Hitting the Nuts

The next few days promise to be an exciting time for some local filmmakers here in Cincinnati, Ohio. After almost two years of hard work, the locally-produced film, Hitting the Nuts, will have it’s world premier on October 9, 2010, at 8 p.m. at Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The premier is part of the week-long Cincinnati Film Festival. Tickets are currently available but going fast. Two other dates are also scheduled during the festival at the Esquire Theater located near the University of Cincinnati. Tickets are available for October 11 at 7 p.m. and October 12 at 5 p.m.

Hitting the Nuts is a mocumentary in the tradition of A Mighty Wind or For Your Consideration. Hollywood Casino is an appropriate location for the premier because the film’s plot revolves around an illegal Texas hold’um card game that takes place at a morgue in Scott County Indiana. Most of the film was shot right here in Cincinnati, which served as a backdrop for the Indiana locations.

The movie features an odd assortment of characters who, for one reason or another, must win this tournament. It is an offbeat comedy featuring some of the best improv actors from the Los Angeles area. Joe Boyd, the teaching pastor at Community Vineyard Church in Springdale, Ohio, wrote and directed the film. Boyd also stars in the movie as the Amish farmer is a veteran of the film industry and has worked in improv in the comedy clubs in Los Angeles. He also had an on-going role in the daytime soap opera, General Hospital. The idea for Hitting the Nuts originated while Boyd worked in Los Angeles. But it wasn’t until he moved back to Cincinnati that all of the pieces fell together.

Joining Boyd in the production of Hitting the Nuts are Vineyard staffers Isaac Stambaugh, the line producer for the film, and Brad Wise, who served as one of the producers. Mark Denny, the Director of Photography, helped to make Hitting the Nuts look like a film having a more substantial budget.

Several other people involved with the project attend the Vineyard church. Most volunteered their time and their talents to make the project possible. Our own Media Missionary School’s host, Bekka Prewitt, was the film’s first assistant director.

Hitting the Nuts was shot in August of 2009 with a budget approaching nearly $200,000. The film was one of the most substantial projects shot in Cincinnati in some time. The producers are hoping that this is the beginning of a film industry here in Cincinnati as they plan to produce several more films here in the local area. They also expect to secure a distribution deal with Rivercoast Distribution during the Cincinnati Film Festival. This could put Hitting the Nuts in a theater near you. Expect a DVD release as well.

For ticket prices and information, go online at cincyfilmfest.com.