According to Tom O'Brien, the pieces are almost in place to shoot the feature comedy Gay Like Me?, but the actor-turned-producer and his partners in Vancouver's Irreverent Media are waiting for soundtrack issues to be cleared up before they give director Bruce McDonald the nod to start rolling.

Gay Like Me?, by writer and costar Michael P. Northey (On the Corner), is about a social worker who rehabilitates a petty hate-criminal while his filmmaking lover documents the process. Tough-guy actor Michael Madsen (Kill Bill) and tough-guy rocker Hugh Dillon (Hard Core Logo) play the couple, and were personally championed for the parts by McDonald.

O'Brien will produce the $4-million, privately financed film with his Irreverent partners Harry Sutherland (ScaredSacred) and Caroline Stern. ThinkFilm is on board as the Canadian distrib.

But first, Irreverent will shoot the feature film The Best Restaurant in the World. Ever sometime this summer. A coproduction with an international partner who was to be announced at this month's Cannes film fest, the romantic comedy is about the patrons of a restaurant on Valentine's Day.

O'Brien, Stern and Sutherland produce, with Monica Mitchell directing the script by Rick Dobran, based on his award-winning play. The cast includes legend Malcolm McDowell, Gina Chiarelli (Da Vinci's Inquest), Bruno Ganz (The Manchurian Candidate) and C.R.A.Z.Y.'s Marc-André Grondin.

The inclusion of Grondin fits with one of the company's key strategies.

"For our English-Canadian projects to succeed, we need to begin bridging the West Coast to Quebec," says O'Brien. "We need to establish relationships there."

The $8.5-million feature has funding from Telefilm Canada, The Harold Greenberg Fund, British Columbia Film, Movie Central and ThinkFilm, and will shoot entirely in Vancouver.

Irreverent is also developing the feature The Light-house from a script by Fredrik Thorsen, and a biopic of legendary NHL goalie Terry Sawchuk.