Indianapolis is backdrop for new film-WEB ONLY

Cameras are set to roll downtown next month when a local production company begins filming its first motion picture.

Adrenaline Motion Pictures LLC wrote and financed the independent feature film “Amanda.” Production is expected to begin April 13 and last about four months.

Steve Marra, an Indianapolis native who founded the company in 2005, said most of the movie will be set in downtown Indianapolis and will use several locations on Massachusetts Avenue and Alabama Street as backdrops.

The movie features Randy Ryan, whose credits include “Public Enemies” with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, and Ashleigh Hubbard, who appeared in “American Pie Presents Beta House.” Relative newcomer Ariana Dubynin is cast as Amanda.

Marra wrote the script and will direct the film. Business partner Mark Agee is co-producing it.

“We’ve got very high-caliber talent and a high-caliber crew,” he said.

Marra is confident the film will attract major distribution in theaters and a DVD deal with a large distributor.

Its budget is less than $500,000 and is financed by a consortium of several undisclosed local investors.

Although the film’s budget is not enough to entice Marra to seek state tax incentives, the state began offering a 15-percent tax credit last July for production companies that spend money on projects in Indiana.

Marra is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and spent 12 years in Los Angeles before returning to Indianapolis. He has written eight scripts and plans to develop several of them under the Adrenaline name.