Cat Miller as "Zoë"

From the project's start, we've often compared Inventory to The Breakfast Club and Clerks, in terms of genre and milieu and several other French words.

One might also see a little DNA-similarity between Cat Miller's Zoë and the former's Allison Reynolds. Zoë is as inscrutable and feral as the moody Ally Sheedy character, but she's also a distinctly active presence: as physical and playful as she is brainy and, at times, harsh.

While the other eight clerks work in pairs, the ultra-detached Zoë was aptly assigned to be "a floater" (yes, one of the clerks tries to make hay with that), mixing it up with the four pairs of peers as the whim strikes her.

We first collaborated with Cat on The Observer, where she held forth on all manner of geeky topics with inspired improv based on, and fueling, the movie's overarching themes. Her Zoë again shows off Cat's brilliance with eccentric, high-status verbal banter. But even more so, it demonstrates a can't-keep-your-eyes-off-her gift for silent comedy.

Cat recalls the germination of the Zoë character:

I went to my first Inventory rehearsal a bit like a kid who hasn't done her homework. I knew that having a good character to play was entirely dependent upon my ability to come up with one, but I just hadn't given it the time I should have. Driving to rehearsal I thought over what would be fun for me—what am I really unlikely to get cast as in any other circumstances? My first, overwhelming thought was "it would be really fun to be incredibly weird." Of course, then I had to justify Zoë 's weirdness and build an entire character around that desire to say non sequiturs and hide out in small spaces. This definitely led us down some unexpected roads in developing her backstory—like me somewhat accidentally declaring her to be Jewish—but in the end I had a great time doing all the stuff I could never, ever do in real life.

Lea DeGloria as "Tarot Woman"

I met Lea Marie at a south-of-Boston event called Filmmaker's Shindig, hosted by local actors Chuck Slavin and Jenna Lunarno.

Lea runs a popular local cable show where she reads fortunes, and she has a presence that's simultaneously imposing and disarmingly down-to-earth.

When a store is closed for inventory, customers inevitably come knocking on the door. Clerks either ignore them or brusquely turn them away.

Whether it's her charm, her story of "a furniture emergency," or the promise of otherworldly insight about his romantic quest, lonely clerk Percy can't resist letting "Tarot Woman" into the furniture store.

Lea comments on her first collaboration with Castparty Productions:

I was thrilled to be involved with this project. Fortune telling is my profession, so naturally I would play the tarot card reader.

I enjoyed bringing that mystical element, and Justin was so creative in the way he weaved it into the storyline. I had never worked with him before and didn't know what to expect from the cast and crew. I remember everyone being super-talented and super-professional and very funny.

More info at www.tarotbyleamarie.com and Facebook.

Soundtrack artist: Jeremy

The central premise of Inventory is that there will be consequences if the furniture isn't counted with 100% accuracy in the allotted time.

Whether it's the countdown to the 6:00PM reckoning or one clerk's obsession with 4:20, the concept of time hovers over the story... and over several songs in the soundtrack.

There are a few people you simply have to meet on the road to powerpop, and one of them is Jeremy Morris.

His label, JAM Records, is the source for three songs in our soundtrack: "Watch the Movie" by Lolas," "You (and Everything You Do)" by The Tor Guides, and his own composition and recording, "Time Is Running Out."

He records as "Jeremy," often with glistening, Byrdsian 12-string guitar. And he's one of the sweetest, most affirmative folks you're likely to encounter.

Jeremy's good-natured spirit is on full display in a song that's a gentle nudge to value the time we have, a definite counterpoint to the slacker gestalt of Inventory's furniture-store clerks.

He explains the theme of "Time Is Running Out":

When I wrote this song I was thinking about how life is a "gift "

It's absolutely free!!!

"Here comes yet another day, it's a gift you needn't pay..."

And I was thinking how our society is always trying to charge money for everything.

"Bottled Water" is a good example...

What next? ..."Bottled air"? ..."Bottled sunshine"? ..."Bottled happiness"???

So the point is that this gift of life and the time we have on earth is truly a "limited edition."

Let's not waste it. The best things in life really are free!

"Time is running out, Time is running out... time to find what life is all about!"

Soundtrack artist: The Bad Pixels

As we were in the thick of improvising, re-improvising, writing, and shooting Inventory in the summer of 2009, a title-song composition quickly snowballed from concept to completion.

The driving idea was to blend the borderline smarmy sympathy of the "Cheers" theme with the peppy powerpop of the "Friends" theme. The lyrics are full of wordplay on the workin' life, with a second voice commenting on the logic of what the first voice is saying.

Many of the words relate to defining traits of Inventory characters, so as soon as the ink was dry on the lyrics, Kevin Hammer and I mapped out plans to illustrate each major Inventory character in a title animation, synced to the song.

Kevin, master of all things musical, produced my title ditty and played all the instruments, and he adapted the theme into countless variations for use in the underscore. Dennis Hurley, in-character as "Percy," accompanies me as the second vocalist.

Where there's a self-proclaimed Ukrainian hip hop star ("Nastasia" played by Katarina Morhacova), there's liable to be a Ukrainian hip hop song. So, Kevin and I wrote "Kickin' Kiev," inspired by "Love of Three Oranges" by Prokofiev (born in Sontsovka, now Krasnoye, Ukraine). It just may have more rhymes with Ukrainian geographical names than any English-language song in history, but I stand to be corrected on that. Kevin again produced and plays all instruments, and Katarina sings or raps or hip hops or whatever the contrarian Nastasia would call it.

Both songs are credited to "The Bad Pixels," with Dennis and Katarina as guest vocalists.

Soundtrack artist: Stackridge

The year was 1974, and in a music mag whose name escapes me, a writer declared a love for "melody groups"—and cited Stackridge's "Pinafore Days" as an exemplar. I soon found out how delightfully true that was.

Better known in its UK near-equivalent, "The Man in the Bowler Hat," it's a George Martin-produced masterpiece of whimsical pop. And it's one of several eccentric, eclectic, and endlessly ear-pleasing albums the band made in the 1970s.

In a wonderful surprise, Stackridge reunited after a two-decades-plus hiatus. Two songs from the band's new era are featured in the Inventory soundtrack, "Grooving Along on the Highway on a Monday Morning Once" and "It Must Be Time for Bed."

"Grooving" brims with oddball charm. Heck, it avalanches with oddball charm. Lyrically witty and weird, toe-tapping from the first note, and breaking out into a courtly waltz in the middle, it's completely irresistible, and it provides a wonderful quirky backdrop for an action montage that begins as furniture-truck driver Dave pulls off the highway.

True to its name, "It Must Be Time for Bed" starts in hushed tones. Suddenly, an otherworldly instrumental, spiced with siren-song vocalizations, transports us into a magical land, in a trip fit for Little Nemo. The instrumental motif signals one of the warehouse's back-room mysteries.

James Warren, co-writer of both songs, tells us of their creation:

"Grooving Along..." was a joint composition by myself, John Miller and Sarah Ménage.

John had busked some chords while I had improvised a tune. The jauntiness of the music dictated the style of the lyric, which rapidly became one of our favourite rather Pythonesque stream-of-consciousness affairs. I remember all three of us contributing lines, with John coming up with the immortal one about fathoming the depths of Wittgenstein, Hegel and Kant. It was great fun.

"It Must Be Time For Bed" was written by Sarah Ménage and myself. We were in 'dedicated songwriting' mode at the time, spending as much time as possible 7 days a week trying to come up with ideas. Once again the music evoked the lyric and once we'd hit on the theme I seem to remember the song sort of wrote itself. It's an unusual piece - a lot of time was spent on the extended, dream-like instrumental sections - but I think it all hangs together quite well.

Stackridge's longtime manager, Mike Tobin, provides info on the artists:

Both songs were recorded in 1999. They are now available on the CD/Album "Sex and Flags"on Angel Air Records. (SJP CD205) and for download @ I-Tunes /Amazon & other sites.

Stackridge continue to tour in the U.K. with the core members of James Warren, Andy Davis and Jim "Crun" Walter plus Eddie John, Clare Lindley and Glenn Tommey.

There is a strong likelihood they will perform in the USA in 2011.

Check www.stackridge.net for updates.

Sarah Ménage performs with her own trio regularly and recently released her own CD/Album "Who Needs A Man"

Check www.myspace.com/sarahmenage

Matt Carbo as "John Panda"

Kurt Vonnegut warned against "missing Iago," that is, failing to establish a formidable antagonist.

Matt Carbo's comic ominousness as unglued furniture-store owner John Panda ensures there's no Iago shortage in Inventory.

After I first saw Matt do scenes in an improv class many years back, I couldn't stop bubbling about him to everyone associated with Castparty Productions. He just killed me every time, especially when embodying glowering characters in the John Belushi mold.

Among his most memorable turns in a Castparty film is his world-weary chef in our apocalyptic short, Human File #752. Matt is, in fact, a superb chef, so having him cook on-camera means a feast once you wrap.

Matt on his goals as an actor, and why he looks forward to Inventory finding an audience:

I have worked with Castparty Productions for almost a decade. The reason why I love to work with them, is the common belief we all share about entertainment.

Entertainment is something that is only rewarding when the audience is reached. Yes, the process of making a movie can be a lot of fun if you get along with the cast and crew (which for Inventory we all did, and it was great).

But the real reward is when showing an audience member the film, then listening to their reaction of laughter and joy. This is the true reward for the actor, director and crew.

Whether it's a film fest or just showing someone a Youtube clip, I always get this great feeling of accomplishment when I know that it was us that brought joy to someone.

Now, I may never get a chance to meet all of the people who have viewed our movies but I know I reached them using the vehicle of video production.

We all have trouble in our lives, and if a short film or feature can help us forget (even if for just a short time) our trouble, then I say it's a job well done.

So, enjoy this movie. we enjoyed making it, and we ultimately didn't do it for us, we did it for you, the audience.

Shelly Nunchucks Finnegan as "Jackie/Maria"

Kevin, Dennis, and I first met Shelly "Nunchucks" Finnegan when we were running auditions for The Observer.

To say she made an impression is an understatement in the extreme.

She bounded in and expressed how flustered she was in locating the audition site (ImprovBoston), by breaking the land-speed record for f-word utterances. We were in hysterics before we started running any improv scenes.

Auditions for that film were done in pairs, and the luck of the draw had her teamed with Quentin James, who subsequently worked with us as the "Cautious Friend" in Esc. Both impressed us: Shelly with her overabundance of personality and Quentin with his dry wit and disarming demeanor, making the most of the rare moments when Shelly caught her breath.

Alas, neither turned out to be available for The Observer's shoot days. But now in Inventory we've captured their hilarious asymmetry, as they play a furniture-counting duo with wildly disparate temperaments.

Nunchuck-swinging clerk Maria insists on being called "Jackie," after her hero, Jackie Chan. The other clerks are well-advised to, as the old punchline goes, call her anything she wants.

In addition to building Shelly's real-life fixation with Jackie Chan into her character, a set of outrageous rants she regaled us with after one night of shooting became an integral part of her Inventory performance. She insists these stories of scatalogical workplace nightmares are 100% true. All I can say is, it was hard not to crash a carful of castmembers as she piled on the jawdropping details. Driving while ROFL is a definite hazard of being Shelly's wheels to or from the set.

Shelly shares her thoughts about working on Inventory:

I have to say that I sincerely enjoyed working with the whole cast. It was a ball!

It was a really unique type of atmosphere, because Justin and the whole crew took something that I had a love for and really truly put it in my character.

Long story short, my dream is to work with my idol Jackie Chan.

So these crazy, lovable guys took something that I truly have been working on and added it into my character Jackie/Maria.

They let me swing nun-chucks on the set, and I am so glad I didn't decapitate Dennis Hurley, the brave soul he was, working with me.

I tortured and might have drove crazy my partner in the film, Tucker, who was played by Quentin James. He was such a saint. You could say he was like yin to my yang, so I say thank you Quentin for being a brave soul, too.

Mostly, I think the camera guys had a blast, because they laughed so hard, they had to stop filming to get their composure.

I really loved my character, Jackie, cause I wanted to be a strong woman, picking up furniture, swinging around nun-chucks and doing any physical activity in the film and kept asking if I could do stunts, since that is truly what I do, in sets, I actually do my own little stunts and fight scenes.

In downtime, some of the cast members picked up my nun-chucks and used them, but don't worry, no one got hurt.

I learned a silly lesson. On downtime, beware, cameramen can film you doing just about anything on set.

A few times, being around the cameraman Kevin Hammer, I was actually just staying in character and decided to just be real crazy in my character and improv things.

Little did I know, that Kevin would actually take what I was kidding around with and throw it in the film. OK, Kevin be glad that I like you, just kidding.

But I feel honored, and have to say, I think my idol Jackie Chan, would thoroughly enjoy this film, and when you see Jackie/Maria, you probably will understand my character, at what she is most passionate about, using nun-chucks and doing stunts, so in actuality, for my character, art imitated life, in this film for me.

I think Justin Fielding understands what type of actress I am, doing my own stunts and own type of fights, for which I have moved out of Boston to work and train with a production company called Unicovia Productions.

I have been re-training in Tai Chi, and in a future film, will have to get up on horse and such, and have had a little bit of a fight scene shown in a film called Anikryua, and that is on my Youtube account, Capoeirababe, on which you will see my first interview, where I actually take down one of the interviewers out of fun, but I think the guys loved every minute of it.

What I would love to happen someday, is for my idol Jackie Chan to see Inventory, since I have been watching Jackie's work for 30 years or so, oops kind of giving my age away, but being able to honor my idol and to dedicate something to a man who has brought me so much happiness for many years. I truly think he would enjoy this film, and plus, I would love to make Jackie Chan laugh.

I know I can be proud of this film, because the men in this production really understood what I really could give to a character and I feel very honored to have been part of the film.

OK, yes, Justin had us up to 2 to 3 a.m. and I had to be in work the following days at 5:30 a.m., but how on earth can you ever forget this whole crazy, loving, bunch of human beings, you just can't.

In Martial Arts, a sign of respect is a bow, so as I sit and write, I wish the whole cast and crew, and especially Justin could see, but I am bowing, thank you, or as my idol would say "Xie Xie".

It would be kind of nice for Jackie Chan to see this film, I am sure it would make him pee his pants with laughter...