* Director: Soo Lyu * Writers: Soo Lyu, Edward Stanulis * Producer: Edward Stanulis * Cinematographer: D. Gregor Haney

It’s lucky for director Soo Lyu that she has a friend in the massage business. If she hadn’t happened to know a fellow who, as chance would have it, owned a ‘full service’ adult establishment in Toronto, the young filmmaker might not have come up with the idea for her first feature.

‘He’d complain that the massage parlor girls, his girls, boss him around,’ she explains. ‘That really goes against the stereotype. We’re taught to believe that sex workers are victims and that the owner is some sort of pimp-type figure.’

‘I found out he was telling the truth and that the girls were really calling the shots,’ adds Lyu. ‘If you don’t have the girls, you don’t have the clients, so the boss really needs to cater to the girls’ needs.’

The idea materialized into Rub & Tug, a comedy starring Don McKellar (Last Night) as the new manager of an erotic massage parlor staffed by three sexy masseuses. Kira Clavell (Voyage of the Unicorn) costars alongside Tara Spencer-Narin (New Waterford Girl) and Lindy Booth (Century Hotel). The film is produced by Toronto-based Willow Pictures, which Lyu co-owns with producer Edward Stanulis, and plays at TIFF in the Perspective Canada program.

Lyu and Stanulis recalled the ups and downs of the production in a recent conference call.

1997 to 1998: Lyu researches the massage business, talking to and, later, taping interviews with parlor workers around Toronto. She approaches Stanulis – with whom she worked on her award-winning shorts The Woodcutter and His Bride and 23 Morrow – with the idea.

Early 1999: The pair begin to write the script, originally as a story of female empowerment but eventually drifting further into comedy. ‘It was a learning process,’ says Stanulis. ‘We took some wrong turns along the way, as any writer does with their first feature.’

June 2000: A 150-page draft is finished, with McKellar in mind for the role of Conrad.

July to September 2000: A lengthy courting of McKellar begins when Stanulis and Lyu show him the script. ‘We know he’s a very hands-on artist that likes to be familiar with the material. We met with him on two or three different occasions and each time he provided notes on the character,’ Stanulis recalls.

Fall 2000: The script gets a ‘final, final touchup.’

January 2001: The $300,000 project applies for Telefilm Canada money, taking advantage of the newly announced Low Budget Independent Feature Film Assistance Program. Included in the proposal is a five-minute short, edited by Lyu from her research footage, of interviews with parlor workers. Stanulis believes the powers-that-be are impressed by this ‘very powerful, very emotional’ footage.

February 2001: Telefilm writes a cheque for $150,000. Stanulis also shows the script to both The Movie Network and Movie Central and, within three weeks, secures presales to both for a total of $100,000.

March to April 2001: Casting begins, and Lyu and Stanulis want non-professional actors, preferably actual parlor workers, to play the three masseuses. This idea is abandoned after auditioning 50 non-actors.

June to July 2001: Casting director Millie Tom is hired, along with DOP D. Gregor Haney and line producer Eric Robertson. The production also takes advantage of the short-lived ACTRA experiment CLIPP – the Canadian Low-Budget Incentive for Performers and Producers. The program allows cash-poor shoots to pay union members on a sliding scale based on the production budget. The principal cast gets $114 a day.

But McKellar, busy with a local stage production, still hasn’t said yes or no. As the crew prepares for an August shoot, Lyu and Stanulis twist his arm with gifts. ‘Everyday for two weeks we sent him a bouquet of flowers,’ he says. ‘Then we figured he’d be bored with flowers so we started sending wine with notes like, ‘We don’t mean to whine, but we really need an answer.’ We sent him truffles that said ‘We hate to truffle you….”

August 2001: Shortly after his cigars and champagne arrive, and one week before shooting is due to start, McKellar accepts the part. Because the project is now using union actors, Stanulis asks Telefilm for more money and is given another $50,000.

Shooting runs for 24 days in Toronto’s west end. Days run 12 hours because of CLIPP restrictions. Meanwhile, Stanulis starts shopping the project around to distributors such as Seville Pictures, Odeon, Mongrel Media and Lions Gate.

September 2001: Shooting wraps and the movie goes into post, with Daniel Palmer as editor and Saul Pincus as supervising editor.

February 2002: A screening is held for all the prospective distributors, and a deal struck with Seville.

September 2002: Rub & Tug debuts at TIFF, to be followed by a screening at Cinefest in Sudbury, ON.

Oct. 18, 2002: The film is tentatively scheduled for release in Toronto, later rolling out to other Canadian cities.