A people-pleasing magician, who’s secretly a witch, struggles to conjure up a life of her own while taking care of her elderly parents and holding everything together at their Mexican-Jewish fusion restaurant.
MIDDLE-AGED MAGICIAN follows Cassie Bloom, 40, who has always dreamt of becoming a famous magician. She’s had moderate success, performing party gigs all over NYC. From a Wall Street corporate event where she makes champagne appear out of thin air, to a Staten Island kids’ party where she makes playing cards fall from the sky, to her most impressive juggling act on the Upper West Side… taking charge at her family’s restaurant, so her aging parents can rest. Cassie’s mom, EDNA, head chef, suffers from Parkinson’s but is determined to run her kitchen, despite her shakes. Cassie’s dad, JONAH, the charismatic face of the restaurant, takes care of Edna behind the scenes. Cassie’s sister LINDA has worked at Casa Bloom her entire life, but is somehow still learning on the job with a resting bewildered face. But Cassie is cursed with being capable – and literally unable to stop herself from fixing everything. For everyone. All at once. To be clear, Cassie is a full-on witch. Since discovering her remarkable abilities as a child, she’s been afraid of the full force of her powers, and their scary reverberations, only releasing her magic in tiny controlled bursts. Mostly to help everyone else. So, when big career opportunities finally come her way, just as both her parents are each dealing with major health issues, can she bring herself to move across the country? Somehow she always chooses family - while trying new ways each week to try to have it all. This is a show for all the secret witches who just wanna feel seen.
Debra creates painfully honest stories about goofy, flawed women like herself. She is best known for writing, directing and producing the indie feature THE TOLLBOOTH, which starred Marla Sokoloff, Idina Menzel, Tovah Feldhuh and Rob McElhenney. Her latest feature script, MALLWALKERS, won the NYWIFT/Ravenal Grant, and invitations to Cine Qua Non Lab and Stowe Story Lab, and a spot on the Wscripted List of Excellent Scripts at Cannes. Her pilot SKETCH was developed at the 2021 Athena Film Festival Television Writers Lab and went through the 2024 Cinestory Lab, winning the Bellem Entertainment Scholarship. Previous work includes the pilot Frog Kissers, the web series The Happy Mommy Hustle, and the short, Changing Clothes. She has also written, directed and produced several promotional videos and EPKs as well as activist videos for the group Rise and Resist. Debra started and led a creative writing program for homeless adults at the Hoboken Shelter and led a creative writing workshop for “Prime Time” Women over sixty in Brooklyn, who helped inspire MALLWALKERS. Currently Debra teaches Screenwriting at Brooklyn College and Digital Video Production at Fordham University.
