Stefanie bought a Black Magic Pocket Cinema 4k camera a few weeks before she started shooting in summer of 2019 and taught herself to shoot using YouTube videos believing this was the only way to get the performances she needed.
Stefanie met Aminah Nieves (Elsa) on set of HBO series "The Deuce" when they were both working as "Feminist Organizer" extras in the spring of 2019. She had been struggling for a few years to find the right actor for the role and attempted to give Aminah her card before she left set that day but was unable to find her. When Stefanie posted the role on Backstage a few weeks later, Aminah applied and Stefanie quickly gave her the role.
Stefanie met Maya Danzig (Maya Marks) at Magnet Theater (NYC) Lady Sketch lab in early 2017 and approached Maya about the part. Maya didn't read for it until 2019 and was immediately cast.
Principal photography for BLUEBERRY was done over 10 days in August of 2019 with $15,000. NYC Women's Fund provided a finishing grant and additional footage was shot in the summer of 2020 over 7 days covering footage in Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Stefanie (also the director/dp and editor) drove a rented Chevy Tahoe with the cast and crew packed inside while jumping out to shoot along the road as they drove.