While filming, production used the name Flamingo, a reference to the defunct Flamingo Lounge in Baltimore, Maryland, which appears in the novel.
Lupita Nyong'o was originally cast in the lead role alongside Natalie Portman but dropped out soon after filming had already begun.
Filming took place in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Production was temporarily halted in August 2022 after threats of violence were received. A group of locals contacted producers, who were working a shoot on Park Avenue, in the downtown area of Baltimore. The group threatened to return in the evening to shoot somebody if production did not cease. Producers were also told to pay a sum of $50,000 to the group before production would be allowed to continue. They of course, did not pay, and production resumed with increased security measures. The "threats" from the public were later debunked by police. An accompanying police report describes conflicting statements that suggest a group was being disruptive to the production, but that the previously described threats were overstated or inaccurate. The production member who initially reported the incident claimed a person brandished a gun to the workers, but then "retracted his original statement" to say a driver had claimed they saw a gun. "[The brandishing of the gun] was determined to be inaccurate and the victim's recollection of the incident changed during the investigation," reads the report. While a member of the security company contracted by the production claimed a local group threatened to "shoot in the air" if they did not receive money, then admitted they did not have firsthand knowledge of the incident.
When Moses Ingram started filming, the show was already 100 days into production.