Woody Norman (Jesse) is actually British, so he's doing an accent the whole time.
When Mills was finishing the script, he was having difficulty deciding on the tone of the film, i.e. should it be funny or not? His kid, a seven-year-old at the time, came up with the line, "Be funny, when you can." They also added "Well be funny comma when you can period."
Featured texts include: "A How-To Guide to Parent-Child Relationship Repair" by Andrea Nair, "An Incomplete List of What the Cameraperson Enables" by Kirsten Johnson, "The Bipolar Bear Family: When a Parent Has Bipolar Disorder" by Angela Ann Holloway, "Mothers: An Essay on Love and Cruelty" by Jacqueline Rose, "Star Child" by Claire A. Nivola, and "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum.
Jesse's "orphan game" is inspired by Aaron Dessner's daughter, Ingrid, whom Mike Mills thanks in the closing credits. Aaron Dessner is the co-composer of the film.
The film is dedicated to Devante Bryant, who was killed in a shooting shortly after he was interviewed for the film.