The character for "Uncle Sam" was inspired by actor Craig Henne. Writer Brian Kirk initially envisioned a comedy short, but the subject matter quickly took a serious turn, and it became obvious that a feature length darker film was in order.
Kirk wrote the bulk of the script in Albania, in the house where his wife grew up.
Kirk was a real estate broker in Ohio, which inspired much of the inter-office dialogue and scenarios.
Kirk, actor Declan Joyce, actresses Theresa Carissimi and Pam Bruno, are all from the Cleveland, Ohio area. Madylin Sweeten spent many months in Cleveland while filming American Splendor.
Kirk was inspired by director Ed Burns approach to low budget independent film-making.