Coming off of the success of his last movie, Joe's Package, a comedy in the tradition of "The Cat Came Back", director Martin Dudzik was looking for a drama to direct. Through an aide, he had received the plot synopsis of Serebriakov's "Calendar Leaves". Serebriakov had written it in the previous year, in response to a cruel practical joke he had witnessed. A month later, on the patio of a Starbucks on Vancouver's East side, the contract that brought Calendar Leaves to life was signed.