Marlon Brando allegedly refused to be interviewed, claiming Francis Ford Coppola still owed him $2 million following his time on the movie.
This film has particular poignancy for Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola as it contains footage of their young son Gian-Carlo Coppola who died in a boating accident in 1986 at the age of 22.
Francis Ford Coppola disagreed with his portrayal, and initially refused to release the documentary on DVD. It was finally released on DVD in 2007, with an optional Coppola commentary track. In 2010, it was released in the "Full Disclosure" Blu-ray edition of Apocalypse Now (1979). However, in 2025, following the passing of his wife and co-director of the film, Eleanor Coppola, he recorded a special introduction to screenings of the documentary (alongside daughter and subject Sofia Coppola) for a re-release at the Film Forum in New York City, where he called it one of the three best films about making movies ever (alongside Burden of Dreams (1982) and Lost in La Mancha (2002)).
It was briefly considered to replace the voice of Eleanor Coppola with that of a professional actress, but that was rejected.