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Ellen Page will follow up her starring turn in Juno with Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut called Whip It! for Mandate Pictures.

Shooting for the film began in a run down house on South Summit Street in Ypsilanti. The crew of the Drew Barrymore produced movie, took over the house, moving in old furniture and broken down cars. It’s rumored to be the set of the house where several of the roller derby girls live in the film.

The shooting was moved to downtown Ypsilanti and the Wolverine Grill on West Machigan Avenue. The restaurant’s façade was recently painted.

Whip It tells the story about a young girl who becomes involved in woman’s roller derby. The film was supposed to be shot in Austin Texas, where the story takes place, but recent tax incentives offered by Michigan lured the filmmakers here.

Derby Star Shauna Cross, known on the circuit as Maggie Mayhem, wrote the screenplay for the movie.The project, which had originally been set up at Warner Bros with Barrymore’s banner Flower Films, reteams Page with Mandate, the company behind box office and awards season hit Juno.

“I really admire how Drew constantly challenges herself as an artist,” Page said. “She’s proven herself as an actress and a producer, and I have no doubt she’ll bring great vision and creativity to the director’s chair. I can’t wait to kick ass on wheels!”

The 10 million dollar film has already started shooting in August like I said above. Barrymore has been talking about this project for some time now. But Whip It began to coalesce at Mandate after Page expressed interest in the script.

“I’ve been working toward the goal of directing my entire life,” Barrymore said. ” ‘Whip It!’ is a story that really spoke to me.”