The administration at the real Kent State University would not allow the movie to be filmed on their campus. Gadsden State Junior College in Alabama was chosen because of its remarkable similarity (at the time) to Kent State University.
Filmed on location in Gadsden, Alabama. The city's mayor, Steve Means, had a cameo as a reporter in a news conference.
The scene in which the ROTC building was burned had to be reshot, because the original fire got out of control. That meant the ROTC facade had to be rebuilt in two days.
John Filo played the uncredited role of himself. John was the Kent State student photographer who took the Pulitzer Prize winning, world famous photo of Mary Vecchio kneeling by the body of Jeffery Miller seconds after Jeffery was shot to death.