Zane Phillips and Jelani Alladin to Star in Queer Erotic Thriller ‘Strangers on a Beach’

“Fire Island” actor Zane Phillips and Jelani Alladin of “Fellow Travelers” are set to star in the 1980s-set queer erotic thriller “Strangers on a Beach.

via: Variety

Written and directed by Michael Schwartz (“Snatched”), the film’s official logline reads, “It’s 1983 in San Francisco and a mysterious killer is targeting homosexual men. But Calvin just wants to kiss that handsome stranger.”

“Strangers on a Beach” will have its world premiere at New York’s Big Apple Film Festival in June. Rounding out the cast are Juliana Aidén Martinez (“Griselda”), Jack Falahee (“How to Get Away With Murder”), Nancy Lam (“Miss Saigon”) and Perry Young (“In The Heights”).

Schwartz says the movie was inspired by David Lynch and Brian DePalma’s 1980s noir films. “Studio films of that era often reveled in queer subtext,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “But even between the lines, queerness was frequently coded as danger. That kind of projection carried difficult consequences, as did the concealment of identity. By centering authentically queer voices – all while keeping things scary, sexy and strange – we set out to challenge the biases of both the characters and the audience who watch them.”

“Strangers on a Beach” is produced by Andrew Carlberg (“Skin”) and Nilou Safinya (“Julia Blue”). The film marks the third collaboration between Safinya’s Eyes Up Here Productions and Schwartz’s Boat Ashore Productions. The creative team also includes cinematographer Matthew Pothier (“Mutt”), editor Mike Patterson (“Bulldozer”) and consulting producers Nancy Hult Ganis and Sid Ganis. Executive producers include Erica Berger, Juliana Tyson Kissick & Ryan Kissick, Catherine Steiner-Adair & Fred Adair and Madeline Levine & Lee Schwartz. Co-executive producers include Katie VanderDrift and Edward King III. Co-producers are Ryan Connors and Rebecca Maar.

In addition to many theater credits and his work opposite Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey in “Fellow Travelers,” Alladin appeared in the Netflix movie adaptation of the Jonathan Larson musical, “Tick, Tick…Boom,” with Andrew Garfield. Phillips recently guested on the new Hulu sitcom “Mid-Century Modern.”

Alladin is repped by Buchwald, Amplified, and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson + Christopher, LLP. Phillips is repped by BRS/Gage Talent Agency and Prime Talent Media.

Schwartz, who is repped by Kegan Schell at Navigation Media Group, is out now with his tech thriller feature “Pay Attention!” His half-hour TV comedy series “Senior High,” featured last year on The Red List, is currently in development with Producer Danny Rose (“Scrubs,” “Cougar Town”). He has also worked on Broadway, at Lincoln Center and The Old Vic in London. He is the co-creator of the live variety game show, “That’s a Gay Ass Live Show,” which opened The NY Comedy Festival and played Netflix Is A Joke in 2024 with host Eric Williams and stars Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers, Ana Gasteyer, Margaret Cho, and a rotating cast of LGBTQ+ celebrities and allies.