their roommates suddenly dies, a fight ensues over who is going to get their deceased friend's wardrobe. In the midst of wig throwing, they stumble across a substantial stash of cash hidden in a Cliff Richard mannequin. Having never seen so much money before, they go on huge shopping and spending sprees, until a drug lord comes looking for his money. With no cash left, they now have to work off a debt that leads them on a chaotic journey of moral quagmires and self-discovery.
As we follow the gang falling deeper and deeper into a criminal catastrophe, scintillating performances will reflect their despair and themes occurring in the show will be incorporated into a dazzling performance in each episode. Their new line of work introduces them to a host of whacky, off-the-wall characters, and we watch them desperately try to navigate their way through their newfound helter-skelter way of life.
This is Breaking Bad in drag.
Cabaret Cartel deals with pressing social issues of our time; social inequality, friendship, family, morality, self-identity, sexuality/gender, and power/corruption. Although sometimes absurd, the show is rooted in realism and will be extremely stylized, with big set pieces, scintillating choreography and outlandish costumes. With the campness of Bob Fosse’s Cabaret, the grittiness of Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad and an ensemble of wonderfully flawed characters that you want to spend time with Cabaret Cartel will pull at your heartstrings and have you hanging on the edge of your seat.
To get in touch with Tania or find out more about Cabaret Cartel, contact spotlight@screenireland.ie