This was Derek Mio's first role. He heard about auditions from a relative who saw a casting notice in a local paper. However, when Mio's casting submission was received, he had already been recommended to director Chris Tashima by his friend François Chau, who had recently seen Mio at a commercial audition.
The original title of the film was "Independence Day," which is the title of the play it is adapted from. However, to try to avoid being overshadowed by the well known Will Smith movie, the producers changed the name during preproduction.
Lisa Onodera was originally approached to produce the film, in summer of 2002. She was very interested, but also 7 months pregnant, and decided the timing was too risky for the production. Another producer was brought onboard, but then lost, and filming was postponed. By the time production was remounted in spring of 2003, Onodera had given birth to a healthy baby, and was able to sign on as producer.
François Chau was originally cast as The Umpire. During an unexpected 9-month delay of production (while a replacement producer was sought), Chris Tashima decided he wanted to play the character, and recast himself in the role.
The name of the character, Frances, played by Lisa Joe, is named in tribute to Joe's mother, Frances Sue Okabe, who passed away from lung cancer a few months before filming. Okabe was a well known music teacher and singing instructor in Los Angeles, and a good friend of many involved with the production. Okabe was interned as a teenager during World War II at the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho, where she was famous for her singing. Joe recorded the National Anthem for the soundtrack in a studio on Mother's Day in 2003, and kept a photo of her mother on the music stand, while she sang.