Alec Baldwin Joins Cast of Occupy Drama ‘The Public’

Actor Alec Baldwin has joined a cast of young talent in The Public, a drama about an Occupy-style protest that quickly turned into a police standoff between protesters and city officials in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The film follows a 2011 incident involving a group of Occupy protesters who, after squatting for weeks, refused to leave the city’s Piatt Park. The incident resulted in a standoff involving city officials and Cincinnati Public Library officials, who objected to protesters using the building as shelter. The incident ended with more than 200 citations being issued.

the public (stylized in lower-case letters) is being directed by Emilio Estevez, who also wrote the script and co-stars, and is set to begin filming in Cincinnati, Ohio in mid-January.

Baldwin plays a crisis negotiator brought in to quell the standoff, according The Wrap.

The film also stars The Hunger Games’ Jena Malone, who along with Estevez play a pair of librarians caught in the middle of the crisis. Taylor Schilling of Orange is the New Black fame and rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith round out the cast.

Lisa Niedenthal, Estevez’s longtime producing partner, along with Alex Lebovici and Steve Ponce of Oriah Entertainment, and Michael Bien of Cedarvale Pictures are funding the film. No domestic distributor has yet been announced.

 

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson