Jordan Fisher's YA Ballroom Rom-Com 'I Won't Dance' Sets Up for Canary Islands Shoot in February 2027

A year out from cameras rolling, the YA ballroom romantic comedy I Won't Dance is entering pre-production with a charismatic lead, a distinctive international shooting location, and a producing team that brings genuine dance-world credibility to the project. Jordan Fisher, the actor, singer, and competitive dancing enthusiast who won Season 25 of Dancing with the Stars, stars as Xavier, a charming rivalry-fueled ballroom competitor forced to partner with his longtime adversary when both lose their dance partners weeks before the National Rising Star Championship. With a February 2027 start date set for the Canary Islands, this is a production that crews and collaborators in both the international and domestic markets should be tracking right now.

Making her feature directorial debut is Christine Lakin, a name instantly recognizable to anyone who grew up watching Step by Step, where she played Al Lambert across all seven seasons of the long-running ABC family sitcom. Lakin has spent the years since building a substantial body of work as an actress across film and television, and has been cultivating her directing career through shorts and smaller projects. Taking on a YA feature with this level of physical and logistical complexity is a significant step, and the project appears built around her vision. The screenplay comes from Allison Johnson, who brings something most writers in the dance-movie genre cannot claim: she is a veteran ballroom dancer herself, lending the script an authenticity to the competitive dance world that is typically hard to fake on screen. Johnson also holds a producing credit through her company Love Laugh Dance Films, making her one of the key creative architects of the project rather than simply a hired writer. Choreography duties fall to Sharna Burgess, the Australian-born professional dancer and Dancing with the Stars Mirror Ball champion who is one of the most recognized figures in competitive ballroom globally. Burgess's involvement is not cosmetic. She holds a producing credit alongside her choreography role, signaling that the dance sequences will be central to the production's identity and that her input is baked into the creative process from the ground up.

Fisher himself is also a producer on the project, rounding out a producing ensemble that includes Alexandra Olivia Engelson of Magic and Moxie Productions, Toni D'Antonio of Shake the Tree Productions, and Samantha Bowen, with Rosie Cruz serving as executive producer and Mia Cusumano also attached as a producer. Engelson's Magic and Moxie Productions and D'Antonio's Shake the Tree Productions are independent outfits, and the multi-company structure here reflects a model common in passion-driven independent features where creative talent brings their own production infrastructure to the table. The international dimension is handled through Hulahoop Media as international partner and Film Canary Islands, the official production services entity for the archipelago, as the on-the-ground facilitator. No major studio or streaming platform has been publicly announced at this stage, which is worth noting for crew assessing where this lands on the budget spectrum. The independent structure and international co-production arrangement suggest a mid-range production, though Fisher's profile and the specialized choreography requirements will demand meaningful above-the-line investment.

The Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa, is an increasingly active production destination that offers a potent combination of year-round temperate weather, dramatic and varied landscapes, and strong financial incentives from both the Spanish government and the regional Canary Islands Film Commission. Spain offers a general film tax rebate of up to 30 percent on qualifying spend, and the Canary Islands specifically offer an enhanced regional deduction that can push that figure higher, making it one of the most competitive incentive environments in Europe. The islands provide a striking visual palette that ranges from volcanic terrain and black sand beaches to lush subtropical greenery and Canarian colonial architecture, all of which could serve the stylized world of competitive ballroom beautifully. Film Canary Islands has facilitated a growing number of international productions, and their involvement here as a credited production services partner means local logistics, permitting, and below-the-line crew sourcing will run through an experienced regional infrastructure. Crew with European work eligibility or experience on international co-productions will find this a particularly relevant opportunity to track. Department heads based in the US or UK who are open to travel should also be paying close attention, as productions of this type frequently import key creative department leadership while building out their day-to-day crew locally.

Given the genre and the production's core assets, a handful of departments will be critical to this shoot. The dance sequences choreographed by Burgess will require a substantial and highly skilled stunt and movement team, experienced camera operators comfortable shooting live performance, and a wardrobe department with deep experience in ballroom and competitive dancewear, where costume construction and the physical demands of performance intersect in very specific ways. The Canary Islands locations also suggest an active locations department and a production design team that can work fluidly across practical and constructed environments. With a February 2027 start, pre-production is expected to ramp up significantly through late 2025 and into 2026, meaning department heads and key below-the-line positions are likely to be identified and approached well in advance of the shoot itself.

ProductionList.com has the full listing for I Won't Dance, including production company contacts, crew list updates, and scheduling information as the production moves through pre-production toward its February 2027 start. If you are a choreography-experienced camera operator, a costume designer with ballroom or competitive dance credits, or a line producer with international co-production experience, this is a project worth bookmarking today. The hiring window for key positions on a shoot of this nature opens much earlier than most people expect, and being in front of the right people before the formal search begins is always the advantage.

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