Said Brougher, "The script began with my fascination with the idea that people lead secret lives–or keep aspects of their lives secret from those they’re close to—the story of a teenager's hidden pregnancy grew out of that. After I started writing it, I began noticing items in the news. And, people started to tell me about their unexpected and hidden pregnancies–not all of which ended tragically. My research indicated this sort of thing happens often–and it doesn't always make the headlines." Brougher added, "I realized that news stories just present the facts, but they don’t delve into emotional realities and subtleties of situations...What happens to Stephanie is the sum of many missed opportunities of communication. I wanted to explore how and why that happened, and how, when she starts talking to her mom and to the psychologist, it’s transformative in all their lives." In her research on concealed pregnancies and women accused of neonaticide, Brougher came upon many cases of young women who went into shock or disassociation while in labor. Though safe-haven laws have been enacted to combat the problem of infanticide, Brougher argued the law does not address the root cause of pregnancy denial and concealment, saying, "[A lot of these women] can’t even admit to themselves that they’re pregnant. A heater doesn’t do a freezing person any good unless they can admit they’re cold and turn it on." Of her script's intention, Brougher said, "I’d like audiences to think about what happens to a women during pregnancy, rather than just the results. There are a lot of films about what happens when a baby is brought home, but Stephanie Daley is about the window of time during pregnancy, when a woman questions her own identity and her relationship to the world." The script went through development at the Sundance Institute in 2001. Before finishing the script, Brougher gave birth to twins. As the film was securing financing in the fall of 2004, Tilda Swinton, who had read the script on the recommendation of her agent, signed on to star as Lydie and also as an executive producer. Amber Tamblyn signed on that December. Filming Filming took place in Greene County, New York in the towns of Tannersville, Hunter and Catskill. The ski trip scenes were filmed at Hunter Mountain. Principal photography began on September 7, 2005 and wrapped on October 6. Release Stephanie Daley had its world