British actor Emrhys Cooper has set “The Shuroo Process” with Fiona Dourif as his feature directorial debut. Zachary Quinto (“Star Trek”) is on board as exec producer.
Dourif (“When We Rise”) will play Parker Schafer, a successful young New York journalist. Addled with drugs and alcohol, she heads to a four-day retreat in the Catskills and falls under the spell of charismatic self-help teacher Guru Shuroo, played by Donal Brophy. Her journey of self-discovery has seemingly catastrophic consequences.
An ensemble cast includes Tommy Dorfman (“Thirteen Reasons Why”), Rainey Qualley (“Mad Men”), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (“Black Sails”), and Olivia Sui (“Scream Queens”). Cornelia Guest (“Twin Peaks”), Rachel McDowell (“Mamma Mia”), Taylor Bagley (“Wish I Was Here”), and Lynn Mancinelli (“Bad Frank”) will also appear.
Cooper, best known onscreen for a starring role in StyleHaul series “Vanity,” helms from a script he co-wrote with Brophy. The pair are producing under their newly formed shingle, EmCo Entertainment, alongside Glen Trotiner and Benjamin J. Murray from Incline Productions. Tony Germinario and Lynn Mancinelli are co-producers.
“I believe the self-help industry is a microcosm of what is happening on the worldwide stage,” Cooper said. “The media is manipulated by the powerful, truth and fact are perpetually blurred, and people unquestioningly follow whatever trend, however ludicrous, is most peddled on social media. It [raises] the question: if hipster gurus didn’t exist, would we have to create them?”