The radio station call letters "WOTW" are an homage to "War of the Worlds", a novel by H.G. Wells and, more aptly, its radio play adaptation by Orson Welles.
The town's name Cayuga is borrowed from Cayuga Productions, Rod Serling's production company that produced The Twilight Zone (1959). There is no such town as Cayuga, New Mexico.
Filmed in 17 days in September 2016.
While Everett is walking Fay to her job at the telephone exchange, Fay begins recounting interesting articles she's read recently, all of which come from various editions of the magazine Mechanix Illustrated. The articles referenced, in order, are: "Electronic Highway of the Future" from January 1958, "A-Powered Trains in Glass Tubes" from December 1956, and "Your Telephone of Tomorrow" from September 1956.
The long take sequence when Fay sends Everett the mysterious signal consists of four practical shots with CGI used to create transitions between them. Set production assistant Nathan Price drove a go-kart to emphasize the small scale of the town at night.