 During a conversation between David Lynch (I) (qv) and  Laura Dern (qv), Dern mentioned that her husband was from the  Inland Empire (an area east of Los Angeles County, including  Riverside and San Bernadino County). Lynch confesses he stopped  listening to what she was saying because he loved the sound of the  words "Inland Empire", and finally decided on these words as the  title of his movie because "I like the word inland. And I like the  word empire."