Starstruck

Two Liverpool teenage girls, obsessed with a young premiership footballer, lure him to a caravan for a night of passion – but things don’t play out quite how they imagine.

IN 2002 WRITER LEIGH CAMPBELL wrote Unhinged, which became one of Northwest Vision and Media’s most commercially successful digital-short films. The following year she won the Screen England national pitching competition for her feature, Big Stella, Little Stella at the Cannes International Film Festival.

ANDY STEBBING has been working on films as a Line Producer with some of the UK’s leading Directors and Producers. Most recently he worked on the Film Four adaptation of Monica Ali’s book, Brick Lane and was Production Manager on the BBC hit feature, Tomorrow La Scala! Starstruck will be his first film as a Producer.

LINDY HEYMANN graduated from Central/St Martins after completing a BA in Fine Art/Film and was soon commissioned to direct her first documentary, 3 Hours In High Heels In Heaven, for Channel 4. She went on to direct music videos, winning a Creative Futures Award for most promising newcomer. She has directed over one hundred music videos, working with artists such as The Charlatans, Suede, Leftfield, Terry Hall, Faithless, Ronan Keating and Paul McCartney. In 2003 she co-wrote and directed a faux-documentary feature film, Showboy, in America, which was released in 2004, picking up a BIFA Award for Best Directorial Debut and Best Picture at the Milan Independent Film Festival. She recently completed Service, a 30-minute comedy drama for Channel 4.

LIVERPOOL CO-PRODUCER STEPHEN CHEERS has 15 years experience as a Location and Production Manager and 1st Assistant Director, and recently achieved his first credit as a Producer. He is a published columnist and in the 1990s edited the listings section of the Liverpool magazine What Goes On. His last credit as a Line Producer was for Awaydays, and previously he’s worked on productions as varied as Bodies, Trial and Retribution and the feature film, Offside.

SYNOPSIS AND BACKGROUND

“Starstruck is a story about two teenage girls who become obsessed by a young premiership footballer. The film is about society’s obsession with celebrity,” explains Leigh Campbell.

Although the story was originally written over ten years ago by Laurence Coriat (Wonderland), producer Andy Stebbing was keen to update the script, so he approached Leigh and asked if she would work her magic.

“The story was obviously dated, and didn’t have any connection to Liverpool, so I’ve completely re-written it and adapted the initial idea,” Leigh explains. “It’s now quite a dark drama, which is a complete contrast to the comedy scripts I often write.”

Leigh first began writing scripts eight years ago, with her first success coming in 2002 with a short film, Unhinged, becoming one of Vision and Media’s most commercially successful digital-short films. The following year she won the Screen England national pitching competition for her feature, Big Stella, Little Stella at the Cannes International Film Festival.

That feature has now been optioned, and she has been commissioned to write another once her Digital Departures work is done.

“Vision and Media have always been so supportive of my writing. All the courses I’ve done with the agency over the years have proved to be really useful somewhere along the line, and finally they’ve helped me get to this point. It’s been an amazing experience – although it’s all happened so quickly,” she says.

“I only started working on the Starstruck treatment back in May 2007, and here we are about to go into production – so in film terms, that’s a very quick turnaround.”

Originally, only Leigh and Andy submitted their feature film idea to Digital Departures. When their project was short-listed, however, the search for a director began.

“It was vital that we found the right director to come on board, so were really pleased to find Lindy Heymann,” explains Andy. “She has a very cinematic vision of the film, which is crucial, and she is as passionate about the story as Leigh and I.”

“Lindy also had some quite radical views on how we could improve the treatment and script, so it was great to see that new perspective,” adds Leigh.

Lindy says she was ecstatic to be asked to become a member of the team. “I think Andy was keen to have a female director as he felt the film needed a woman’s perspective, but I know he interviewed a lot of people before they offered me the job,” she says.

As soon as Lindy read the film’s outline, however, she knew she wanted to be involved. “I just completely got it, straight away I knew I wanted to do this film. I think I was probably a little over-zealous at first, phoning Andy all the time, making suggestions and giving him my opinion, but they obviously liked that because they asked me to join the team,” says Lindy.

“Certain projects just hit a chord with you straight away, and this one certainly did with me. It’s so of-the-moment in terms of what is actually going on in Britain, and young people’s obsession with celebrity, yet the idea hasn’t yet been tackled in a film. Starstruck is saying something that has not been said before, and doing it in a way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

“I think it’s going to have a really big audience,” adds Lindy. Producer Andy Stebbing agrees: “Although Leigh’s script stays true to the original story, she’s made it her own and it’s now a very Liverpool film,” he says. Andy admits, though, that he never thought his application to Digital Departures would produce such a brilliant result.

“It was such a competitive scheme, that I honestly didn’t think we’d actually get to the final three,” says Andy. “Having said that, we worked our hearts out on the project, and we pushed and pushed to make things happen, so we’re completely chuffed that we got it. It’s definitely the biggest thing that has ever happened to any of the team, and we’re so grateful to have been given the opportunity.”

Leigh agrees: “I think we make a great team, we’re completely bonded and have a shared vision of how the film will look. Given the time constraints we’ve had to work in, I think we’ve done so much in a short space of time and I can’t wait to see the finished film.

“I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to do with the script, because I think it says a lot about the world we live in,” she adds. The film also says a lot about Liverpool.

“We really want to make a film for Liverpool, and in many ways this film just couldn’t be made anywhere other than in Liverpool. It’s a film which has got a lot of heart, and I’m sure that will shine through,” continues Lindy.

“Now the script is finished we’re looking into casting and crewing, and we’re hoping to be ready to shoot around March or April time. The action in the film actually takes place at Easter, so it would be a nice coincidence if we’re actually filming around that time,” she adds.

“We’re also hoping to involve a lot of Liverpool people in the film as extras – we’ve got quite a few group scenes in nightclubs and bars, so it’d be great if Liverpool people can come along and take part in the scenes.”