According to an interview in Rolling Stone, director Brett Morgen planned on including Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in the film, but Grohl was busy filming Carreteras sónicas (2014). By the time Grohl was available Morgen was satisfied with his cut of the film and decided not to include him.
According to a "Vanity Fair" interview with Director Brett Morgen, after Frances Bean Cobain saw the film at its Sundance premiere, Morgen escorted her back to her car. Before leaving, Cobain embraced Morgen and said, "You made the film I wanted to see."
In a 2015 interview with FaceCulture, Brett Morgen explained how he used Kurt Cobain's own art as a guide to tell his story: "I'm oftentimes dealing with these big subjects like The Rolling Stones or Kurt Cobain. Subjects that have been well written about and well documented. And so, the thing that I'm always asking myself is, 'How does this story lend itself to FILM. To CINEMA?' And with Kurt Cobain, we have the ultimate subject because he expressed himself so vividly in both the visual mediums and aural mediums. And in a way, all artists are creating an autobiography of their lives through their work. You know, our experiences are embedded in our art. So with Kurt you have one of the most complete visual and aural autobiographies of anyone I know from my generation."