Incumbent was made as part of a 7 Day challenge inside of the Knoxville Film Festival in 2016, during the 7 days teams had to write, shoot, edit and submit a 7 minute film based on a genre that was pulled from random. Part of the requirements included three elements that must be included in the film which were 1) Moving Water 2) Famous Movie quote and 3) an animal sound. The 7 minute film was turned into the festival and the editor continued to make the actual 8 minute and 30 second version which was then submitted to YouTube and other Film Festivals.
While the film only received a nomination in the Film Festival it was made for, it went on to win the Director Thomas Moore his first Directors Award (Runner-Up Best Director) later that year at another Film Festival against 40 other films including worldwide submissions.