Douglas, MA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/25/2014 --Robert Picardo, of Star Trek: Voyager fame, has joined the cast of Starrunner Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller, “Occupants”. Russ Emanuel (“Legends of Nethiah”, “P.J.”, “Chasing the Green”), is confirmed to direct, with Howard Nash and Robert Kwartler producing. Script is written by Julia Camara, an award winning writer/filmmaker who penned the sci-fi feature “Area Q” starring Isaiah Washington and “Open Road”, starring Andy Garcia and Juliette Lewis. It is Nash and Emanuel’s fourth feature film collaboration.

“Occupants” is the story of a young couple who stumble upon alternate versions of themselves while surfing the Internet. Their doubles turn out to be evil, and want nothing less than to infiltrate the “normal” world and replace those who inhabit it. For their part, the benign couple must figure out a way to stop them before they succeed, and enlist the help of an old professor (played by Picardo), who is a renowned expert in “physic abnormalities”.

The project was recently launched on the crowd funding site IndieGoGo, and has already raised 93% of its production budget. According to Nash, “the film is a micro-budgeted film, with three principal cast members (including Picardo) operating from within a house”. Notwithstanding the limited locale, the film, says Nash, “is a powerful thriller with shocking surprises”.

The producers are giving away some wonderful goodies in exchange for crowd funding support. They include V.I.P. visits to the set, screen credit, a meeting with Picardo and (on the smaller end), a T-shirt emblazoned with the tag line, “I Helped the Occupants”. Donations can start with as little as $5.00 or $10.00.

Those interested in learning more about the film (and hopefully donating), can visit the site at:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/occupants-act-in-a-film-with-star-trek-s-robert-picardo

Their Facebook page is:
https://www.facebook.com/occupantsthemovie?ref=br_tf

About the Filmmakers
Originally from San Francisco, Russ grew up in both Japan and the United States, garnering an international viewpoint of the world throughout his childhood. After attending the University of Southern California cinema program as well as UCLA Extension film courses, he has made several feature films with his frequent collaborating partner Howard Nash including P.J. starring John Heard, Chasing the Green with actor William Devane, and The Legends of Nethiah with Robert Picardo in a main role. Occupants marks Russ and Howard’s fourth feature film venture together.

Contact:
Howard Nash 917-414-6332
Russ Emanuel 323-356-5554