If anyone knows how to turn awkward family moments into a Hollywood success story, it would Jared and Jerusha Hess.
The annual Silicon Slopes Summit was hosted in downtown Salt Lake City last week, and one of the most intriguing breakout offers was a panel on comedy featuring the two married filmmakers.
Friday morning, the Hesses sat onstage with tech entrepreneur Ryan Westwood to discuss their careers.
“Jared and I are kind of dorky people. We were always on the outskirts of our communities. All of our characters are underdogs and we love them,” Jerusha said.
Moments after they sat down, a “Napoleon Dynamite” flash mob erupted onstage, with at least a dozen dancers in full Napoleon garb, including “Vote for Pedro” shirts.
“Napoleon Dynamite,” which was Jared and Jerusha’s first hit film, was released in 2004 with a production budget of $200,000, according to Jared.
For comparison, his most recent hit film, “A Minecraft Movie,” had a production budget of $150 million.
“Napoleon Dynamite” got its start at the Sundance Film Festival, and the couple, who are both BYU film school graduates, expressed sadness that the festival will move out of state in 2027.
‘Napoleon Dynamite’ was a family affair — literally
After the flash mob, Hess shared a fascinating tidbit on one particular scene.
With only 10 minutes of film remaining, the crew had time for just three takes of the dance — and Jon Heder performed it differently each time.
“We did ‘Canned Heat,’ Michael Jackson’s ‘Rock with You,’ and then a Backstreet Boys song,” Jared Hess recalled.
They then spliced together the best moments from each take. Jared joked that there is no continuity between dance moves — and now viewers know why.
Jerusha then stepped in to reveal something else:
“‘Napoleon Dynamite’ was based 100% on family stories. We didn’t come up with any of that stuff. That is just all of our brothers wrapped up into one awkward kid.”
Jared immediately jumped in and said, “When my mom saw the movie, she was like, ‘Well, that was a lot of embarrassing family material.’”
In fact, Jared shared that his brother James, then in high school, once called him asking for ChapStick.
Jared reflected on how marketing and advertising for movies have changed, saying that at first, Fox Searchlight Pictures showed the film for free before its official release.
Additional marketing efforts included handing out ChapStick and “Vote for Pedro” shirts across the country.
A week after the movie came out, Jerusha said, the local Hot Topic store was selling tables full of “Napoleon Dynamite” merchandise.
Continuing with the inspiration behind the movie, Jerusha commented, “The special sauce is paying attention to people around us and writing their stories down.”
“Personal stories feel real. Even ‘Nacho Libre’ was based on a real friar who was moonlighting as a wrestler in Mexico,” she continued.
‘Nacho Libre’ was (loosely) based on a true story
Two years later, they made “Nacho Libre.”
Jared shared that he drew inspiration from Lucha Libre cinema, which began in the 1950s and 1960s and often portrayed wrestlers as superheroes fighting mummies and aliens and “kickin’ butt all around,” he said.
Through a friend who was a producer at Paramount Pictures, the Hesses met Fray Tormenta, a Mexican Catholic priest who spent 23 years as a masked luchador to financially support the orphanage he ran.
“We went and met him. He’s an amazing, amazing human being,” Jared said.
The couple told him they “were going to get silly with this” and that it would be a comedy.
Hess said the movie was not based specifically on Tormenta’s story but was inspired by it.
“Nacho Libre” remains wildly popular and beloved in Mexico.
Just last year, the Hesses joined Jack Black, Jason Momoa and others in Mexico City for a press tour promoting “A Minecraft Movie.”
They were told an estimated 10,000 people would attend. Instead, 25,000 showed up — most there to see the man behind the luchador mask, Jack Black.
“Jack came down this giant escalator, and they (the crowd) were just like (chanting), ‘Nacho! Nacho! Nacho!’”
“It was almost a bigger ‘Nacho’ event than it was ‘Minecraft,’” Jared said.
‘Minecraft Movie’ skyrocketed
“A Minecraft Movie” was one of the highest-grossing films of 2025.
But Jared noted that before its release, “it was a dry time for theatergoers,” citing that the period right after the holidays is always a slow and tricky time for films.
The movie was released April 4, earning $58 million on its first day and recording the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time. It also achieved:
- $162.8 million domestically and $313 million globally on opening weekend
- The third-highest opening weekend for a Warner Bros. film
- The fourth-highest opening weekend for a PG-rated film
“When ‘Minecraft’ popped off, it was a reminder that cinema is not dead. Theatergoing is not dead,” Jared said.
Movie theaters were suddenly revived by groups of middle schoolers and “even college nerds,” Hess said.
Their endearing relationship with Jack Black
During the discussion, Westwood asked why Black keeps wanting to collaborate with Jared Hess.
Jerusha demonstrated by pressing her forehead against Jared’s and holding the back of his head. “It’s because they get together and they just do this,” she said.
“They just cry and their beards kinda co-mingle,” she said.
Both Jared and Black have gargantuan beards.
On a much more serious note, however, Jerusha later shared a touching story..
The Hesses rented a movie theater for their son, who has Down syndrome, and his entire class to see the “Minecraft” movie.
Jared then called Black, and both immediately began weeping.
Black asked to switch the call to FaceTime and spoke with every student in the class, along with all the teachers and aides.
“Jack is just a doll like that. He’s a freaking global treasure. (He’s a) freaking saint,” Jerusha said, her admiration evident.
Jared added, “He’s one of my best friends. He’s the sweetest dude on the planet, and if I talk about him too long, I’ll start crying. When he’s not working, he’s literally visiting kids’ and children’s hospitals.”
Oscar-nominated ‘Ninety-Five Senses’
The Hesses concluded their remarks by introducing and screening a 14-minute animated short film they directed, titled “Ninety-Five Senses.”
The short features the voice of Tim Blake Nelson as a death row inmate facing his own mortality, bidding a final farewell to each of his five senses.
The film was nominated for an Oscar.