Australian TV production company Princess Pictures is making its first foray into features with romantic comedy I Love You Too, set to star US actorPeter Dinklage (Death At A Funeral) and Australia’s Brendan Cowell (Noise).

Cameras roll on Monday in Melbourne with experienced television director Daina Reid making her feature debut with a script by well-known comedian Peter Helliar, who also has a key on-screen role. The story follows a commitment-phobic man (Cowell) and a gifted New Age dwarf (Dinklage) trying to win back the women they love.

Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski and model Megan Gale, who made a name for herself while working in Italy, round out the cast.

Princess Pictures is the company behind Australia’s biggest cult narrative comedy show of recent years, Summer Heights High, which was bought by HBO.

At a press conference in Melbourne, Yael Bergman (Love And Other Catastrophes), who is producing alongside Laura Waters under the Princess Pictures banner, told Screendaily.com that the film has been cast with international audiences in mind.

Gale was set to star in Justice League Mortal for director George Miller but the film did not go ahead as planned so I Love You Too will be her first lead role.

Despite its core business being local distribution, Roadshow Films has worldwide distribution rights although it will start looking for a sales agent partner at Cannes. Roadshow managing director Joel Pearlman and lawyer Greg Sitch are the executive producers.

I Love You Too is one of the first features to use the loan facility set aside by state film agency Film Victoria to cash flow the producer offset, which can only be claimed on completion. “We are lucky,” said Bergman. “With the banking sector in a mess there is a lot of pressure on producers.”

Screen Australia is a key investor and Film Victoria also has some equity in the film.