Hank Rogerson and Jilann Spitzmiller’s SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS was one of 16 films chosen—out of 624 entries—for the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Documentary Competition. This marks the first time that the filmmaking duo has had a film in the festival. Are they ready to screen it for audiences? Meet and greet fellow filmmakers and participate in the exciting whirlwind of activities that awaits them? The mystery unfolds…

Diary Entry
January 18, 2005

We are in a time warp. It seems like the day Sundance begins will never come. The anticipation is tremendous, and we are just ready for all the mayhem to begin. We have been to Sundance twice before, but we were on the outside peering in. The first time, we were just regular festival goers, trying to catch some films. The second time we had a project in the New Media section of the festival, and hardly anyone took any notice.

This time, things have definitely shifted. People and opportunities are seeking us out like never before in our career. We actually have party invites this year! The Sundance stamp of approval does mean a lot to a lot of people. We’ve spent so many years chasing this elusive dream, and wondering if it would ever get any easier. Perhaps it will be easier to get a phone call returned now, but this league also offers a whole new set of challenges and a requires a whole new level of knowledge. Our learning curve is steep.

But we are as ready as we can be at this point. The film’s finally done after three years of hard work and faith. We’ve printed the posters and postcards. We’ve assembled our team – sales rep, publicist, lawyer. One of our film subjects will be attending the festival, as well as most of our crew, and some of our family. The hardest part has been trying to get everyone tickets to our screenings! They have all contributed so much to this film and deserve to see it on the big screen. Come to think of it, we can’t wait to see it on the big screen. Let the games begin…

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