The idea for the movie came from the backgrounds of both
Richard Linklater and
Kim Krizan. Linklater spent a night walking around Philadelphia with Amy, a woman he randomly met. Krizan rode around Europe on trains meeting people and on one trip met a Norwegian man on the way to Paris, and ended up walking around the city all night much like
Antes do Amanhecer (1995). Krizan has never revealed whether or not they had a romance that night and they lost contact.
Linklater and Amy stayed in touch for a while, until contact was lost and he never heard from her again. It was not until 2010 that Linklater found out that Amy had died in a traffic accident before the release of
Antes do Amanhecer (1995), the first film in the trilogy. Krizan has never re-connected with the Norwegian man that was her inspiration for the famous night of walking around a European city.
