This movie was originally titled "The Hairy Bird". Miramax, the film's American distributor, found the title too offensive as it alludes to male genitalia, so they released the film under the alternate title "All I Wanna Do". In Canada and the United Kingdom, the film is titled "Strike!" Only the Australian release retains the original title.
The film was acquired by Miramax for distribution. Miramax co-head Harvey Weinstein wanted director Sarah Kernochan to make the film more male-friendly. Weinstein told Kernochan the finished film would screen in 2,000 theaters across the U.S. Ultimately, Miramax gave the film no publicity and distributed it in limited release in 1998, mostly in Canada. Two years later, Kernochan spent her own money to get the film screened in New York City for one week. The film was later acquired by Disney and was sent straight-to-video. The shelving of the film is detailed in Peter Biskind's book "Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film."
The film is inspired by director Sarah Kernochan's experiences attending Rosemary Hall, a boarding school in Connecticut that was an all-girls institution before it merged with the Choate boys' school in 1971. During her time at Rosemary Hall, Kernochan was in a singing group with classmate Glenn Close. Kernochan reconvened the original group to sing the song "The Hairy Bird", which plays during the film's end credits.