Production began on The Producers in May 1967. It was shot entirely on location in New York City.

In a Playboy magazine interview (December 1974 issue), Mel Brooks recalled the filming of The Producers: "I did dumb things. First day on the set, first scene, sound men are ready, cameras are rolling, the director's supposed to say: 'Action!' Being a little nervous, I said: 'Cut!'"

Brooks, being a first time director, was often challenged in his creative decisions by Zero Mostel who had his own ideas about staging and performance after years of experience on the stage and in film. Brooks was used to the lightning pace of live television and could easily get impatient with the slowness of a film shoot. Zero, in turn, often offered unsolicited advice to Brooks on how he should direct a scene. The two lashed out at each other occasionally, but there was a mutual respect. Any animosity on the set was short lived.

Mostel took Gene Wilder under his wing while making The Producers, and the two became friends. "You may have heard stories about how bombastic, aggressive, and dictatorial Zero might be," said Wilder. "It didn't happen with me. He always took care of me. I loved him. He looked after me as if I were a baby sparrow."

The composer of the film, John Morris, was given the daunting task of creating the showcase musical number "Springtime for Hitler." Brooks directed him to create the biggest, flashiest, tackiest, most terrible number he could think of. "Every time we hit a level," said Morris, "we'd have to go broader, bigger, and that was the fun of it."

When it was completed, The Producers was in danger of not receiving a theatrical release. Producer Joseph Levine was dubious about its offensive humor and thought it might cause more trouble than it was worth so the film was temporarily shelved.

One night actor Peter Sellers and a group of show business friends saw The Producers. They had formed an informal film society where they watched one film a week together in Los Angeles. On this particular night, they couldn't get the film they originally intended to watch, but a copy of The Producers was available so they watched it instead. Although the group's reaction may have been influenced by the use of some illegal substances, an enthusiastic word of mouth campaign slowly grew from there. Peter Sellers even took out a full page ad in Variety singing his praises for The Producers and proclaiming it the "ultimate film."

by Andrea Passafiume & Scott McGee