Screenwriter Bess Meredyth, and her husband, actor-writer-director Wilfred Lucas, moved to Australia in the late summer of 1919 to begin work on a series of starring vehicles for athlete Reginald Leslie “Snowy” Baker, also known as Rex Baker. The 2 Aug 1919 and 13 Sep 1919 editions of Camera included cameraman Robert Doran and assistant director Jack Wells among the crew. Actor and aspiring director Howard Gaye had planned to join the company but remained in Los Angeles, CA, to fulfill a prior commitment.
       The upcoming production was advertised in the 21 Feb 1920 [Sydney, Australia] Smith’s Weekly. Principal photography was underway by the following month. The 10 Mar 1920 Sydney Mail recounted a scene in which Baker was required to leap upon a background actor who was riding his horse at full gallop. The anonymous player, described as a “bushman,” escaped without injury but refused to take any further physical risks. Baker and E. J. Carroll were credited as coproducers.
       News items in the 20 Mar 1920 and 25 Mar 1920 editions of Wid’s Daily reported that Meredyth and Lucas were making a brief visit to the U.S. The couple was expected to arrive in San Francisco, CA, on 1 Apr 1920. Meanwhile, The Shadow of Lightning Ridge made its Melbourne, Australia, debut on 3 Apr 1920 at the Melbourne Town Hall. North American distribution for the film, along with subsequent Carroll-Baker productions, was to be handled by Hal Roach of Rolin Film Co., according to the 12 Apr 1920 Wid’s Daily. However, on 27 Aug 1921, Motion Picture News announced that the release had been taken over by Nathan Hirsh of states’ rights distributor Aywon Film Corp. Sales in several regions of the U.S. had already been completed at the time of the article.