The film includes a major connection to the state of Oregon. Jason James Richter, Erin Chambers and author Robin Cody Duncan were born in Medford, Portland and St. Helens respectively. In addition, Chambers had an uncredited role in Free Willy 2: A Aventura Continua (1995), shot in Astoria, that starred Richter whose character in the Free Willy trilogy shares the same name as Jesse.
The film was Jason James Richter's last before he took a decade long hiatus from acting.