Emma Mae was the second of three films Jamaa Fanaka made while a student at UCLA and was his masters thesis.

The production was financed in part by the American Film Institute.

Emma Mae was shot entirely in Compton, California, where Fanaka's family relocated when he was 11.

The character of Emma Mae was based on Jamaa Fanaka's cousin, Daisy Lee, who was sent to Compton from Crystal Springs, Missouri, every year for summer vacations.

Jerri Hayes was a Theatre student at UCLA when she was cast as Emma Mae.

The park seen in the film's opening title sequence was Compton's West Park.

The conga player seen in the opening frames is jazz percussionist Doug Sides.

The jailhouse sequence was shot at the long-closed Lincoln Heights Jail.

Emma Mae cinematographer Stephen Posey was later a second unit director on the cult film classics The Howling (1981) and Repo Man (1984). He also shot Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) and is now a busy television director.

The film's composer, Hidle Brown ("H. B.") Barnum, had a Top 40 hit with "Lost Love" in 1960, but is best known as an arranger for such artists as Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight and the Pips.

by Richard Harland Smith

Sources:
Jamaa Fanaka interview by Michael Guillen, The Evening Class
Jamaa Fanaka interview by Suzanne Donahue, AssociatedContent.com
Jamaa Fanaka interview by Millie De Chirico
www.hbbarnum.com
Internet Movie Database