Features many connections with Heaven Is Now (2016). These similarities include:
- Both films feature crew members Clarke Mayer, Audrey Lorea, Mike DiLorenzo, and Fiona Mifsud, all of whom also worked on Green Eyes (2013).
- Both films feature cast members Dasha Kittredge, Jon Caballero, and Lorea herself.
- Both films feature the same rooftop.
- This film began production two days after Heaven Is Now wrapped.
- The most notable connection is that both films feature Lorea as a character named Claudia who is at a party. The Claudia in Heaven Is Now was named after the Claudia in the Havana In Bushwick script. However, they are two separate characters.
Dasha Kittredge was initially considered to play the Partygirl. However, she could not commit to the film as she was moving to Los Angeles around the time of filming. As a result, the entire sequence with the Russian characters was created just to have Kittredge be in the film. It was intentionally written in a way to play towards Kittredge's strengths as an actress, but to also be tangential to the main story. This way, if she had to leave the production, the scene would just be cut without hurting the main story. Kittredge was able to film the scene mere days before she moved away. Her costar, Jack-Edward was amazed at how perfectly the actress and the part fit one another.
When Victoria Weinberg auditioned, she commented that she felt the script was a very beautiful story...and then proceeded to act out a scene where she discussed bowel movements. Gabe Rodriguez found this parallel very amusing and cast her on the spot.
The narration was originally written for Jack Feldstein to be read in a "nebbish Australian Woody Allen voice." (This voice is a signature device in many of Feldstein's neon animations, in particular The Ecstasy of Gary Green (2006)). Feldstein declined the role, citing that he felt uncomfortable doing an impression of himself in someone else's film. The narration was then reworked, though the director has still cited Feldstein's work as a major influence on the film.
When filming her scene, Victoria Weinberg had to perform multiple takes of her lengthy monologue/rant in its entirety and at varying speeds. After being wrapped, she received massive applause from the crowd of extras.
Gabe Rodriguez: [strong women] The supporting cast is heavily female and most of them are strong-willed women.