The series was inspired by, and is loosely based on, the memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman, who left the Satmar movement, a Hassidic community in New York City.[4] The show has language switching from English to Yiddish to German.[2] The show was written by Anna Winger and Alexa Karolinski, directed by Maria Schrader, produced by Karolinski, and filmed in Berlin.[5] Unorthodox is the first Netflix series to be primarily in Yiddish.[6][7]