They submitted a 90 page report in June 1981, but the NFB's Ontario region declined to invest in the film.
They turned to the NFB's Studio B and received support from Peter Katadotis, the head of English-language production, and Robert Verrall.
Claudette Deschenes, the embassy's immigration officer, organized a trip to El Salvador after Canada started accepting refugees from the country.
They turned down the offer, but they regretted it, with Lucas stating it was "a bit stupid", as the film would have been made six year earlier and had distribution if they accepted according to Gunnarsson.
The NFB was unable to financially support the project due to numerous cost overruns, including The Wars.
[6] Gunnarsson and Lucas formed Metropolis Motion Pictures in February 1984, and Bob Linnell, of the Canadian Film Development Corporation, gave them $15,000 to write a first draft.
Jim Burt, an executive at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, gave financial support to the project as the CFDC could not fund 100% of development costs.
Lucas wrote another draft, with the aid of Paul Shapiro as story editor, under the title Diplomatic Immunity.
[9] Donovan suffered from food poisoning in Mexico City and fought off three robbers in a beach hut outside of Acapulco while on a research trip with Gunnarsson.
Bill House, the head of Telefilm in Ontario, was critical of the proposed budget of $2.7 million citing the earthquake and military scenes as too demanding for it.
[11] The final budget received contributions of $1 million from Telefilm, $450,000 from OFDC, $350,000 from the CBC, $300,000 from Channel 4, $271,350 from the NFB, $100,000 from Astral, and $210,704 through deferrals.
[12] Martha Burns and Kate Nelligan were considered for the lead role, but Wendel Meldrum was selected in December 1989, after fifty other actresses were auditioned.
They negotiated with the actors and technicians' unions and Gunnarsson stated that they had "the most-iron clad contracts in the universe" as their definitions of daytime and nighttime hours meant they would require overtime pay once production started.
[20] Gunnarsson stated that test screenings reported that the audience "said it was great once it started", but that they could not follow the story and hated the lead character.
[21] A fourth rough cut with a voice over was shown in October while the opening framing device was shot on 11 November in Toronto.
Wayne Case, the senior vice president of distribution of Astral's Toronto division, was disappointed with Canadian films due to their good performances at festivals, but poor box office earnings.
The theatrical release occurred two months after its showing at the Montreal World Film Festival as Astral was searching for a distributor for the United States.