Producer Hilary Linstead first saw Director Dein Perry dancing in a touring company of "42nd Street" in the early 1990's. "I thought he was absolutely brilliant," Linstead recalls. "I could see that his innovative modern style of tap would have appeal for a huge new audience. In fact. the phrase I started using around the office is. Dein speaks with his feet.'"

While Perry's personal dancing style was evident in that show. the dancer himself felt constrained by the dictates of the genre. "The musicals that we were doing all pointed back to the 1930's and 40's," Perry says. "The other dancers and I wanted to bring tap into the present. We knew that the best way to do it was to pick the music that people were listening to and actually tap dance to that. The music of the period was, of course, rock 'n 'roll. " I believed that if you could find a way to combine rock with tap it would be very exciting," Perry notes, "and that audiences would respond according."

"Dein began experimenting, " says Linstead, who quickly became the dancer's manager. "He wanted to make tap relevant to today. and he came up with the choreography for a show he called Tap Dogs.

"Tap Dogs,  a high-octane, industrial -strength dance show created by, choreographed by, and starring Perry, was an unprecedented hit. "The big thing for us was that we wanted the tap sounds to be live," Perry says. "But when you start putting electric guitars on the stage you have an immediate problem. We ended up using 28 area microphones on the stage and the dancers moved them around as part of the show. It made everything better because the audience knew we were doing a live gig." Before long, four companies of "Tap Dogs" were touring stages around the world. The production soon won Perry the Olivier Award for Best Choreography (his second), and Linstead took that as an opportunity to make a suggestion.

"I thought the next thing Dein should think about was a film," Linstead recalls with a grin. "Hilary kept telling me I had to make a movie!" Perry laughs "She has so much energy!" The dancer agreed with Linstead---but with reservations.

"It had to be a film in its own right," he says, "with a good story, not just a 'Tap Dogs' movie. That's when I suggested that Hilary produce it, because that's a process she had already begun without even knowing it."

Inspired by Perry's rise from the steelworks of Newcastle, Australia, the team met with Screenwriter Steve Worland and developed a story.

"We decided to go with what I knew best," Perry states. "I've always loved dancing, yet I was brought up in an industrial town and worked as a fitter and machinist by trade before ending up dancing in London's West End and on stage in New York.

We thought that was an interesting premise on which to base a good tale. I wanted to make it as real as possible," he adds with a smile, "except that we break into dance every now and then."

At Linstead's insistence, the writers collaborated for several years. "It was an opportunity to practice what I preach to my clients," comments Linstead, reverting to her manager hat, "that it's not a good idea to start production on a film until the script is ready. And that takes time and effort." The screenplay they completed - "a ripping good yarn," as Linstead describes "Bootmen" - combined a "sweltering" love story with industrial backdrops, and blokes in Blunderstone boots - a Perry trademark.

Finding a director took less effort. Linstead already had recognised Perry's directorial talents from his work on the dance stage. "Dein is a great team leader who works very well under pressure and has a great capacity to inspire people," she says. "I always knew he'd make a very fine film director."

The next step in the process was casting. This time it was Perry who already knew who would play the starring role. "The character of Sean was really written for Adam Garcia," the director says "I've known him for a very long time - I used to teach him when he was a teenager. He'd show up in class in his board shorts, the only guy in a class of thirty girls-which was the reason, I suspect, he was there!"

Freshly returned from London and critical praise for his starring role in the West End Production of "Saturday Night Fever," Garcia welcomed the opportunity to star as Sean. "Working with Dein again has been fantastic fun, and I think that is reflected in the film," Garcia says. "We each know what the other wants without needing to communicate it. We were able to get things done on the film very quickly-which was good, because Dein hates going slowly!"  MORE