The cover of Gray's spiral notebook is an illustration of Ronald McDonald kicking a soccer ball.
Gray refers to the Cambodian photojournalist Dith Pran who survived the Khmer Rouge and ended up working for the New York Times. The year the present film was made, 1986, was the year that Pran received his U.S. citizenship. He passed away from cancer at the age of 65 in March, 2008.