Of baseball and Blue Devils

By Jennifer Miller

Besides a first career in professional baseball, filmmaker Richey Nash doesn’t have much in common with Jimmy “Rip” Ripley, the anti-hero of his award-winning screenplay Hitting the Cycle. But thanks to Lexington Legends President Alan Stein’s offer for the film production to use facilities at Applebee’s Park, Nash shares at least one more story line with his alter ego: nurturing his hometown roots.

“The Lexington Legends and Applebee’s Park have always been about two things: fun and making the community better,” Stein said. “ When the opportunity came up to participate with our friend Richey Nash in his film project, we jumped at the chance because it will be fun for our fans around Central Kentucky to see their hometown ballpark, and it will help extend the brand of both the Legends and Lexington.”

Stein said his staff is excited to be part of “this wonderful project.”

“No doubt Hitting the Cycle will be a home run for all of us,” he added.

Like Stein, Nash is an alumnus of Henry Clay High School.  Following in the footsteps of his father (UK basketball great Charles “Cotton” Nash), Richey played both basketball and baseball in college, attending Princeton University, where he also earned a degree in Psychology.  After graduation, Nash was drafted by the San Diego Padres and played a few seasons in the minor leagues.  He went abroad for a year as a player-coach in Italy, then moved to New York City to start a career in theater.  Now based in Los Angeles, Nash has enjoyed successes on stage, in film, and in network television.

In 2005, Nash began to stretch beyond his award-winning work as an actor.  In addition to writing several screenplays, Nash launched Tall Tales Productions to create independent film projects.  Most recently, Nash wrote, produced, and directed the dramatic short Universal Remote, which was screened at film festivals across the country (including Louisville’s Bluegrass Independent Film Festival).

Already in Lexington for pre-production, Nash plans to begin filming Hitting the Cycle in early August at locations throughout Central Kentucky. Key scenes in the film take place at Applebee’s Park, with “Rip” on the Lexington Legends roster. Hoping to make it back to the Major Leagues, Rip is instead cut from the team. Reluctantly, he returns home after an absence of more than 15 years to face his estranged family, tackle his inner demons, and discover a life beyond the diamond.

Jimmy “Rip” Ripley, the anti-hero of the award-winning screenplay Hitting the Cycle.

Nash’s very different homecoming for Hitting the Cycle will create a ripple effect in the Central Kentucky filmmaking community. Stein points out advantages for students and alumni of the Filmmaking Certificate Program at Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC), where Stein serves on the BCTC Foundation’s Board of Directors:  “One of the byproducts of supporting a project like this is the continuation of exposing so many of our local folks to the process of filmmaking.”

Stein said he is convinced that a budding film industry in Central Kentucky can become a huge economic engine for the community.

“The more our company can support these efforts, the better,” he said. “The more experience we can give to the young people interested in the industry, the better chance we have of making this a success for Lexington and the surrounding communities.”

This summer’s production will also offer local actors the opportunity to broaden their experience.  Nash explained, “From an industry standpoint, it’s always beneficial to cast a few known actors from LA or New York in your film.  ‘Name’ talent can help immensely in the eventual marketing and sale of an independent project such as ours.  But there are close to 30 principal roles in Hitting the Cycle, and over half of these will be cast in Lexington and the surrounding areas.  So we’re very excited about finding and working with local talent, which seems to be in abundance here.”

While Rip Ripley has reservations about reconnecting with contacts from the high school where he never earned a diploma, Nash has actively courted multiple generations of Henry Clay Blue Devils for his film project.  Veteran film editor Harry B. Miller III, based in LA since the 1980s, signed onto Hitting the Cycle after having worked with Nash on short films.  Miller then recruited his screenwriting collaborator and brother, John Winn Miller, a former foreign correspondent, investigative journalist, and daily newspaper editor and publisher—and a Henry Clay classmate of Alan Stein’s.

This summer, many more Lexingtonians will get the chance to join Nash’s team on-camera and behind-the-scenes.  For more information about Hitting the Cycle, visit the film’s official website at www.HTCmovie.com or e-mail info@HTCmovie.com.  Even Tates Creek Commodores are welcome to apply.

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Jennifer Miller (jenniferbethmiller@insightbb.com) is a Lexington attorney and community activist, and the Cruise Director of March Madness Marching Band.  She is also the most recent HCHS Blue Devil (and Miller) to join Nash’s production team.