The film, directed by Daniel Anker, was shown at a number of 2005 cinema festivals, including the Sydney Film Festival, the Full-Frame International Documentary Festival, the AFI/Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS festival and the Valladolid International Film Festival. It follows the experiences of the 105 Philadelphia Orchestra musicians in the U.S and abroad; according to a press statement, it explores "how and why is music relevant to our lives."

The documentary was filmed over a period of five years on three continents. It features behind the scenes glimpses of the players' lives, such as cellist Udi Bar-David's collaboration with Palestinian musician Simon Shaheen; violist Judy Geist's dual career as a painter; trombonist Nitzan Haroz playing in a salsa club and French horn player Adam Unsworth's interest in marathon running and jazz improvisation.

According to the statement, Music From the Inside Out is the first major film featuring a symphony orchestra in more than ten years and features the Philadelphia musicians in their first motion picture appearance since Disney's landmark film Fantasia was released in 1940.