In order to compete with the majors for playdates, A.I.P. had to think up exploitation subjects to attract audiences with titles and advertising rather than stars they could not afford. However, they tried to topline their films with at least some recognizable names who had appeared in major studio product. Producer and movie buff Alex Gordon was always trying to get as many old-timers as possible into his pictures even in the smallest roles. Girls in Prison was filmed in 10 days and utilized newsreel footage of the Tehachapi earthquake inter-cut with studio shots for the climax.