The working title of this film in early drafts of the script was "Fade to Black". The writers then decided to go with a title that had not been used in the past, and sounded more literary, more like a book title.
The name Daniel Whately came from two sources: Daniel being the name of David Dellecese's younger brother, and Whately is a small town in Western Massachusetts near where David Dellecese once lived.
In one scene, Johnny Nevada mentions having to get up early to "go with Nick and Jay to the comic convention in the morning". Nick and Jay are the comic book store characters played by Tom Karpe and Bill Egert in Goodbye to You (2001).
The character of Andrea Talbot played by Oksana Gudnaya mentions an older sister named Renee. Renee Talbot is the lead female character played by Devon McArdle in Goodbye to You (2001).