Director Lindy Heymann and producer Andy Stebbing have started principal photography on Starstruck, shooting on location in Liverpool.

Leigh Campbell wrote the script about two teenage girls obsessed by a celebrity footballer.

The cast features newcomers Kerry Hayes, Nichola Burley and Jamie Doyle.

The project is the third and final film to be comissioned through Northwest Vision & Media's Digital Departures scheme.

Starstruck will wrap on May 6.

That initiative, also backed by Liverpool Culture Company, BBC and the UK Film Council, has previously funded Terence Davies' Of Time And The City and Lawrence Gough's Salvage.

All three films will be premiered in Liverpool as part of the 2008 Capital of Culture celebrations. Each film gets about $500,000 in feature funding.

Lisa Marie Russo, executive producer of all the Digital Departures films, said: 'The team on Starstruck have done an excellent job of identifying locations that represent both old and new Liverpool, and have created a special world that the lead characters, Nicole and Jasmine, define for themselves. Starstruck promises to be a unique piece of filmmaking and a real testament to Lindy's modern vision as a director.'

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