After filming in numerous locations for his previous film "Adoptation," Tom Knoblauch determined that this movie would be limited to a smaller and more claustrophobic scope.
Much of the cast of Knoblauch's previous film, "Adoptation," returned for Naomi Jones. Roles were even written for the leads of the previous film, Will Forget and Megan Friend, but scheduling issues prevented them from participating.
The pace of the film is largely inspired by screwball comedies like those directed by Howard Hawks.
Elements of this movie including the Khari Bates character and the back-to-the-caves movement originally were included in a college-set comedy called "Gray Skies" that Tom Knoblauch had written and almost directed with Ben Matukewicz as their "Adoptation" followup. Ultimately, Matukewicz was unable to co-direct "Gray Skies" and Knoblauch abandoned nearly all the other elements of the project in favor of what would become "Naomi Jones."
The doppelganger motif throughout the movie was inspired by a thriller idea pitched by actor Marty Matukewicz wherein a man has to track down his seven doppelgangers across the world.