The Ref - Production

Production

Screenwriter Richard LaGravenese co-wrote the film with his sister-in-law Marie Weiss. The script was inspired by their families. For example, the film's dinner scene: "Both Marie and I are Italian Catholics who married into Jewish families, so we do have those big holiday dinners", LaGravenese said. Weiss began writing the script in 1989 after she and her husband moved from New York to California. Inspiration came from an argument she had with him and she thought, "wouldn't it be great if there were a third party to step in and referee?" She wrote several drafts and consulted with LaGravenese in 1991 and they took it to Disney. The studio approved the project within 20 minutes. LaGravenese spent a year rewriting the script until he finally got "tired of doing rewrites for executives".

After Ted Demme directed comedian Denis Leary in No Cure for Cancer, a stand-up comedy special for Showtime, they got the script for The Ref and decided to do it. The studio cast Leary based on the sarcastic funny man persona he cultivated in MTV spots that Demme directed. Their involvement motivated LaGravenese to come back to the project. The film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, known mostly for their big budget action films during the 1980s. Simpson described the overall tone of The Ref as "biting and sarcastic. Just my nature".

After test audiences responded poorly to the film's original ending - where Gus turns himself in - a new ending was shot in January 1994.