Michael Pate was a neighbour of Robert McKie, who wrote the novel. Pate optioned it and tried to find a writer to adapt it into a screenplay but ended up doing it himself. The budget was raised from the Australian Film Commission, GUO Film Distributors and the Bundaberg Sugar Company; the latter invested a third of the total sum. The budget was originally $650,000 but production of the film was delayed by 12 months by which time inflation meant it had risen to $800,000.