This film was shot exclusively on three iPhone 5s smartphones, along with the Moondog Labs' anamorphic clip on lens and a $8 app, FiLMiC Pro in addition to Steadicam Smoothee Mounts. Director Sean Baker revealed this at the Sundance Film Festival.
Mya Taylor, in an radio interview with Terry Gross, revealed that, much like her character Alexandra, she had worked as a prostitute in Hollywood.
The title of the movie was chosen as a reference to the striking color of the Los Angeles sky at sunset.
Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez were already friends in real life before the production started.
The film captures several physical aspects of the Santa Monica and Highland intersection in Hollywood at a key point in time. By mid-2016, many of the buildings that appear in the film had been torn down, including the Arena Nightclub where Sin-Dee promises that there will be "no drama, Alexandra." Donut Time, where several scenes take place, closed down and re-opened, a year later, as Trejo's Coffee & Donuts.