The movie was written and directed by David Jacobson and is a biography, crime, drama, and thriller film. Dahmer was the first film that David had written and directed. David seen an article which said "Dahmer claimed he killed those guys because he was too afraid to lose them", that's what drove David interest into making the film. The film was heavily based from Court TV’s coverage of Dahmer's trial. The movie was also based on a book his father Lionel Dahmer had written called " A Father's Story". Dahmer's father stated that "Jeffrey was a lonely, isolated, young man dangerously cut off from his own bottled up fury". The producer of the film had chosen to focus on Jeffrey's selection of his victims and the mind games he plays, right before killing his victims. Multiple producers were contacted by Jacobson in hopes that they would collaborate on the film, but many of the producers were disgusted by the explicit content. David stated "that he sent a 4 page statement on how he truly felt about the film, and what it was about". David managed to make the film in 18 days.