Principal photography on Irish feature film ‘The Hit Producer’ is nearing completion in Dublin, with Michelle Doherty starring in her first lead role.
The crime thriller began production last September, with Doherty playing a struggling film producer called Katelin Ballantyne, who stumbles into Dublin’s criminal underworld in search of an investor for a film. After being blackmailed into killing targets for two years by a criminal gang, one fatal mistake exposes her identity, and leaves her and her family in danger.
The feature is former radio presenter Doherty’s first starring role, having previously appeared in Lenny Abrahamson’s ‘What Richard Did’ and TV mini-series ‘The Lancaster Miller Affair’.
‘The Hit Producer’ marks director Kevin de la Isla O'Neill's feature film debut. He has previously written and directed a number of shorts including ‘Claudia’ and ‘Hope’.
Principal photography has been ongoing since late September, and is expected to wrap next week.
Niall Queenan has written the script for the feature, with de la Isla O'Neill serving as producer. Barrie Dowdall (Ned Kelly: The True Story) is the executive producer and Jass Foley is the director of photography.
As well as Doherty, principal cast is made up of a host of successful Irish actors, including Neill Fleming (Portrait of a Zombie), Fergus Kealy (Camelot), Karl Shiels (Titanic: Blood and Steel), Rory Mullen (Hunger), Ed Beausang (Loose Change), Tom Maguire (Hysteria), Paul Gosker (Cannon Fodder), Bryan Baker and Susan Barrett (Convict Women).
Shooting has taken place in Dublin, Kells and Kilkenny.
The feature is being made on a budget of just €18,000, with the production team seeking funds from a crowdsourcing website.
De la Isla O'Neill will edit the feature in post-production. The film is slated for a 2013 release.