Editing Sweet and Lowdown (section)

==Production==

=== Development ===
After his 1969 directing debut ''[[Take the Money and Run (film)|Take the Money and Run]]'', Allen signed a contract to direct a series of films with [[United Artists]]. Told to "write what you want to write," Allen, a clarinetist and avid jazz enthusiast, wrote ''The Jazz Baby'', a drama screenplay about a jazz musician set in the 1930s. Allen said later that the United Artists executives were "stunned&nbsp;... because they had expected a comedy. [They] were very worried and told me, 'We realize that we signed a contract with you and you can do anything you want. But we want to tell you that we really don't like this.'"{{sfn|Bjorkman|2005|p=36-37}} Allen went along with United Artists, writing and directing ''[[Bananas (film)|Bananas]]'' instead. In 1995, he dismissed ''The Jazz Baby'' as having been "probably too ambitious."{{sfn|Bjorkman|2005|p=36-37}}

In 1998, Allen returned to the project, rewriting the script and changing its name to ''Sweet and Lowdown''. Allen had originally planned to play Ray himself, but eventually cast [[Sean Penn]]. Allen also considered [[Johnny Depp]], but Depp was busy at the time.{{sfn|Bjorkman|2005|p=347-356}} Penn had a reputation for being difficult to work with, but Allen later said, "I had no problem with him whatsoever&nbsp;... He gave it his all and took direction and made contributions himself&nbsp;... a tremendous actor."{{sfn|Bjorkman|2005|p=347-356}}

Allen, in a retrospective, said that he told Samantha Morton to "play [her] part like [[Harpo Marx]]. And she said, 'Who is Harpo Marx?' and I realized how young she was. Then I told her about him [and] she went back and saw the films."{{sfn|Bjorkman|2005|p=347-356}}

=== Filming ===
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2023}}
''Sweet and Lowdown'' was filmed entirely in [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[New Jersey]]<ref name="Record2002">{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Tom |date=January 2, 2002 |title=A Place For Troops, Troupes, Hoops: Teaneck Armory Still Vital |work=[[The Record (Bergen County)|The Record]] |url=http://www.teaneck.org/virtualvillage/Armory/armory2002.html |url-status=dead |access-date=June 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306013425/http://www.teaneck.org/virtualvillage/Armory/armory2002.html |archive-date=March 6, 2012}}</ref> but is set in the Chicago area and California. {{vague|date=March 2023}}{{sfn|Bjorkman|2005|p=347-356}}

The film was the first of Allen's that was edited by [[Alisa Lepselter]], who has edited all of Allen's films since. Lepselter succeeded [[Susan E. Morse]], who edited Allen's films for the previous twenty years.

It was also the first of three films where Allen collaborated with Chinese [[cinematographer]] [[Zhao Fei]].  Allen had first noticed Zhao with his award-winning work on ''[[Raise the Red Lantern]]'', some years earlier.