Real Artists premiered at Cinequest in 2017.
The voice of Big Semi is voiced by video game designer Tim Schafer's daughter, Lili Schafer.
Director Cameo Wood first read the short story by Ken Liu in MIT's Technology Review Science Fiction. She immediately emailed him from the plane she was on to ask about optioning it.
Cameo Wood started working on the script as early as 2013, and Tamlyn Tomita was the first person brought onto the project.
The majority of the wardrobe in the film was designed and provided by BCBGMAXAZRIA.