Filming of Not My Life took four years to complete, and documented human trafficking in 13 countries: Albania, Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Italy, Nepal, Romania, Senegal, Uganda, and the United States.

Fifty people are interviewed in the film, including investigative journalist Paul Radu of Bucharest, Katherine Chon of the Polaris Project, and Iana Matei of Reaching Out Romania.

Not My Life addresses many forms of slavery, including the military use of children in Uganda, involuntary servitude in the United States, forced begging and garbage picking in India, sex trafficking in Europe and Southeast Asia, and other kinds of child abuse.

It addresses many forms of slavery,[1] including the military use of children in Uganda, involuntary servitude in the United States, unfree labor in Ghana, forced begging and garbage picking in India, sex trafficking in Europe and Southeast Asia, and other kinds of child abuse.

[2] The film also focuses on the people and organizations engaged in working against human trafficking,[3] including members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Free the Slaves, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), International Justice Mission (IJM), the Somaly Mam Foundation, Terre des hommes, Tostan, UNICEF, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the United States Department of State (US DoS).

[15][a] Fifty people are interviewed in Not My Life,[17] including Katherine Chon of the Polaris Project,[18] investigative journalist Paul Radu of Bucharest, Vincent Tournecuillert of Terre des hommes, Iana Matei of Reaching Out Romania,[4] UNICEF Director of Programmes Nicholas Alipui,[19] Susan Bissell of UNICEF's Child Protection Section, Antonio Maria Costa of UNODC, Somaly Mam of the Somaly Mam Foundation, Molly Melching of Tostan in Senegal, and Suzanne Mubarak, who was First Lady of Egypt at the time.

In 2012, after the film was released, Barack Obama, President of the United States, recognized White's work and told her story during a speech to the Clinton Global Initiative.

[31] Don Brewster of Agape International Missions is interviewed, and says that all of the girls they have rescued from child sex tourism in Cambodia identify Americans as the clients who were the most abusive to them.

Bilheimer accompanies IJM representatives Pablo Villeda, Amy Roth, and Gary Haugen as they and the local police arrest Ortiz; he is charged with exploitation of children and violence against women.

[10] Some of the last words in the film are spoken by Brazilian human rights advocate Leo Sakomoto: "I can't see a good life while there are people living like animals.

"[31] The project that became Not My Life was initiated by the executive director of the UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, who wanted to commission a film that would "bring the issue of modern slavery to the attention of public opinion, globally—especially the well-meaning, law-abiding and God-fearing people who do not believe something so horrible is happening in their own neighborhood."

With this goal in mind, Costa approached Worldwide Documentaries,[21] an East Bloomfield, New York-based organization[10] that had produced two films with which he was familiar: The Cry of Reason, which documents internal resistance to South African apartheid by way of Beyers Naudé's story; and A Closer Walk, which is about the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS.

Bilheimer found that the connections he had made during the production of A Closer Walk were also useful when producing Not My Life because the poor and the outcast are at the greatest risk of both HIV/AIDS and human trafficking; there is, for this reason, much overlap between the groups victimized by these two afflictions.

"[3] Production of Not My Life was supported by the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), UNICEF, and UNODC,[37] providing Worldwide Documentaries with $1 million in funding secured by Costa.

[6] The film's title came from a June 2009 interview with Molly Melching, founder of Tostan, an organization dedicated to human rights education operating in ten African countries.

"[38] Filming of Not My Life took place over four years[2] in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America[3] documenting human trafficking in thirteen countries: Albania, Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Italy, Nepal, Romania, Senegal, Uganda, and the United States.

[28] Bilheimer said that, during the making of the film, he and his crew were surprised to discover that traffickers employ similar methods of intimidation across the globe, "almost as if there were ... unwritten bylaws and tactics ...

Later that year, the narration was completely rerecorded;[34] Bilheimer replaced Ashley Judd's voice with that of Glenn Close,[38] who had previously worked with him on A Closer Walk.

[34] In this interview, Bilheimer told Tutu about meeting normally reasonable, compassionate women who, when speaking about human traffickers, say things like "Hang him up by his balls and then cut 'em off!

"[33] Tutu, head of the truth and reconciliation commission, surprised Bilheimer with his response, saying that "these people have committed monstrous acts," but that, according to Christianity, traffickers can still be redeemed and become saints.

[42] The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) hosted a preview screening at the Willard InterContinental Washington in September 2009 as part of a day-long symposium on human trafficking.

[27] A preview screening in Egypt, including the material shot in that country that was later removed,[34] took place in December 2010 at the International Forum against Human Trafficking in Luxor.

[21] Bilheimer recognized that people combatting human trafficking are in need of resources, so he considered various options with respect to the intellectual property of Not My Life, ultimately deciding to release the film at charge[46] in addition to selling licenses for unlimited private screenings.

[51] A hotel chain presented the film to its staff in London in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics to raise awareness about the types of human trafficking that might take place in conjunction with the events.

[54] That same year, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency gave Worldwide Documentaries a grant to do anti-human trafficking work over a three-year period.

[59] For the 2014 re-release of the film, Bilheimer added new content relating to India, including an interview with Kailash Satyarthi, founder of the non-governmental organization Bachpan Bachao Andolan which opposes child labor.

She commended Bilheimer on the few interviews with traffickers that he did include, but she condemned as inadequate the "only passing reference to the thousands of men who engage in sexual tourism, like those who travel to Cambodia to 'buy' traumatized children who they can then abuse for weeks at a time."

Popescu also called the film "simplistic", arguing that it should have more clearly expressed that sex trafficking victims are not able to provide legitimate consent for sexual activity because they are afraid that their lives might be in danger if they do not comply.

Rash praised the film for its global scope, but suggested that this geographical breadth allows American audiences to ignore the fact that the trafficking of children is prevalent in the United States and not just in other countries.

"[24] Tripurari Sharan, Director General of DD, said that his organization was pleased to air the film and hoped that doing so would bring about greater awareness across India about human trafficking in the country.