Columbia film student Tom Abrams wrote the movie in the fall of 1986 when HBO Workshop, a program geared toward young film directors, sponsored a contest for film students. They were to send HBO their scripts for a short film and the company would pick four of them to license and co-finance. Abrams was one of the winners, so HBO provided 5000$ for the movie's 9000$ budget. The short ended up being nominated for an Oscar in the live action short category.