The movie was shot in fifteen days.
In his tribute to Michael Parks, Kevin Smith mentioned that the fake voice that Howard uses while speaking with Guy Lapointe (Johnny Depp) was entirely Parks' idea. Originally as scripted, Parks would have performed a French-Canadian accent but Parks didn't want to use that accent, having already done it on Twin Peaks (1990). According to Smith it was like "watching two wizards do battle and you can't figure out who the bad guy is" and that Parks was ecstatic over being allowed to "chew the scenery" around a major movie star that was "also chewing the scenery."
Quentin Tarantino was offered the role of Guy Lapointe, but turned it down, saying he dug the script and "couldn't wait to watch Michael Parks let loose his internal Kraken". Kevin Smith said in an interview that Tarantino thought he was being offered the role of Wallace, not Guy Lapointe, and that's why he turned it down, which led to Johnny Depp being cast.
The first film in Kevin Smith's Canada-based trilogy. The second is Yoga Hosers (2016), based on Smodcast episode #288. The final installment will be Moose Jaws.
According to Kevin Smith, most of the budget was used to obtain the rights to use the song "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac.