Neil Turitz makes his directing debut with The Two Ninas, a romantic comedy about a hapless, young New York writer whose total lack of luck in love changes when two women fall for him at the same time.

Marty (Swingers' Ron Livingston) takes a fall for snooty Nina Harris (Amanda Peat) by rollerblading straight into the cab door she's just opened; he later begins a romance with Nina Cohen (Cara Buono) by growling at her at a party. Soon Marty's deep into it with both Ninas to the confoundment of his best friend Dave, a womanizer who's so used to being called heartless he can't quite fathom his own sudden interest in Carrie, Nina Cohen's best friend.

Turitz, 27, adapted The Two Ninas from a novel he wrote two years ago. A staff writer for Us magazine and film critic for CNN's "Saturday Morning," Turitz had Buono, a friend, and Peet attached but was otherwise operating on his own last spring. He turned down an offer on an option to produce the film at the $2-million level contingent on a director with a reel; Turitz had none. Three days later, he met 25-year-old Denise Doyle, an assistant at Miramax. Doyle introduced Turitz to Greg Scheinman, 24, who had also cut his teeth at Miramax and left to become FEDS' assistant location manager in '95 and later a commercial producer with Bob Giraldi's company.

Turitz quit Us to rewrite while Doyle and Scheinman started raising money for a 16mm shoot. Cameras rolled in October with Joaquin Baca-Asay, who shot Buono's short Baggage, as cinematographer. Doyle's close friend, Puddle Cruiser director Jay Chandrasekhar, who was waiting for a green light on his next film, agreed to edit The Two Ninas in the meantime. All rights are available.

Cast: Ron Livingston, Bray Poor, Cara Buono, Amanda Peet, Linda Larkin, Jill Hennessy, Fred Norris, John Rothman. Crew: Producers, Denise Doyle, Greg Scheinman; Screenwriter/Director, Neil Turitz; Cinematographer, Joaquin Baca-Asay; Production Designer, Tony Gasparro; Editor, Jay Chandrasekhar; Associate Producer, Dave McGuire, Doug Turner. Contact: Denise Doyle, The Nina Project, 6 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011. Tel/Fax: (212) 352-0230.

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