Oscar-winning writer Charlie Kaufman has begun pre-production on his directorial debut "Synecdoche, New York" says Production Weekly.

Philip Seymour Hoffman will play Caden, a theater director who thinks he's dying, and ambitiously attempts to put on a play by creating a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse.

Catherine Keener is set to play his first wife, Michelle Williams will play his second wife, Samantha Morton will appear as Hazel, his sometime lover, and Tilda Swinton will portray Keener's best friend and the dubious mentor to the daughter of Hoffman and Keener's characters.

Ten weeks of principal photography begins May 21st in New York.