Marie's movie to be shot in Arizona in US

A DUNMANWAY woman is gearing up to produce her first largescale movie in Arizona this summer. 

Marie O’Connell describes the film, Roadhead as ‘a modern Thelma and Louise.’

Written and directed by Christa Haley, it is set in the near future after an economic collapse has devastated America. 

New York-based Marie said: ‘We will be filming over six days in Arizona at four different locations with a crew of about 20.

‘This is my first project as executive producer and we are all looking forward to getting the movie underway.’ 

Marie’s grew up with her parents, Jula and Mick O’Connell and her siblings Sarah, Emily, Maitiú and Lena in Johnstown and attended the local national school before moving on to Dunmanway Community School.

‘I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I left school, but I applied for film and television studies at Tralee IT. From there, I got some hands-on experience with post production companies in Ireland and in the US,’ Marie said.

She has been in New York, working for Harbour Picture Company, a full-service production and post-production studio, for the past five years.

She has also worked on a number of productions for HBO and for STARZ.

‘We have already spent a few days in Arizona setting up for the filming later this summer,’ Marie said. 

‘The film has a budget of ,000 and we plan on submitting it to some of the festivals, such as Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca and maybe even the Fastnet Film Festival in 2020.’

Marie gets home to Dunmanway once or twice a year. ‘I would love to come back to West Cork and produce my own film at home. I have a few ideas for a number projects,’ she said.