Rosie Lourde and Cindy Busby on the set of Romance on the Menu.

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Romance on the Menu, the new romantic comedy from The Steve Jaggi Company has commenced shooting this week in Brisbane and surrounds.

This feel-good, culinary rom-com is directed by Rosie Lourde (Deadhouse Dark, Breach, Starting from Now) and written by Casie Tabanou and Alison Spuck (Back of the Net).

Canadian actor Cindy Busby, known for her work on the hit series Heartland and a suite of successful movies for the Hallmark Channel, stars alongside Australian actors Tim Ross (Wonderland, Home and Away), Naomi Sequeira (The Evermoor Chronicles, Rip Tide), Marita Wilcox (Jack Irish, Neighbours), Peter Bensley (Water Rats, Neighbours) and US-born actor Joey Vieira (Reef Break, Dora and the Lost City of Gold).

Romance on the Menu follows New York restaurateur, Caroline Wilson (Busby), who inherits a café in Lemon Myrtle Cove, Australia. In her bid to renovate the business to sell, she begins to fall in love with the place, its people, and in particular, a charming local chef, Simon Cook (Ross). Caroline is invigorated and inspired by her time in Australia and begins to re-evaluate her life. With her ex-fiancé begging for her to take him back, and pressing work commitments back home, she is faced with a life-changing decision: give up her New York life and stay in Lemon Myrtle Cove, or return to the big city.

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“My character Caroline finds herself on the other side of the world in unfamiliar surroundings, and that is something I can relate to! I’m so happy to have the opportunity to film here in Australia for the first time, and I’m looking forward to working with this wonderful cast and crew to create something special for our audiences,” Busby comments.

“It’s wonderful to round out 2019 working on an uplifting romantic comedy with a talented team here in Brisbane, including First AD Christine Luby and DOP Jason Hargreaves ACS,” says Rosie Lourde. “We think audiences around the globe will fall in love with the characters in the film and our little seaside town of Lemon Myrtle Cove.”

Romance on the Menu will shoot for 3 weeks in December in locations across Brisbane, and will be released in 2020, distributed by FilmInk Presents.

The film is produced by Steve Jaggi and Spencer McLaren, with Kelly Son Hing and Kylie Pascoe co-producing.

“After finding success in the Young Adult space, we’re excited to be expanding into this vertical,” said Jaggi. “There’s colossal global demand for romantic comedies and our move into this space ties in with our re-location to Queensland earlier this year”. The company has multiple projects in various stages of development, including the Y.A feature Swimming for Gold, currently in post-production and being released in 2020.”

Utah based international sales agent KOAN INC is handling foreign sales and is also co-financing the project. Producer Steve Jaggi established a relationship with KOAN over the course of several MIFF 37° South Markets. Romance on the Menu marks KOAN’s first foray into Australia.