The series is based on a documentary-biography titled 'Zenra Kantoku Muranishi Tōru Den' by Nobuhiro Motohashi; the book was a finalist for the 39th Kodansha Non-fiction Award, and Motohashi included interviews he conducted with Muranishi over 30 years in the book.

Producer Kazutaka Sakamoto encountered the book in early 2017 when a director friend attempted to adapt it but gave up, and he took on the project at Netflix; Netflix wanted the story, despite taking place in the 1980s, to be a universal 'underdog hero' story that could connect with contemporary audiences.

The production team brought Jason George, who worked as a producer on the Netflix series Narcos, as a consultant; George provided input on how to create empathy for an unlawful character in viewers and ensure intimate scenes were not disrespectful to women, and the discussions were so productive that he took on script oversight as well.

The series was formally greenlit as Netflix Japan's first production for its first season on October 25, 2018.

While the average per-episode budget for Japanese dramas is 10-20 million yen, The Naked Director's per-episode budget was reported to be over 100 million yen; thanks to this exceptionally high budget, the Shinjuku-Kabukicho district where the series is set was reconstructed on a massive set and close collaboration took place with crews who work on Hollywood productions.

The script was written using a 'team writing' method rarely used in Japan: four screenwriters identified the scenes to be filmed and divided the tasks; for example, Eiji Uchida wrote the adult video filming scene in episode 3, and through this scene the team reached consensus on the characters and the overall vision of the series.

Lead director Masaharu Take joined the project after the script and editing had progressed to some extent; as a former adult video store employee, he personally experienced the Kaoru Kuroki era and attended the program 'Asamade Nama TV!' where she appeared as a viewer; being one of the rare people on the team who directly saw Kuroki, his impressions were reflected in the direction.

According to director Take, Misato Morita, while not physically resembling Kaoru Kuroki when preparing for the role, made her voice exactly the same as hers.

Parodies related to the series were made: Shinji Saito, a former member of Jungle Pocket, imitated the Muranishi character played by Yamada in the 'Ariyoshi no Kabe' program wearing white underwear and a video camera on his back; Tsuyoshi Kusanagi also portrayed the same character in 'Zettai ni Waratte wa Ikenai' programs with a similar costume and later appeared in a scene with the real Muranishi.

The series was criticized for using the real stage name of real-life AV actress Kaoru Kuroki without permission; Kuroki disclosed in a 1994 interview that she had experienced physical violence from Muranishi and withdrew from public life; Netflix clarified that neither Kuroki nor Muranishi were involved in the production and that the series was only an adaptation of Motohashi's book.

The first season had on Rotten Tomatoes as of 2020 an approval score where 96% of 100 viewer reviews were positive, and the series was broadcast in over 190 countries with dubbing in 12 languages and subtitles in 28 languages.