This film was made in celebration of Earth Day, 2012.
"One Step at a Time" features the onscreen debut for Brittney Vo (Little Girl), Trieu Vo (Dad on Phone), Brandon Vo (Little Boy), and Gia Thien Vo (Old Man). They are, respectively, director Joseph Tran's niece, cousin, nephew, and grandpa. Brittney has since expressed interest in appearing in more of the director's projects.
This film features three generations of the Vo family - Gia Thien Vo is the grandfather of Trieu Vo, and Brandon and Brittney Vo are the children of Trieu Vo.
Tran directed this film simultaneously in two languages - English and Vietnamese - because Gia Vo did not speak much English. Vo eventually understood Tran's directions in English because of his "big gestures" and "excitement in his direction".
Inspired by the works of Cinematographers Shane Hurlbut and Phillip Bloom, this is Tran's first project shot entirely on a DSLR camera. Tran also chose to omit dialogue in the film out of his fondness for old silent movies.