Michael Cera, Abbi Jacobson, Tavi Gevinson to Star in ‘Human People’

Michael Cera, Abbi Jacobson and Tavi Gevinson are set to lead the ensemble cast of “Human People,” an indie movie from director Dustin Guy Defa, it was announced Thursday.

The film also stars Isiah Whitlock (“25th Hour”), Michaela Watkins (Hulu’s “Casual”), Ben Rosenfield (“6 Years”), Buddy Durress (“Heaven Knows What”), George Sample III (“Cronies”), Bene Coopersmith (Defa’s “Person to Person”) and Philip Baker Hall (“Magnolia”).

“Human People” follows a variety of New York characters as they navigate personal relationships and unexpected problems over the course of one day.

The film is being produced by Sara Murphy, Toby Halbrooks and James M. Johnston, and co-produced by Allison Rose Carter and Jon Read. It’s executive produced by Joe Swanberg, Eddie Linker and Peter Gilbert of Forager Films as well as Matthew Perniciaro and Michael Sherman of Bow and Arrow Entertainment, in association with Sailor Bear and Park Pictures. Production is currently under way in New York City.

Cera and Gevinson previously appeared together on stage in a recent Broadway production of Kenneth Lonergan’s “This Is Our Youth.” Jacobson, along with Ilana Glazer, is the co-creator, writer and star of “Broad City,” and she’ll also be seen in “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” which Universal will release next year.

Defa was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces in Independent Film in 2014. He directed the feature-length film “Bad Fever,” which premiered at SXSW in 2011, as well as several short films including “Person To Person,” “Lydia Hoffman Lydia Hoffman,” “Declaration of War” and “Family Nightmare.” The Film Society of Lincoln Center screened a retrospective of his short films this past year.

UTA helped arrange financing and will represent the film along with the law firm of Gray Krauss Stratford Sandler Des Rochers.