EXCLUSIVE: Kat Cunning (Rap Sh!t), McCabe Slye (Fear Street), Connor Paolo (The Last Stop in Yuma County) and Eddie Martinez (Night Swim) are set to topline Star People, an independently financed sci-fi drama marking the first narrative feature from writer-director Adam Finberg (The Business of Recovery), which has wrapped production in and around the Phoenix area.
Also in the cast are Martinez’s daughter Adriana Aluna Martinez (Max’s Duster), who here makes her feature debut, and Bradley Fisher (Beau Is Afraid).
Inspired by The Phoenix Lights of 1997, the largest mass UFO sighting in U.S. history, which saw assorted unidentified flying objects observed in the skies over the southwestern U.S., Star People tells the story of a photographer who receives a tip that could finally shed light on her childhood UFO sighting, though a deadly heatwave and unexpected guests threaten to derail her obsessive search for answers.
The film is produced by Wall Fly’s Josh Shader (Winter Spring Summer or Fall) and cast by Kendra Clark and Helen Geier of ClarkGeier Casting.
An actor and singer seen in two seasons of the Max comedy Rap Sh!t, Cunning has also been seen on Netflix’s Trinkets and HBO’s The Deuce, as well as in films like Marry Me and Purple Hearts.
Known for roles in HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty and Netflix’s 2021 horror trilogy Fear Street, Slye’s other notable credits include the acclaimed indies Destroyer and The Miseducation of Cameron Post.
Previously starring as Eric van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, Paolo has more recently been seen in The Last Stop in Yuma County, the acclaimed debut feature of Francis Galluppi, who counts a new Evil Dead film among his upcoming projects, as we were first to report.
Most recently seen in Blumhouse/Atomic Monster’s Night Swim, the elder Martinez has also been seen on shows like Justified: City Primeval, Animal Kingdom, and The Sinner.
Also an editor, Finberg’s debut feature was the rehab industry documentary The Business of Recovery, released in 2015.
Cunning is repped by Innovative Artists and Untitled Entertainment; Slye by Gersh, Gartner Group Entertainment, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Paolo by Untitled Entertainment and Bloch Law; and Martinez by Greene Talent and Kontakto.
