Nell Shipman Productions was formed in October 1920.
Nell Shipman and Bert Van Tuyle's ''The Girl from God's Country
was a financial failure and they had to sell car and house in Highland Park, Los Angeles. On February 8, 1922, she announced her next film would be made in Spokane, Washington, on a budget of at least $110,000. Fundraising from 300 people raised US$180,000 () for The Grub-Stake''. Van Tuyle co-directed the film with Shipman, who also wrote and edited the film and played the lead role. Shipman stated that her script for the film was outdated for the time.
Lillian Leighton and
Walt Whitman, who starred in ''The Girl from God's Country
, performed in The Grub-Stake''.
Joseph Walker was the cinematographer, with
Robert Newhard in charge of the second camera. Filming was initially done in Spokane, at Minnehaha Studios owned by Dorothy and Wellington Playter starting on March 7, 1922. The interior scenes set in Seattle and Dawson City were shot at Minnehaha Studios. The production crew arrived for filming in
Ione, Washington, on March 9, and then filmed at the
Lake Pend Oreille for ten days in March. The production ended in
Priest Lake, Idaho, in August 1922. A scene set in a dance-hall featured 300 extras on set. A storm scene in the film was shot
night-for-night with two
Klieg lights illuminating the area, two fire hoses used for rain, and an airplane engine for wind. The cliff-hanging scene was shot at Mount Lookout, the highest mountain in the area. No
doubles were used for Shipman in the film. The film used 22
Alaskan Malamute dogs. Shipman's zoo from Highland Park was moved to Seattle, where a $500 beaver pond was created at the studio, before being moved to
Priest Lake, Idaho. Her animal collection included bears, wolves, dogs, bobcats, beavers, skunks, elk, deer, eagles, and one cougar. Brownie the Bear bit Van Tuyle's hand causing severed
tendons and broken bones. The carpentry shop at the Seattle studio was used to create 200 transportation cages for the animals. The animal scenes took several weeks to film. A total of 50,000 feet of film was shot, edited down to 11,000 feet across twelve film feels. Van Tuyle later reduced this to 10,000 feet and then to 8,000 feet. A final cut of the film was made with 7,000 feet across seven film reels. A laboratory on
Sunset Boulevard agreed to wait for payment for its services in exchange for holding onto the
negatives. The cast sued Shipman for two weeks of back pay. They attempted to
lien the negative and final print, but the laboratory denied that she was at the property and she would leave via the
fire escape when necessary. Van Tuyle and Shipman pawned their furniture and family heirlooms in order to finance a sales trip to New York. A judge in
Sandpoint, Idaho, ordered that her animals be auctioned on April 17, 1925, in order to pay $795 Shipman owed to Sam Byers, but Judge Charles Heitman cancelled the auction and returned the animals to her; the animals were later acquired by the
San Diego Zoo. Nell Shipman Productions went bankrupt and this was the last feature film that Shipman made. ==Release==