Directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West had both previously worked on projects involving Ginsburg, and in 2015 decided to make a documentary focusing solely on her. In 2016, the duo followed Ginsburg around to various meetings and speeches, including in Chicago and Washington, D.C., for a total of 20 hours, and conducted the face-to-face interview in 2017.
Whilst making the film, directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen asked Ruth Bader Ginsburg how she'd like to be remembered. On the day that Ginsberg died in September 2020, West and Cohen revealed her answer. She'd said: "Just as someone who did whatever she could, with whatever limited talent she had, to move society along in the direction I would like it to be for my children and grandchildren".
It took a couple of years of background filming and appearances before Ruth Bader Ginsburg agreed to let Betsy West and Julie Cohen film her day-to-day activities and give them an interview.
One of the highest grossing independent films of 2018.
One of the rare documentary features to receive more than one Academy Award nomination. An Inconvenient Truth (2006) and Honeyland (2019) are other examples.