First Mutant's Mutant X Warehouse

Pic from Queens University Film Studies

Playback Magazine 9/19/93: Tom McCamus

I Love a Man in Uniform
by: Etan Vlessing Sep 13, 1993

October 1991: Wellington and Brown formally ask Telefilm and the ofdc for production funds, submitting the fourth draft of the script. They know they are asking the funding bodies to give them more money than normally handed out to first-time directors. But they feel a large budget is required.

December 1991: The ofdc answers yes to production funding. Telefilm does the same in February 1992. "So we got drunk and hunkered down," says Wellington.

February-April 1992: Preproduction on I Love a Man in Uniform begins. The budget is $1.82 million. More than half the film is to be shot at night, and will feature just over 50 speaking parts. Casting director Susan Forrest brings in actors to play the lead, Henry Adler. Tom McCamus (Beautiful Dreamers), her first suggestion, eventually lands the part.

May-June 1992: Principal shooting takes place over six weeks, with Montreal-based David Franco as dop. Wellington says the production crew worked for less than they usually work for, and much less than they are worth.

Wellington identifies with Henry Adler so much that he has his hair cut like McCamus and has the actor wear the director's own glasses, carry his briefcase and live in an apartment much like his own.

Finally, when the final day of shooting ends, an exhausted Wellington returns home, falls ill and sleeps for three days straight.

July-September 1992: Susan Shipton conducts editing over 14 weeks. Frequent screenings to the film's investors gather their comments. Norman Jewison of the Canadian Film Centre offers his own recommendations as fine-tuning continues.

October 1992: Jane Tattersal begins the audio, which takes six weeks in all to complete.

December 1992-January 1993: The film is mixed.

March 1993: The final work is delivered to distributors Alliance Releasing and Alliance International.

April 1993: I Love a Man in Uniform is submitted for consideration by Directors' Fortnight programmers at the Cannes Film Festival. Then the phone call comes from Alliance: "We're in!"

May 1993: Alliance hires a publicist in Cannes who plasters the Croissette with posters announcing the screening times and locations for I Love a Man In Uniform. "They were everywhere, and this is where Alliance is tops," says Wellington.

Organizers have to turn 600 people away for the film's second screening. "I came out of my hotel and saw this big lineup, and thought, could this be possible? So I asked someone what they were there to see."

The resulting buzz produces a host of foreign sales at Cannes for Alliance, and festival offers for Wellington.

Says Raffe: "David got a taste of what it's like for an audience to love your film. That's taught him a lot."

June 1993: Wellington and Brown win four awards at an Italian film festival. "Had a great week, cleaned up," he says.

August 1993: Wellington and Brown screen their work at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

September 1993: I Love a Man in Uniform opens the Perspective Canada series with a gala screening at the Festival of Festivals.

© Playback Magazine

Return to The Mutant X Warehouse