Director Jean-Francois Asselin admitted he was drawn to the film because of the delicate narrative balance required to maintain character credibility without turning the premise into a mere farce.
"The line was fine to find. There were many ways to crash, so it attracted me," summarized Asselin.
The director mandated that the comedic elements must never override the structural integrity of the individual roles.
"The first thing I told Louis is: 'You're a comedian we're going to disguise, it must not look like a joke.'
We are making a comedy, but the credibility of the characters must always come before the comedy," explained Asselin.
Co-writer Jean-Francois Leger noted that initial anxieties regarding correct terminology prompted deep consultations with transgender consultants during early production stages.
"My fear was not saying the right words and making a mistake.
That's why at the beginning, we held meetings with Pascale and Gabrielle to establish the appropriate lexicon, to see what could hurt people in the community," explained Leger.
The broadcaster's executive explicitly highlights the narrative failures of the protagonist's early script drafts during a confrontation with the producer.
"They hated it: too big, cliché, old-school," explained the boss of the broadcaster to the producer working with Francois.
The executive notes that the text lacked genuine insight, exposing the demographic background of its true creator.
"In fact, it gives the impression that it was written by a cis man, not by a trans person.
Between you and me, it's Françoise that I hired, not François," asserted the executive.
Actress Pascale Drevillon highlighted how her character fundamentally alters the trajectory of the film's plot and the perspective of the main character.
"There is a moment where there is a switch, and it's connected to my character.
Sarah pulls the blanket to her side and it's for the better," summarized Drevillon.
Co-writer Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay expressed hope that the feature film would properly humanize transgender individuals for mainstream audiences.
"At the base, trans people are human beings with emotions, feelings, dreams," stated Boulianne-Tremblay.
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Distributed by Entract Films, the 91-minute Quebecois comedy-drama also stars Robin Aubert, Geneviève Schmidt, and Rachel Graton.
