The title is a reference to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" but the movie was premiered and initially released as "Driven To Guilt" after a majority vote of the producers decided that Neal J. Gauger's original title was too obscure a reference. Subsequent releases have the title of "The Albatross," as per Neal J. Gauger's idea.
Actors Michael A. Jackson and M. Alex Jackson, who respectively portray a father and son in the picture, are father and son in real life. The tense argument scene towards the picture's end between Michael A. Jackson and M. Alex Jackson was largely improvised, with M. Alex Jackson reading keeping to the script, and Michael A. Jackson screaming improvised reactions back at him.