Jared Hess knew that the Sundance premiere of “Napoleon Dynamite” 22 years ago would either end his career or mark its beginning. Luckily for him — and the film’s millions of fans — it turned out to be the latter.
The ”A Minecraft Movie” director and his wife, Jerusha Hess, recounted their Sundance experiences at this year’s culminating event, “Everyone Has a Story: Four Decades of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City.”
“Having this festival in our backyard was the biggest gift ever.”
— Director Jared Hess on Sundance
“The cultural impact that this festival has had on Utah cannot be overstated,” Jared Hess said. “Movies and stories from around the world brought here have affected this community (and) brought perspective and empathy and compassion here and beyond. And for that, I think we all need to thank Robert Redford.”
Eugene Hernandez, the director of the festival, introduced the two at the event, which included messages from a number of Sundance leadership and alums. Hernandez said he couldn’t think of any other local artists who are as closely tied to the Sundance Film Festival as the Hesses — the two went to film school in Utah and wrote the script for “Napoleon Dynamite” here, and the film premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. The Hesses returned to Sundance in 2015 with their comedy “Don Verdean,” which was filmed in Utah.
Jared Hess, who previously expressed his sadness at the Sundance Film Festival’s departure from Park City, recalled the years he spent attending the festival long before it featured his own film.
“Having this festival in our backyard was the biggest gift ever,” he said.
Hess described attending the Sundance Film Festival in 2003, when he and Jerusha had just finished their first draft of the “Napoleon Dynamite” script and were trying to raise money to shoot the film. Hess attended the U.S. premiere of Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later” and was “totally motivated” by the director’s creativity, which he said gave him hope for his own project.
“Napoleon Dynamite” began filming in Preston, Idaho, about five months later.
‘The best phone call I’ve ever had’
“Napoleon Dynamite” was shot on a minuscule $400,000 budget and features a type of humor that isn’t regularly featured at Sundance.
On top of that, producer Jeremy Coon submitted what Hess called a “hot garbage cut” of the film — unpolished, with no music — for their Sundance application, leaving Hess certain the film wouldn’t get in.
But Hess got choked up as he recalled the moment when Trevor Groth, then the festival’s senior programmer, called to let him know that “Napoleon Dynamite” had been accepted into the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
“That phone call, you guys, was the best phone call I’ve ever had,” he said, pausing for a moment to compose himself before continuing the story. Groth said he loved the movie, so Hess and his team rushed to finish editing it.
They made a single print, as that was all they had the budget to do.
‘Forever grateful’ for Sundance
Hess joked that he was “dry heaving” with nerves when “Napoleon Dynamite” premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
“We premiered at the Library (Theatre), and I was like, ‘OK. This is either the beginning or the end.’ Like, I knew it was a very specific type of comedy. It was a very personal film.”
“It’s you guys. It’s the audience. You guys gave us that, and we’re forever grateful for this festival.”
— Jerusha Hess, speaking to Sundance festivalgoers
But the comedy and personal touches resonated with the audience members, who clapped, laughed and cheered through the premiere and gave it a standing ovation. “Napoleon Dynamite” was picked up by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and the film went on to become a box-office hit and a comedy cult classic.
Jared and Jerusha Hess credited Robert Redford, Sundance and Sundance audiences for their roles in the film’s success.
“Jared and I might never win an award. Our movies, they’re pretty dumb,” Jerusha Hess joked. “But the day we got into Sundance, we won the biggest (award). And it’s you guys. It’s the audience. You guys gave us that, and we’re forever grateful for this festival.”
Jared Hess echoed her sentiments.
“A group of strangers watching a film together — not in isolation on their phones, but in an actual theater in front of the screen — is what made that film connect and find success,” he said.