The meaning of the title "Ten Empty" refers to the number of canvasses the mother is given to paint as part of her psychological cognitive therapy. When given to her, they are ten empty canvasses.
Debut produced screenplay for a major theatrical feature film of the movie's screenwriters Brendan Cowell and Anthony Hayes though previously the latter had written the script for the short feature film 'New Skin' (2002).
This film's director Anthony Hayes said of this film in a 9th July 2008 interview with 'Time Out': "After 'The Castle' [1997] there was a string of comedies trying to replicate that success with cardboard cut-out characters, which really annoyed me. That's what we were working against in 'Ten Empty'. That surface wit. Men cracking jokes instead of dealing with their emotions. What happens when you run out of jokes?. The people I grew up with kept things to themselves, but they'd open up too. The average Aussie bloke is not just a beer-swilling idiot, and we wanted to show that."
Debut major theatrical feature film directed by director Anthony Hayes though he had previously directed the short feature film 'New Skin' (2002).
The film's screenplay was co-written over about a five year period.