Starstruck in Liverpool

FEATURE film, Starstruck, has begun shooting across Liverpool, telling the gripping tale of two teenage girls obsessed by celebrity and fame.

Written by Liverpool’s Leigh Campbell (Big Stella, Little Stella), directed by Lindy Heymann (Showboy) and produced by Andy Stebbing (Brick Lane), Starstruck features an exciting ensemble of new acting talent led by Kerry Hayes, Nichola Burley and Jamie Doyle.

Starstruck is the third and final film to be commissioned through the prestigious Digital Departures initiative, devised by screen agency Northwest Vision and Media, works on behalf of the TV, film, radio and digital content industries to grow a world-class media economy in England’s Northwest.

Together with its partners the Liverpool Culture Company, BBC and the UK Film Council, Vision and Media will premiere all three Digital Departures features during Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year.

Starstruck tells the story of two teenage girls who bond over a mutual crush on a footballer. As their friendship develops, the relationship and chemistry between them becomes increasingly powerful, fuelled by their dreams of wanting something out of their reach. When things go too far, their fantasy quickly descends in to a nightmare.

The film features a fresh British cast of newcomers including Kerry Hayes, Nichola Burley and Jamie Doyle.

The filmmaking team is made up of writer Leigh Campbell, established and award-winning director Lindy Heyman, producer Andy Stebbing and co-producer Stephen Cheers. Leigh Campbell previously wrote Unhinged, which became one of Northwest Vision and Media’s most commercially successful digital-short films. In 2003 she won the Screen England national pitching competition for her feature, Big Stella, Little Stella at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Lindy Heymann has directed over one hundred music videos for artists such as The Charlatans, Suede, Leftfield, Terry Hall, Faithless and Paul McCartney. In 2003 she co-wrote and directed her first feature film, Showboy which picked up a BIFA award for Best Directorial Debut and Best Picture at the Milan Independent Film Festival.

Andy Stebbing has worked as a Line Producer with some of the UK’s leading Directors and Producers. Most recently he worked on Film Four’s adaptation of Monica Ali’s book, Brick Lane and was Production Manager on Brothers of the Head, which won the Michael Powell Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2006.

Digital Departures judge Andrew Eaton, Deputy Chairman of the UK Film Council, explained why Starstruck appealed to the judges;

“Starstruck is such a contemporary film, which will attract a very different audience to the other Digital Departures features. It covers controversial subjects involving teenagers, celebrities and football, which will be brilliantly portrayed by the wonderful pairing of Leigh Campbell and Lindy Heymann. Vision and Media have been following and assisting Leigh’s development as a writer for several years, and we’re confident Starstruck will be a fitting testament to her undoubted talent.”

Principal photography on Starstruck will end on 6 May, almost a year to the day since the deadline for the Digital Departures submissions took place. Lisa Marie Russo, Executive Producer of all three Digital Departures films, comments:

“Within twelve months we have processed over 500 initial inquiries, read more than 150 applications, interviewed twenty-five teams and developed six projects to script stage before selecting our final three projects. It’s been an incredibly quick turn-around, in feature film terms, and it’s full credit to the Digital Departures team, and all the filmmakers involved, that we’ve achieved so much in such a short space of time.”

She continues: “The team on Starstruck have done an excellent job of identifying locations that represent both old and new Liverpool, and have created a special world that the lead characters, Nicole and Jasmine, define for themselves. Starstruck promises to be a unique piece of filmmaking and a real testament to Lindy’s modern vision as a director.”

Together with its partners, the Liverpool Culture Company and the UK Film Council, Northwest Vision and Media aims to radically transform the feature film landscape of Liverpool, and the broader Northwest, by harnessing cutting-edge digital technology and micro-budget production methods in each of the three Digital Departures films.

The first of the films to go in to production, Of Time And The City, is now approaching the end of its edit, and should be completed by May. Directed by Terence Davies, Of Time And The City is an abstract, visual poem focusing on the first 28 years of Davies’ life growing up in Liverpool. Combining aural and archive clips, music and poetry, the documentary charts the re-birth of Liverpool up to present day.

Filming recently ended on the second Digital Departures film, Salvage. The horror film follows the physical and psychological journey of its central female character, a mother who is desperate to rescue her daughter and save her from an alleged terrorist threat. It stars Neve McIntosh (Bodies) and Shaun Dooley (Eden Lake) and is written by Colin O’Donnell, directed by Lawrence Gough and produced by Julie Lau.

Each of the three Digital Departures were awarded funding of £250,000 to make their features, and are due to premiere in Liverpool during the 2008 Capital of Culture celebrations.