The Maysles brothers wanted to be the first to make a nonfiction feature film (which turned out to be "Salesman") after learning that Truman Capote had made the claim that his newly released book "In Cold Blood" was a nonfiction novel. The film was made on a low budget; just under seven minutes into the film, one of the two cameras used can be seen in the shot which was not unusual for a documentary film. The handheld microphone used to record the film's sound is visible in other shots, also not unusual in a documentary setting.