According to an April 2003 NPR radio interview with Elvis Mitchell, Justin Lin's production company was on the verge of folding unless Lin could secure a certain amount of funding. Lin had essentially resigned himself to failure; but on a whim called a celebrity he had met once in Las Vegas. Lin got a call the day before the deadline from the celeb saying that he had read the script and wanted to provide some backing. Two hours later, the new investor had wired Lin the money and saved the production. The celebrity: M.C. Hammer.
During a Q&A after the screening at Sundance, one audience member asked the filmmakers if they thought they were being irresponsible by portraying Asian-Americans negatively. Renowned film critic Roger Ebert stood up and shouted at the man that Asian-Americans can make whatever films they want, about whoever they want, and do not have any obligation to represent their people.
The film was financed with credit cards and with money raised independently by the filmmakers. The actors deferred their salaries.
The first independent film to be picked up by MTV Films for distribution.
There is a line in the narration that says "Fast and Furious". Justin Lin went on to direct The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) and several of the later Fast and the Furious movies, which also starred Sung Kang as Han. This movie is the first appearance of Han as a character. Although this film is not officially part of the series, the Han from this movie is a chain smoker, and in the "Fast and Furious" series, he constantly eats chips due to kicking his smoking habit, so it is meant to be the same character.