Thom Fitzgerald is set to direct an adaptation of novelist Alison Dye's The Sense of Things next summer. The film will be produced by Ireland's Samson Films, producers of the Oscar-winning Once, and Eagle Vision of Canada, producers of the Oscar-winning Capote. Fitzgerald's other titles include The Hanging Garden, Beefcake, The Event and 3 Needles.

Short-listed for the prestigious Whitbread Award, the tragic-comic novel tells of a young woman's redemptive journey from emotional isolation to self-awareness. Irish screenwriter Jackie Mills is handling the adaptation. The script was developed with the financial backing of the Irish Film Board and Manitoba Film and Sound.

Samson Films principal David Collins will produce alongside Eagle Vision's Kyle Irving. Collins' credits include Eden and Asylum; Irving also produced Blue State and last year's TIFF title Walk All Over Me.

The deal was struck between producers and Fitzgerald's agents Vicki McCarty in Los Angeles and Charlotte Rose of Green Light Artist Management in Toronto.