The title of the film is used in the whimsical sense of "turned into stuff" as an homage to the acclaimed Brazilian novelist João Guimarães Rosa, who loved to create new words and expressions. The character of the private eye is inspired by the gunman Hermógenes from his masterpiece "The Devil To Pay In The Backlands".
Like in the short story by Marcelo Carneiro da Cunha, in which the film is based, the private eye's outlandish name Hermógenes ("er-mo-jee-nees") is never mentioned, appearing only in the ending credits.
All the names mentioned on the film are tributes to writers and directors of the noir genre: Billy Cain (Billy Wilder and James M. Cain), Ray Thornton (Raymond Chandler), Burnett (W.R. Burnett) and Senator Hammett (Dashiell Hammett).
Director Gabriela Egito examined 3000 head shots and resumes to cast the actor Steven T. Bartlett for the private eye's role.
Since Los Angeles, where the film was shot, is one of the most multicultural cities in U.S., the 50 people from cast and crew are from 14 different nationalities: Brazil, U.S., China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, U.K., and Venezuela.