The first draft of the script was completed by Graham Killeen in Wisconsin in January 2004. Various rewrites, preproduction meetings, and funding meetings took up the bulk of Killeen's time until filming began in earnest in May 2005 and concluded in November 2006. Filming was primarily in Southeastern Wisconsin, but some second unit photography was completed in South Dakota and Minnesota. The earliest versions of the film were audience tested in June 2006, after which the film was drastically re-edited and completed in February 2007. Special visual effects were created by Little Fish Digital Studios in Wisconsin, and audio was completed by Brandaudio in Minnesota.