According to a news item in HH in May 1933, Nathanael West had been signed to work on the screenplay for Nana. HR news items in Aug 1933, during the film's production, noted that Marion Orth was to collaborate on the script, and that writers Allen Rivkin and P. J. Wolfson were borrowed from M-G-M to work on the picture. An MPH article on the film also noted that producer Samuel Goldwyn hired writers Edwin Justus Mayer and Leo Birinski to work on the script when George Fitzmaurice was to be the director. None of these writers were credited onscreen, in reviews or in the SAB, and the extent of their participation in the released film has not been determined. Another Aug 1933 news item in HR noted that Harry Wagstaff Gribble was to drop his writing job for the picture and become the director of dialogue. Onscreen, however, Gribble is only credited with screenplay adaptation, and Willard Mack is listed as dialogue director.
       Nana was director Dorothy Arzner's only film for Samuel Goldwyn, and marked the American motion picture debut of Russian-born actress Anna Sten. A number of articles appeared in trade papers and popular magazines about Sten prior to her appearance in Nana. Modern sources have noted that Goldwyn was determined to find a popular European star in the mold of Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich. Previously, Sten had been announced as the lead in Barbary Coast, which was released in 1935, but had initially been planned for production prior to Nana. Sten made two additional films for Goldwyn, We Live Again in 1934 and The Wedding Night in 1935. Modern sources indicate that her lack of popularity with American audiences finally made Goldwyn realize that she would never become the new Garbo or Dietrich, and he terminated her contract. After leaving Goldwyn, Sten appeared sporadically in films until the early 1960s.
       News items in FD and HR indicate that actor Warren William was borrowed from Warner Bros. for the role of Andre Muffat, which eventually went to Lionel Atwill, and that the services of composers Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart were borrowed from M-G-M. Other news items and production charts note that actress Pert Kelton was borrowed from RKO for the role of "Satin," but after several weeks of filming she was replaced by Mae Clark and much of the film shot prior to Kelton's departure was scrapped. A 9 Sep 1933 article in HR said that there was "some talk around that Pert was in danger of pulling a picture-stealing act." HR news item include Moffat Johnson and Byron von Brecht in the cast, however, their participation in the released film has not been confirmed.
       According to information contained in the file on the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, in Aug 1931, Josef von Sternberg considered doing a version of Nana with Dietrich, and early in 1932 Universal was investigating the possibility of doing an adaptation of the novel, which was in the public domain. The Goldwyn production met with no serious opposition from the Hays Office. Changes suggested by the office were minimal and confined to nuances in certain lines of dialogue. On 23 Aug 1933, James Wingate of the Hays Office praised the adaptation for turning the nature of Nana and George Muffat's relationship into genuine love. The picture was approved without eliminations in most territories, although censors in Spokane, WA tried to ban the picture according to a 4 Apr 1934 DV news item because "Sten should have suffered more for her wrongdoing." A news item in HR on 6 Jun 1934 noted that Goldwyn was taking a heavy loss on the film because audiences were not enthusiastic about it. Modern sources include Lucille Ball, Clarence Wilson, Albert Conti, Gino Corrado, Bramwell Fletcher, Wilson Benge, Tom Ricketts and Charles Middleton in the cast. Other filmed adaptations of Émile Zola's novel include a 1912 Danish version, a 1923 German version, a French/Italian version in 1955 and a British made-for-television version in 1974.