Lauren Holly and Louis Gossett Jr. are set to star in the indie feature The Least Among You, written and directed by Mark Young. Julia Verdin is producing.

Principal photography began Tuesday in Los Angeles on the film, which centers on a black man named Richard Kelly (newcomer Cedric Sanders), who, after graduating from college and becoming successful in the corporate world, is falsely arrested in the 1965 Watts riots. Kelly faces racial prejudice from professors and students after his agreement to a plea bargain that involves spending two semesters at a seminary.

Holly will play a professor at the seminary who has become a closet drinker after losing her husband and two children while doing missionary work in Africa.

Gossett will play an elderly ex-con who lives in the basement of Kelly's dorm and inspires him to conquer his demons.

William Devane also has been cast as the seminary president who recruits Kelly.