Director Alec Griffen Roth has assembled an impressive cast for his next independent film, Billy Knight. Roth’s first feature picture as writer and director will star Al Pacino, Charlie Heaton, and Diana Silvers, it was announced today. Alex (Heaton) and Emily (Silvers) are two graduate students in pursuit of their shared ambition of becoming filmmakers. Alex’s late father was a screenwriter who devoted a lot of time to the profession but never saw any of his works brought to life, so the entertainment bug clearly runs in the family. Alex’s father left a number of unfinished scripts and a handkerchief with the name “Billy Knight” stitched on it to his son as a way to leave a lasting legacy.
Alex, carrying his father’s handkerchief, embarks on a glamorous quest around Hollywood in an effort to learn more about Billy Knight and the significance of the item in his family’s history. Pacino will be co-producing the Johnny Depp-directed movie Modigliani, and he was most recently in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci. Heaton recently concluded a record-breaking run on Netflix with the fourth season of the hit show Stranger Things. Silvers, who has been in films including “Booksmart” and “Ma,” has recently been cast in “Lonely Planet,” a romantic comedy starring Laura Dern and Liam Hemsworth and set to premiere on Netflix.
Roth described his next film as “a love letter to cinema, a fantasy rooted in the history of this great art form,” in a statement issued accompanying the announcement of the film’s cast. He elaborated on the coming-of-age aspects of the film, calling it not just “the narrative of two struggling artists” but also “an introspective battle of a young guy trying to find his voice, and finding what’s essential in life.” The filmmaker concluded by saying that he was “dreaming” of working with his three main cast members because of their outstanding abilities.
The trio of Sevier Crespo, Amanda Kiely, and producers Autumn Bailey-Ford and Cameron Burnett from Prominent Productions. The executive producers are Sarah Sarandos, Josh Clayton, Kirk Martin, and Peter Bortel. There is no specific date for the release of Billy Knight at this time, but filming will begin this week.