The store owned by Jane Seymour's character was open in Thousand Oaks, Calif. for over 20 years. It was scheduled to close permanently before production began but the owners agreed to keep it open as a way to immortalize the store and have it to remember on film. With that in mind, the store was virtually untouched for filming and the scripted name of the store, "A Novel Idea" was replaced by the store's real name, "The Bookaneer." During filming, the occasional customer came in between takes to buy books and browse the shelves.
This was the second collaboration of Jane Seymour and Parker Stevenson, their first being Meurtre sur écoute (1992) which also co-stared Joel Brooks.
The Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary was an impromptu location, added days before the shoot. The filmmakers were informed by the ranger staff the butterflies had been completely dormant and invisible leading up to the day they filmed and it was a miracle they captured the activity and beauty of the butterflies seen in the movie.
The title is a play on the word "mistress."
Dan Haggerty who was in Visual Arts Entertainment's previous film The Untold Story (2019) passed away during the filming of
Mistrust (2018). To honor the beloved actor, a scene with Jayne Seymour and Parker Stevenson was filmed at Ventura Harbor in the same location where Mr. Haggerty filmed the final scene of his career.