The four friends' names are all references to Batman. Gordie Solomon: Commissioner Gordon & Solomon Grundy. Robin Loeb: Batman's sidekick Robin & Jeph Loeb (Writer/Director David McCracken's favorite Batman writer). Scott Keaton: Scott Snyder (one of Writer/Director David McCracken's favorite Batman writers) & Michael Keaton (Writer/Director David McCracken's favorite Batman (1989) ). And Wayne Thomas: the reverse of his names is Thomas Wayne, Bruce Wayne's murdered father.
The town of New Harmony, IN, stood in for Red River, KY, and everything that takes place in Red River was shot in New Harmony. Yellow Tavern is a real place and is across the street from Black Lodge Coffee, which stood in for Red River Winery. Both are just several blocks down from Firehouse Antiques, where Gordie meets Carolyn.
There are numerous Jack Nicholson references in the film: 1.) The store Mr. Hitchens references is called Nicholson's. 2.) Several times Gordie flaps his elbow and says, "Fuh fuh fuh Indians," something Nicholson does after he drinks Jim Beam in Easy Rider (1969). 3.) Gordie asks Robin, "And [what am I], a Pisces?" which is similar to what Joker says to Vicki Vale in Batman (1989).
Actor Mike C. Nelson's first starring role in a feature film. He was previously the lead in David McCracken's USC thesis film, OstrichLand (2013)
The first film under David McCracken and Josh Riedford's production company, Mr. Pictures. The M stands for McCracken, the R for Riedford.