Jason Lee was originally attached to play Billy, and the part of Crystal Clemens (ultimately filled by Lee's Minu nimi on Earl (2005) costar Jaime Pressly) was slated to have been played by Julie Bowen.

Writer-director Will Raée found story inspiration in the real-life kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. One day he was struck by the notion, "What if her kidnapping was faked?"

The part of Chief Williams was originally written as a generic cop, but Patrick Warburton conceived the idea that the officer was actually a frustrated actor, so his role was revised on-the-fly while they were shooting.

Ursula Parker was the only choice for the role of Patty. Writer-director Will Raée was a fan of the series Louie (2010) and first approached Parker's agents before the script was written.

Filmed in 2014.

Ursula Parker loved the script, but said the deciding factor in accepting the role of Patty was the character's final line of dialogue.

During the scene in which JT is playing the Xbox with Patricia, he claims that it's nice to play the game with someone. However, he is actually playing alone. The television screen is not displaying a split screen view and Patricia's remote isn't turned on.