In the film's central sequence featuring the Karaha ritual, this sacred (and banned) ritual was performed live. The look of terror in actor William Cully Allen's eyes was not acting at all. He had no idea they were going to call him up and baste him with the boiling hot milk.
The film is based on the lead actor's own life. William Cully Allen ran away from home at the age of sixteen and hitchhiked across country from Massachusetts to Florida and finally to California. Like the character, he returned home about a year later. During this time, he did not encounter a character named Teschlock or even like Teschlock. This is the fictional element of the backstory.
Director Daniel Kremer's first film featuring an original music score, composed by newcomer Sam Lassner.
The Bert & I stories were a late addition to the film. Actor-writer William Cully Allen had grown up listening to these folk stories in album form. He himself tells them (in dialect) in the film's opening and closing.
The language spoken and subtitled in the dream sequence is total gibberish, improvised on the spot by actor William Cully Allen and K.J. Linhein. The dialogue was officially written in the editing. The actors were given a video reference of a man speaking the Hopi language. The sound of their invented language is based on this.
Daniel Kremer: [Movie within the movie] An old movie playing on a television screen during a scene. In this film, it is the lead character Max catching Detour (1945) as he awaits his departure to India.
Daniel Kremer: [Handwritten letters] Max's lengthy inscription to Amos inside the cover of the Carlos Castaneda book.