[1] Originally titled Nub City, this follow-up to Gates of Heaven initially focused on residents of the Southern town who cut off their own limbs as a way to collect insurance money.

After Morris's life was threatened by the subjects of the film, he re-worked Nub City into Vernon, Florida.

[2] After reading an article about the citizens of Vernon, Florida's propensity for collecting insurance money after losing limbs in accidents, Errol Morris, with financial help from filmmaker Werner Herzog, spent most of a year living in the town.

During this time, he tried to interview the residents about these accidents and was met with hostility, even receiving a death threat.

[3] In 1980, following the release of his first film Gates of Heaven, Morris secured funding from WNET and ZDF and returned to Vernon with the intention to make the "Nub City" documentary.