In 2013, Millburn and Nicodemus approached film director Matt D’Avella of Catalyst to join them on their upcoming world tour to promote their newest book, Everything That Remains. D’Avella had filmed the promotional video for the book earlier that year, and Millburn and Nicodemus wanted him to film their experiences and interactions on the tour so they could include the footage in a future project.

In 2014, D’Avella accompanied Millburn and Nicodemus on several legs of the tour, filming their travels, their events, and their interviews with contemporaries and members of the media. As they periodically reviewed the dailies, they all agreed a narrative was beginning to emerge. It was then that they decided to form a partnership to develop the footage into a documentary film.

In 2015, D’Avella completed the post-production of the film with assistance from the design firm, SPYR.

In 2016, the partnership of The Minimalists, Catalyst, and SPYR released the film theatrically in May as Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things.