The idea for the script came when screenwriter Ben Kurstin was driving through Harvey, a town on the south side of Chicago, and passed by the old Dixie Square Mall where the car chase mall scene was filmed for the movie "The Blues Brothers." It was closed in November of 1978 and has been slowly falling apart ever since. Seeing it as a great location for a post apocalyptic movie, he began writing Chrysalis...but well before production started, the mall was torn down.
Chrysalis was originally slated to shoot in November/December of 2012, but scheduling conflicts pushed the film into the horrid Chicago winter, and the average temperature was in the low 20s throughout the production. Miraculously, though, it snowed for nearly every single exterior scene during principal photography, allowing the filmmakers to maintain weather continuity for the duration of the film.
The script began as a POV documentary-style film like "Cloverfield" or "The Blair Witch Project," but was scrapped due to logistical issues with how the characters would power a camera 25 years after the apocalypse. Some residual elements of this issue still exist in an early scene where Josh recharges batteries with a hand-powered crank.
This was the first time the filmmakers had used Kickstarter as a fundraising tool, They were able to raise over $35,000 from a pool of about 370 backers with a strong social media campaign, as well as creative perks like the chance to be an infected in the film and a "survival kit" that included a bunch of uniquely themed prizes.