MONTREAL — Producer Kevin Tierney (Bon Cop, Bad Cop) and writer/director Guylaine Dionne (Les Fantômes des Trois Madeleine) are collaborating on Dionne’s second feature, Serveuses demandées, a dramatic film about two strippers. The film, budgeted at $3.8 million, began shooting on Feb. 26 and wraps on March 26 in Montreal.

As Tierney explains it, his connection with Dionne was an unusual one. ‘I was on the jury for the Genies, to decide who would win the Claude Jutra Award several years ago,’ he recalls. ‘And I saw her first feature, Les Fantômes des Trois Madeleine. I could not believe the film and Guylaine were not eligible for that award. Apparently, there had been some mistake in the application process, and the film wasn’t up for the award, which was a shame. So a couple of years later, Guylaine called me up and said, ‘Since you feel I was treated so unfairly, why not produce my next movie?”

The chutzpah worked, with Tierney deciding to back her latest project, a film about two women (Clara Furey and Janaina Suaudeau) who struggle to endure the rather rotten working conditions they face as strippers.

‘I really wanted to produce a film d’auteur,’ Tierney says. ‘And I wanted to do one in French. Other than [my son] Jacob’s film [Jacob Tierney’s Twist], I haven’t been doing auteur films. I wanted to do something along these lines, something really personal and interesting. The script asks some interesting questions: How can people overcome such terrible conditions? How can they move on in life?’

But Tierney cautions that Serveuses demandées is not all gloom and doom: ‘This is a dark tale, but there is a sense of hope in it as well,’ he says.

Tierney says the film would not be happening without the emergency fund that the Quebec Liberal government announced two months ago, that injected an additional $10 million into SODEC coffers to keep various film productions afloat. ‘I call it a miracle fund,’ says Tierney. ‘We really needed it.’

Serveuses demandées also stars Anne Dorval (La vie secrète des gens heureux ) and Colm Feore (Bon Cop, Bad Cop), and is produced by Tierney of Park Ex Pictures. Funding comes from SODEC, with additional funds from Radio-Canada and Super Ecran. Lit by cinematographer Nathalie Moliayko-Visotzky, Serveuses demandées will be released by K-Films Amérique late this year.