The top-down shot of Stewart reaching up for the adult book is a reference to A Clockwork Orange (1971).
Craft services, catering, script supervisor, make-up, and an actress backed out a week before shooting because of unforeseen scheduling conflicts. For lunch, because the film was downtown, the crew walked two blocks to the nearby food courts and carts where they were given the money that was set aside for catering to buy whatever they wanted.
Don Colliver was the only actor chosen through auditions, the others were selected after seeing their parts in other local work.
The sequence of Stewart heading for the exit of the bookstore is heavily inspired by a similar scene in Léon: The Professional (1994).