Irish Film: The Hit Producer wins big at The IndieFEST Film Awards

Great news from The IndieFEST Film Awards, where Kevin de la Isla O’Neill, of Hit Producer Films, has won eight prestigious Awards of Excellence. The awards were given for Kevin de la Isla O’Neill’s innovative feature film, The Hit Producer, which is currently on the festival circuit seeking a distributor to bring it to an international audience.

The Awards of Excellence given to The Hit Producer are for: Feature Film, Directing, Cinematography, Script/Writer, Editing, Best Actress (Michelle Doherty), Best Actor (Neill Fleming) and Title/Credit Design.

The Hit Producer tells the story of Katelin Ballantine (Michelle Doherty), a struggling movie producer in search of an investor, who reluctantly follows the promise of money into Dublin’s drug underworld where she witnesses a botched murder attempt. Forced to finish the job, she is blackmailed into killing for Edmund Murren (Neill Fleming), a small time, ruthless drug supplier hell bent on becoming top dog. Two years later, Katelin has put a who’s who list of drug bosses six feet under and uses her producer role to maintain a low profile. But, when a seemingly simple job unexpectedly spirals out of control, and her identity becomes known to Murren’s remaining ambitious and vengeful rivals, she is cut loose. Now the target, and with family in the line of fire, Katelin must adapt to survive the onslaught of the drug underworld as the thin veil masking her double life slips away.

The film also stars Fergus Kealy, Rory Mullen, Aenne Barr, Karl Shiels, Andy Kellegher, Susan Barrett, Blake Norton, Bryan Baker, and Eoin Quinn. The film was shot entirely in Ireland on a crowd-funded production budget of €18,000, with Mutiny Recording Studios and Screenscene making contributions during post-production.

Speaking on the win Kevin de la Isla O’Neill had this to say: [quote]After such hard and enduring work by all of us involved, it’s fantastic to get this prestigious recognition. These IndieFEST awards are proof of the blood, sweat and tears we’ve shed to get this far and a hopeful glimpse of future opportunities to shed some more.[/quote]

Scriptwriter Niall Queenan added: [quote]It’s very exciting to see the years of hard work put in by the entire team result in a film that generates such an enthusiastic, positive response.[/quote]

Actress Michalle Doherty chimed in [quote]I’m absolutely thrilled to receive this award, it was totally unexpected as this was my first lead role so very much appreciated[/quote], while actor Neill Fleming was keen to emphasis the work of the creative team [quote]This is huge, winning this. Couldn’t have done it without the help of the whole team, from Director, cast, DOP, everyone. Hopefully Murren comes across as human, and not just a vaudevillian Rottweiler.[/quote]

Thomas Baker, Ph.D., member of The IndieFEST Film Awards honorary judging committee, had this to say about the latest winners, [quote]The Indie is not an easy award to win. Entries are received from around the world. The Indie helps set the standard for craft and creativity. The judges were pleased with the exceptionally high quality of entries. The goal of The Indie is to help winners achieve the recognition they deserve.[/quote]

The IndieFEST is an international competition that recognizes film professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity, and those who produce standout entertainment or contribute to profound social change. Entries are judged by highly qualified professionals in the film industry. Many filmmakers who have been awarded honours at the IndieFEST have gone on to win Oscars and Emmys.

Information about The IndieFEST and a list of recent winners can be found at theindiefest.com. In winning an Indie, Kevin de la Isla O’Neill and Hit Producer join the ranks of other high-profile winners of this globally respected award.