▁travel ▁over ▁greater ▁distances , ▁while ▁the ▁years ▁separ ating ▁each ▁segment ▁become ▁shorter . ▁This ▁suggests ▁a ▁musical ▁structure , ▁though ▁Gir ard ▁said ▁this ▁was ▁not ▁planned ▁and ▁only ▁developed ▁as ▁he ▁and ▁McK ell ar ▁continued ▁to ▁write . ▁ ▁Gir ard ▁and ▁McK ell ar ▁proposed ▁their ▁story ▁and ▁project ▁to ▁various ▁Hollywood ▁companies , ▁but ▁were ▁unw illing ▁to ▁give ▁up ▁cre ative ▁control , ▁or ▁to ▁limit ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁languages ▁spoken ▁in ▁the ▁film , ▁as ▁U . S . ▁companies ▁requested . ▁As ▁a ▁result , ▁they ▁produced ▁the ▁film ▁with ▁Rh omb us ▁Media . ▁ ▁Fil ming ▁The ▁film ▁is ▁an ▁international ▁co - production , ▁allowing ▁for ▁a ▁larger ▁budget ▁to ▁be ▁accum ulated ▁from ▁various ▁sources , ▁making ▁The ▁Red ▁Vi olin ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁cost ly ▁Canadian ▁films ▁produced ▁to ▁date . ▁Its ▁final ▁budget ▁was ▁$ 1 5 ▁million . ▁Gir ard ▁and ▁McK ell ar ▁employed ▁a ▁few ▁crew ▁members ▁from ▁their ▁previous ▁film , ▁Th irty ▁Two ▁Short ▁Films ▁About ▁Gl enn ▁G ould ▁( 1 9 9 3 ), ▁including ▁cinemat ograph er ▁A lain ▁D ost ie , ▁editor ▁Ga ét an ▁Hu ot ▁and ▁actor ▁Col m ▁Fe ore . ▁ ▁The ▁co - production ▁also ▁allowed ▁for ▁shooting ▁in ▁Canada , ▁China ▁and ▁around ▁Europe , ▁including ▁the ▁cities ▁of ▁Vienna , ▁Shang hai ▁and ▁Montreal . ▁Gir ard , ▁McK ell ar ▁and ▁producer ▁N iv ▁Fich man ▁went ▁location ▁sc