Montreal – Prom Wars, a teen sex comedy about two boys schools battling for the attention of a girls school, is going to stand out from the other recent entries in its genre, according to Brandi-Ann Milbradt of Montreal’s Philms Pictures.

‘It’s not a gross-out comedy,’ she says of the $1.7-million production that recently wrapped in Montreal. ‘It’s a smart comedy in the spirit of Rushmore or Election. So many teen comedies seem to be cheesy or hammy today. We didn’t want to talk down to our teen audience with this film at all.’

Milbradt – who coproduces with Colin Neale (The Boys of St. Vincent) of Les Productions Colin Neale – says the idea came from screenwriter Myles Hainsworth, who also penned Philms’ Hatley High and Summer.

‘Myles and I had worked together before, and I loved the idea of doing a teen comedy in a way that was a bit different,’ says Milbradt. ‘I thought the script was very smart from the first moment I read it.’

Milbradt is also psyched about her cast, a mix of Canadian and American actors including Raviv Ullman (Driftwood, Growing Up Brady), Rachelle Lefevre (Fugitive Pieces), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), and newcomer Kevin Coughlin.

‘I was just so amazed at how fantastic everyone in the cast was,’ she says. ‘I mean, we are talking young actors, but actors who had impeccable comic timing and wisdom far beyond their years. Just incredible.’

Philms founder Phil Price (Hatley High, The Festival) directs and exec produces. Prom Wars is lit by Michel St. Martin (Radio), with Mark Gabriel doing production design.