‘Shining Vale’: Gus Birney & Dylan Gage Join Courteney Cox & Greg Kinnear In Starz’s Horror Comedy Pilot

Gus Birney (The Mist) and Dylan Gage (PEN15) are set as series regulars opposite Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear in Shining Vale, Starz’s horror-comedy pilot from Divorce creator Sharon Horgan and Trial & Error co-creator Jeff Astrof. The half-hour show hails from Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate in association with Astrof’s Other Shoe Productions, Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment.

Written by Astrof from a story he wrote with Horgan, Shining Vale stems from an idea by Kaplan. It follows a dysfunctional family that moves from the city to a small town into a house in which terrible atrocities have taken place. But no one seems to notice except for Pat (Cox), who’s convinced she’s either depressed or possessed – turns out, the symptoms are exactly the same.

Birney plays Gaynor Phelps, Pat (Cox) and Terry (Kinnear)’s 16-year-old daughter who is going through that awful phase where she’s smarter than everyone and angry at the world—and by the world we mean her mother, whom she (rightfully) blames for uprooting the family from Brooklyn to suburban Connecticut. She spars with Pat over sex, drinking, school, drugs, the weather—everything, really—mostly because she’s exactly like her mom was when Pat was her age. They become even more similar once Pat becomes possessed.

Gage plays Jake Phelps, the Phelps’ pubescent son who is always glued to some sort of screen. He has severe ADHD and OCD so he quickly forgets what he’s obsessing about. Deeply quirky, and deeply sweet, he has his father’s temper which, like everything else about Jake, comes out at the oddest moments. A sensitive soul, Jake attracts other sensitive souls– some of whom died years ago in the house.

Horgan and Mountford executive produce via Merman alongside Astrof through his Other Shoe Productions and Kapital’s Kaplan and Dana Honor. Dearbhla Walsh is set to direct and executive produce the pilot. Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate produce in association with Other Shoe Productions, Merman and Kapital Entertainment.

Birney played the role of Alex in Spike’s Stephen King series The Mist. Her most recent credits include the role of Jane Humphreys in Dickinson and Jade in Insatiable, along with guest roles in The Blacklist, Jessica Jones and Instinct, among others.

Gage most recently played Gabe on Hulu’s PEN15, and he had guest roles on Stranger Things, This Is Us and Creepshow, among others.