Marcus Anthony Thomas Begins Shooting Directorial Debut 'Cast Me!' in London
Marcus Anthony Thomas has started production on his directorial feature debut, the psychological thriller Cast Me!, now shooting in London, Variety reports.
Thomas wrote the script and directs. The story follows Aanya, a young actor who believes she has landed the role of a lifetime after auditioning with a famous actor-turned-first-time director. When the studio overturns the casting decision, her search for answers spirals into obsession.
Iniki Mariano leads the principal cast in her debut feature role. She is joined by Samuel Adewunmi, Stella Gonet, Dean-Charles Chapman and Clare Holman. Mariano previously starred in Thomas's short film Space Plug, a sci-fi project backed by Disney UK and the National Film and Television School that premiered at the BFI London Film Festival.
Behind the camera, the creative team includes co-production designers Freddie Burrows and Eve Finnie, cinematographer Adam Singodia, casting director Xanthe Spencer-Davidson and composer Oliver Wegmüller.
Jordi Morera produces for the 2020Films banner. It is the first feature from 2020Films to go into production. Morera has produced more than 30 short films across fiction and animation, including Do Not Feed the Pigeons, which won the BAFTA for Best British Short Animation in 2022.
Thomas's path to the director's chair runs through one of television's biggest productions. He completed Warner Bros. Discovery's full-time 16-month directing mentorship programme, shadowing directors on the first season of HBO's House of the Dragon, including showrunner Miguel Sapochnik. The mentorship, which he entered upon graduating from film school, concluded in July 2022. He also co-hosts the filmmaking podcast The Directors' Take with fellow writer-director Oz Arshad.
What makes this project stand out is the through-line from training ground to feature set. Thomas spent 16 months inside the machinery of a prestige HBO production, then carried that experience into an independent thriller with a cast mixing established names and a first-time lead. Mariano's presence opposite Thomas again, after Space Plug, gives the debut a creative partnership already tested on a festival stage.
No release date or distributor has been announced. Production is under way in London.
