Final Australian cinema movie before Aussie director Bruce Beresford went to the USA and Hollywood to make feature films starting with Tender Mercies (1983) though Beresford does return to make Australian films from time to time such as The Fringe Dwellers (1986) and Sydney: A Story of a City (1999) or Australian international co-productions such as Black Robe (1991) and Paradise Road (1997).
After Bruce Beresford read the film's source novel by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey Beresford says he went and located co-authoress Kathy Lette to find out who owned the rights and was told that it was producer Joan Long.