Director Joyce Chopra knew Laura Dern was right for the role of Connie when she heard "Is That the Way You Look?" from James Taylor playing on Dern's answering machine. Ironically and unknown to Dern, Taylor was the movie's music director and had suggested using that song in particular as one of the soundtrack's featured songs.
This movie is partly based on the short story by Joyce Carol Oates titled "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" (1966). It's often hailed as a literary masterpiece on account of the many motifs and insightful views on modern culture.
This movie was also based on director Joyce Chopra's previous documentary "Girls at 12" (included in Joyce Chopra (1975)), in addition to Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?". The documentary follows three girls' everyday lives for about six months, and several moments were replicated to establish Connie's character as a typical teenage girl during the first half of this movie.
Although filmed in Northern California, the look of the movie was also meant to be infused with East Coast imagery, based on director Joyce Chopra and writer Tom Cole's home of Kent, Connecticut. Additional inspiration came from photographer Joel Meyerowitz's book "Cape Light" (1979), a collection of images from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A scene in the movie where Connie hides from Friend in her home's hallway was specifically modeled after one of Meyerowitz's photos.
This movie is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #1,068. The movie was earlier released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment on December 7, 2004, and on Blu-ray for the first time by Olive Films on November 24, 2015.