Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Locally filmed, produced ‘Hitting the Cycle’
to debut in Lexington at Kentucky Theater

A baseball movie filmed in Lexington and written by a Lexington native will make its Lexington debut Thursday.

Hitting the Cycle is the story of Jimmy “Rip” Ripley, a former major leaguer dealing with a return to his hometown as his baseball career comes to an end. It will be shown for the first time in Lexington on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kentucky Theater, 214 E. Main St. Other showings will take place at the Kentucky through Sunday.

Official "Hitting The Cycle" movie poster

Lexington native J. Richey Nash portrays the lead character of Rip in Hitting the Cycle. Now based in Los Angeles, Nash also wrote, produced and co-directed the film (along with Darin Anthony). Oscar-nominated actor Bruce Dern plays Rip’s father.

Though many of the film’s stars and primary crew members are Hollywood-based, Nash decided to bring the production to Lexington because of the diversity of available filming locations and the growing number of production and talent resources (Kentuckians comprise two-thirds of the cast and crew). The opening scenes from Hitting the Cycle take place at readily recognizable Lexington venues, most notably the ballpark of the Lexington Legends, the popular local Minor League Baseball team. The remainder of the story unfolds in “Sayreville,” Rip’s fictional hometown. Shooting locations included public parks, private homes, bars, restaurants, a high school and several University of Kentucky hospital buildings.

Hitting the Cycle screened at the 10-day Manhattan Film Festival in late June, and won the Best Dramatic Feature Film award at a ceremony on July 1. Hitting the Cycle previously won an award in May at the Tupelo Film Festival in Mississippi.

The film has won several awards at festivals around the nation, including Best Dramatic Feature Film at the 2012 Manhattan Film Festival in New York. Recently, editors Harry B. Miller III and Michael Lim were honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award in Editing at the Williamsburg International Film Festival in Brooklyn. Read more about the film here.

“We’re really excited about the premiere of Hitting the Cycle,” said Legends General Manager Seth Poteat, “and the awards the film has already won only add to the anticipation.”