It has been reported that Steve McQueen began working on the idea for Small Axe in 2010, and that some form of the series was in development since 2012. While the series was initially conceived as a conventional television series with a serialized story, McQueen realized during development that he had sufficient material to make several distinct films.
The title references a proverb - "If you are the big tree, we are the small axe" - that was popularised by Bob Marley in his 1973 song "Small Axe".
Although this is an anthology of five feature-length films, it, as a whole, won the "Best Picture" award at the 46th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2020.
The studio made headlines after failing to pay a bill of over a million euros to local services in filming locations in Finland for the series Constellation.