In an interview, Jonah Hill admitted that he was afraid audiences would accuse him of being homophobic because of the repeated use of words like f****t throughout the film and considered shooting a scene where the kids debate over whether they should be using that kind of language. He showed the scene to producer Scott Rudin, himself a gay man, who asked "Would you guys have had this conversation back then?" When Jonah said no, Rudin said that the scene would be "more offensive to put that in the movie than to show it how it actually was."
Shot entirely on 16mm film.
The film is set in 1996.
Jonah Hill said that Kids (1995), This Is England (2006), Ratcatcher (1999), and I ragazzi vincenti (1993) inspired him to make this film.
Whilst at the skate park, Ray is talking to a homeless guy about skating while Fourth Grade films them. The homeless guy is played by Teren 'Del the Funky Homosapien' Jones whose song, Mistadobalina, is featured on the film soundtrack.