Norman's Awesome Experience

Norman's Awesome Experience (1989)

Norman thought the 20th Century was bad. But now, he's got a date with the Roman Empire.

Through the experiment of a crazy scientist, his colleague Norman, model Erica and her photographer are sent back in time to the Romans. They arrive in a small village, controlled by the Roman Septimus Fabius and a fat village mayor. They teach the people the Rock'n Roll... and revolution. Of course the Romans don't appreciate their efforts - will Norman's Know How save them? Written by Tom Zoerner

Date of release
1989-09-01
TMDB
3.8 / 10 (8)
Runtime
1h 27m
Genres
Science Fiction, Comedy
Director
Paul Donovan

Casting

Interesting facts

A Switch in Time is a 1988 Canadian science-fiction comedy film written and directed by Paul Donovan, starring Tom McCamus, Lori Paton, Jacques Lussier and David Hemblen. It follows Norman, Umberto and Erica, a trio of accidental time travelers who attempt to rebuild their life in early Christian times during the Roman Empire's invasion of Helvetic lands.

Production

A Switch in Time was a co-production between brothers Paul and Michael Donovan's Salter Street Films of Halifax, and Simcom of Toronto (which changed its name to Norstar Entertainment during the making of the film). It was stage actor Tom McCamus' feature film debut.

In all, the North American crew was scheduled to spend thirteen weeks in the South American country. The Roman costumes were imported from Italy, and the Helvetic village was built specifically for the movie, as were some of the more complex props like catapults. Production services were provided by local company Fata Morgana, headed by Alejandro Azzaro, who had previous experience working on outsourced foreign pictures.

Principal photography eventually began in December 1986 and extended into January 1987. The bulk of the film was shot at Lanín National Park near San Martín de los Andes, as the Patagonian region could pass for the Swiss Alps without the high cost, and the local skiing industry provided the hospitality infrastructures needed by the production team. The Roman cavalry was played by a mounted regiment of the Argentinian army.

During post-production, Salter Street ran out of money. The film's completion guarantor received scam complaints, but Paul Donovan argued that bribes extorted by the Argentinian customs administration were the main culprit for their financial situation. At any rate, the Donovans were bought out by their partner Simcom.

According to Oliver, Donovan initially agreed to collaborate on the new material, but the discarding of much of the film's dark satire in favor of the heavier-handed comedy demanded by Simpson led him to depart the project, at one point attempting to dissuade the actors from taking part in the additional sessions. For his part, Donovan contended that he had been forcibly removed from the director's chair.

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