The script was written by Michael Arndt and was originally about an East Coast road trip from Maryland to Florida, but was shifted to a journey from New Mexico to California because of budget issues. Arndt started the script on May 23, 2000 and completed the first rough draft by May 26. He had initially planned on shooting the film himself by raising several thousand dollars and using a camcorder. Instead, he gave the screenplay to producers Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger who teamed up with Deep River Productions to find a potential director. Addressing the inclusion of the "Fargo" character Stan Grossman in the film after its release, Arndt stated that he had "just assumed that people [the filmmakers known it was a tribute to "Fargo", but that actuality people didn’t realize until we started shooting", in addition expressing gratitude towards the Coen brothers for allowing him to retain the character.