My Two Years in Shawshank
"There are places in the world that aren't made out of stone. There's something inside that... they can't get to... that they can't touch... that's yours." "What are you talking about?"
"Hope." -- Andy Dufresne
Imagine going to work every day, and your office is on the intact set of a beloved motion picture, the movie IMDb calls, "The Best Film of All Time."
For two years, that was me, when I worked at The Ohio State Reformatory (OSR), the former prison and primary filming location of Frank Darabont's classic, The Shawshank Redemption.
From May 2018 through June 2020, I was asked to apply my advertising and writing skills, my decade of experience as an adjunct professor at Kean University, and my many hours at the mic as a stand-up comedian to help build the Shawshank brand, and give each paying guest a thrilling visit filled with joy and hope.
It‘s a deceptively large place, with more than enough room for multiple museums. There are three right now, with a new art gallery on the way. But my specialty was Mr Darabont‘s masterpiece, and I was honored to be a part of it all.
I made websites and social posts, audio and video recordings, club memberships, prop replicas and movie-related souvenirs, public appearances, and more. I made new sources of revenue and made guests happy. I made some wonderful friends along the way. Finally, doing 2 years in The Shank made me a better creative director.
So as we say goodbye to 2020, I'd like to also say goodbye -- and thanks -- to Shawshank State Prison: to all the wonderful guests, the OSR staff, the co-marketers in town, the makers of the movie, and to the building itself.
I strived to be a team player on all the teams I was asked to join. And there were quite a few.
The first team I joined was The Tour Guides. I led more than 300 tours of the building, educating at least 30 headset-wearing guests on each tour, taking them through the 250,000-square-foot facility for 1½ hours.
I shared with them the secrets of the former maximum-security facility and site of a beloved film, and how it became a magnet for movie fans, ghost hunters, and history buffs alike.
I was the only tour guide who wore the Shawshank inmate outfit: jeans, a denim shirt, suspenders, and prisoner’s cap, just like the guys in the movie.
As a comic, I enjoy impersonating movie characters, so I invited guests to help me re-enact scenes from the film, inside the actual rooms where they were shot.
"You eat...when we say you eat..." "Put your trust in the Lord..." “Are you...gonna eat that?” “How can you be so obtuse?” “Get busy living...or get busy dying.” Below, OSR Board Member and co-author of The Shawshank Experience Maura Grady and her writing class from Ashland University recreate Andy's entrance scene.
I also printed out and laminated a couple of pages from the movie script, and kept them on the table, so guests could join me in re-creations of Red's final parole board scene.
After a particularly good re-enactment, one happy tourist asked me to photograph the goose-bumps on his arm.
I felt honored when guests asked me to join their group for a photo with them after my tours, and even more honored when they e-mailed me the happy shots afterward.
As a tour guide, I was given a script, which I completely re-wrote, adding bits of dialogue from The Shawshank Redemption and other films shot on the premises. I made copies of my script available to new guides as well.
Sure, I had to keep guests of all ages entertained, and out of harm's way, too. I thank the Mansfield Police for watching over us with kindness and strength. Led by Captain Shari Robertson, Carolyn Young, and Heath Underwood, Mansfield’s Finest always made everyone feel safe and secure with every step we took.
Speaking of steps, I had to think on my feet, and always be mindful of the tourist's experience. Talk about knowing your customer. There were times when I had to help them climb up and down the many staircases in the building, or help them navigate as best they could in their wheel chairs. Plus I had to make sure all the guests could hear me, despite competing tours and other distractions.
I also had to stop doing my impersonation of Brooks, played by James Whitmore, because some of the guests would get tears in their eyes, when we visited the location where Brooks "got busy dying."
As soon as we entered that room, out came the cameras, as guests captured the replica of the "Brooks was here," and "So was Red” signs. Most visitors were surprised to learn they were standing in the very location where those scenes were shot.
I'm happy to report that guests were delighted on my tours, and said so in their reviews on TripAdvisor and Facebook. I'm not sure it's the noblest art, like PT Barnum said, but it sure is satisfying, making people happy.
The only consistent unhappy comments I heard from guests were related to the smell of cigarette smoke that often lingers in the building, in the first-floor hallways.
While it's not permitted inside, smoking is allowed outside, and people can be found smoking cigarettes on the many porches that surround the residential and administration building.
Cigarette smoke always fouled its way into the tour route, disturbing guests by sneaking in through the open doors and cracks and crevices all around the antique doorways and windows.
In Ohio, smoking cigarettes is not permitted in places where toxic second-hand cigarette smoke can enter a building. Regardless, I always moved my tour groups through those hallways as fast as possible to limit my guests' exposure to the toxicity. It's just another example of what it takes to be a responsible tour guide, staying focused on keeping guests healthy and happy.
Other responsibilities included opening the tour route in the morning and closing it down at night. Though less enjoyable than imitating Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, I also had to empty garbage cans and scrub down the wireless audio devices, helping ensure guests stayed healthy during their time in Shawshank.
I especially enjoyed being the go-to guide for tours with dignitaries, including Tom Stalf, CEO of The Columbus Zoo, Barry Biffle, President of Frontier Airlines, screenwriter and director Shaka King, TV actor Kirk Cameron, and TCM Primetime Host Ben Mankiewicz.
Being a tour guide isn't for everybody. You need a clear voice, healthy lungs, minty-fresh breath, an excellent memory, and a pleasant demeanor. You have to be able to climb hundreds of stairs while teaching dozens of visitors for 90 minutes, so it helps to be physically fit. For those reasons and more, not everyone can qualify for the job.
I feel glad to have been well trained by kind folks like Mike Humphrey, Sydney Dameron, Veronica Bagley, and Hallie Statham-Kitzler, each of whom set the bar high, and showed me how to bring outstanding educational value to each tour.
Plus, with team mates like Jayce Snyder and Madison Lasch keeping things moving, they "pushed" tours with warmth and kindness guests truly appreciated.
At the front desk, I appreciated Zoe Fitzgerald and Kayleigh Schultte, who made it easy for guests to enter and exit their tours on time, and always showed everyone kindness, warmth, and civility.
Finally, the Guest Services Director, Josh Armstrong, shown below, led his team with grace, humor, and professionalism way beyond his years.
In May of 2018, after winning an Ebay auction for a screen-matched, vintage Meissner record player, exactly like the one that is used in The Shawshank Redemption, I donated it to the Reformatory.
I’m happy to say it's now on display inside the The Shawshank Museum. Watching guests‘ eyes light up seeing the phonograph was a fun experience.
Incidentally, the microphone shown below is the actual device that appeared in the movie. Yet the record album next to it is not: it's the more common "highlights" version of the album, a single-disc record which interestingly doesn't include the Mozart aria played by Andy Dufresne. The record Andy plays in the movie is from the rare triple-disc album. Guests loved learning intimate details like this on my tours, and I enjoyed sharing all the rare, behind-the-scenes information with them.
A few months later, I was asked to work Inkcarceration Weekend, a three-day rock concert held on site. Spending a few minutes on stage watching a head-banging band, and then talking with guests and rock stars as they toured the haunted hallways stand out as highlights from that summer.
As the official 2018 tour season was ending, I was asked to work the General Admission gate for “Blood Prison,” the Halloween event managed by Vic Amesquita, where guests wander through spooky, ghoul-filled cellblocks. I even helped out as a cast member for a few nights.
I appreciated the help of Keith Fischer, for his kindness in getting me hooked up to an audio device. He always was a source of good humor and a respected tour guide in his own right.
Then, November came around, and I joined another team, working with Bill Hale and Mike Humphrey on rehabilitating the building.
That’s Mike above, after helping Bill install a crucial movie-prop replica. I took that picture right after I joined the Restoration Team. Here’s a slide-show video I made while working with these hooligans. It will give you an idea of how far the restoration work has come over the years. And this was shot before the Shawshank Museum was finished.
On the Restoration Team, I was asked to scrape, sand, stain, and seal some of the old wood trim around six, 12-foot-high windows inside the former residential spaces that would soon become The Shawshank Museum.
Thanks to Mike, Bill, Marty Sneeringer, Ron Puff, Keith Fischer, Mike Tom, Billy King, and Mike Shrock, I learned a tremendous amount of carpentry know-how. I was grateful for the work, appreciated their kindness, and I remain impressed by their commitment to excellence.
Floor-to-ceiling restoration is hard work, but the guys on the Restoration Team made it a pleasure. There's nothing like woodworking to the best songs of the 60's and 70's. That’s me on the scaffold, below. I'm grateful to Paul Smith for taking the only picture of my time on the Restoration Team.
The blades on the scrapers had to be constantly re-sharpened, and it wasn't long before my forearms began to look like Popeye's.
I thank Restoration Team mates Bill and Mike for teaching me how to remove decades-old varnish and ancient stain without damaging the hundred-year-old oak underneath.
And while they taught me how to apply the sander, the stain, and the sealant, I also learned the pride you feel when you help bring back the glory to a beautiful old building.
The shop vac got a real workout from November 2018 through May 2019, before the objects and super graphics were installed in June, turning the rooms into the museum. Credit OSR Archivist Rebecca McKinnell for that. Though I wasn't asked to take any pictures, I enjoyed documenting the progress of the building's restoration with my cameras.
Next, I was asked to serve as a greeter at The Murder Mystery Dinner Theater shows. I also enjoyed working with Associate Director, Dan Smith, who asked me to help out during a few film shoots.
I even got to portray a prison guard in a music video shot on site, for a song performed by country-rocker Eric Church.
But the most satisfying time for me began in early 2019, when I was promoted to a new position at OSR, The Shawshank Specialist. I was given an office, but soon found out that room was slated to become a kitchen.
Fortunately, Dan Smith was moving into a more prestigious office, so I moved into his old one. I kept my desk right where he had his, because there were so many storage cubbies in there, there was only one place a desk is feasible. The space was warm, bright, and right off the Shawshank Museum.
Inside my office, I got the opportunity to use all the skills I had developed over a long career in the ad game to help plan, promote, and execute all the upcoming Shawshank 25th anniversary events scheduled to occur in only 8 months.
I appreciated the trust and support of the Executive Director, Paul Smith, to whom I reported, and to whom I gave weekly progress updates. And I enjoyed the partnership I had with Jodie Snavely and Lee Tasseff, who were heading up the reunion plans at Destination Mansfield.
My first assignment as The Shawshank Specialist: I was asked to create a Monopoly game, based on the movie. I went the whole nine yards, creating a highly detailed one that not only included the board, but also featured a tin box with the Queen Mary on the lid containing all the cards and game pieces. I packed it all into the lid of a working, portable record player that I painted to look like the one in the film.
I added a vinyl record that I had custom-made In Los Angeles, containing four cuts from the movie soundtrack, including the Mozart duet. The most valuable real estate? Zijuatenejo Beach of course.
I also made mini replicas of the movie poster, the 3 posters from Andy's cell, and added a pen "stolen" from the desk of Warden Norton.
This one-of-a-kind game was awarded to Melinda Hammond, who won the Shawshank Superfan Challenge, a letter-writing contest I ran to generate interest and boost attendance in the 25th anniversary weekend. Melinda and John Hammond couldn't have been kinder. They both deserved the title of Superfan Couple.
Based on fan surveys organized by Maura Grady, OSR Board Member and co-author of The Shawshank Experience, visiting tourists were practically begging the organization to sell more Shawshank-related items in the OSR Museum Store. So I created a brand-new brand of souvenirs: "The Shawshank Collection at OSR."
First, I designed and made screen-matched prop replicas of 16 documents seen or referred to in the movie, including Red’s parole board forms, the warden’s arrest warrant, Tommy Williams' diploma, the alcohol bottle labels, The Daily Bugle newspaper, Red’s bus ticket to Fort Hancock, Texas, Red’s postcard from Andy, Brooks’ letter to the fellas, Andy’s letter from the state and his $200 check for his library project, and his letter to Red. These items were called “The Dufresne Files” and were sold in the OSR Museum Store, all at 99% profit margins.
Working with Jazmyn Ross and Rylie Ross in the Museum Store was a breeze. Whenever they’d be running low on an item from The Shawshank Collection, they’d let me know and I’d crank them out quickly.
I remain particularly proud of the replica of Andy's letter from the state with the check for his library project. I researched the comptroller for the state of Maine at that time, named Harlan Harris, and added a facsimile of his actual signature to the letter, and cc'd Maine Governor Edmund Muskie, and of course Samuel Norton, as well.
In addition, after a long series of phone tags and emails, I secured legal approval from the Stroh’s Brewing Company to design and print bottle labels that resembled the ones seen in the film in the rooftop sequence.
After designing the labels, I purchased a Cricut machine, and used it to cut out the labels on sticker paper, and with the help of some of OSR’s finest, applied labels to 480 bottles of root beer.
The Museum Store completely sold out of “Shawshank Suds,” the official 25th anniversary souvenir soft drink, before the big weekend was over. Big thanks to Gina Jessee, Cassidy Stonehaus, Josie Schave, Tiffany Young, Zoe Perry, and the rest of the staff who helped make light work of the labeling and the selling of these highly desirable collectibles.
I also hand-made hundreds of mini versions of the tin candy box that Andy buries under the rock wall. Each box contained a small rock (“Pebbles, mostly…”) that I sourced from the spot in the prison yard where Andy meets Red and says he's a "rock hound." Also inside the boxes I put a certificate of authenticity, and a tiny replica of the letter Andy wrote to Red.
I paid for all the tin boxes, (which contained mini Altoids) but I never sought reimbursement for these purchases: I wanted to keep profit margins as high as possible, and since I was still giving tours, I actually ate all the mints. Some might even say I needed them...
Every dollar earned by the sale of all the prop replicas I made went to pay for the ongoing restoration and rehabilitation of the building.
I’m proud that some fans shared their appreciation about the level of detail with which I made these Shawshank prop replicas. One visitor even asked me to autograph his mini candy tin.
As the 25th anniversary drew closer, I invited TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz to come and be the host of our panel discussions. I’m pleased to say this kind and gracious guy accepted, and did a wonderful job as MC. I'm even more pleased to say he's now my friend.
When Ben arrived, I helped him prepare for his gigs. He asked if I wouldn't mind giving him a tour of the building. While he marveled at the sheer size of the place, I told him the story about Set Designer Terence Marsh, who built the replica cell block so convincingly that The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences failed to nominate his work for an Oscar. I had great fun telling Mr Mankiewicz something he didn't know.
I was also asked to help execute a revival of Shawshank Bus Tours. With the help of Jodie Snavely of Destination Mansfield, and Leann Arnholt and Becky Avery of Carson Travel, we put together one terrific ride along the Shawshank Trail.
The guided tours took guests to 11 actual film locations, and ended at the prison, where tourists would enter the iconic doorway seen in the film, the same one used by Andy Dufresne. I was also asked to spearhead the development of the signs and ads promoting these tours.
I was also asked to help secure specific hi-res screen grabs from the movie, for use in the supergraphics that were being created for The Shawshank Museum.
I was also asked to write the content for local radio spots to announce various events and programs that would be held at the reformatory. Hank Ramirez, the Vice President in charge of Advertising at OSR, was always happy with my work. I was also asked to be the go-to guy with the media, representing OSR on live TV and web broadcasts. I enjoyed appearing with the lovely Maria Durant and Jackie Orozco, showing off my own collection of Shawshank props on Good Day Columbus.
I even showed them the "talking" intercom box I made, as part of another fan contest. Press the button, and you heard the entire "obtuse" conversation from the film.
I gave Cameron Fontana a tour of the new Shawshank Museum on a live-TV broadcast of Cam About Town. I promoted the anniversary weekend on a live-web stream with Steve Straub for Fox-TV in Cleveland. And I appeared in a recorded segment for NBC Sunday Night News with Lester Holt.
I was also interviewed by Mark Dawidziak for his outstanding book, The Shawshank Redemption Revealed, by Zachary Pincus-Roth for an article in The Washington Post, and by Brendan Bures for his piece in Vanity Fair. The article that I enjoyed the most was the one written by Susan Glaser of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Of course, while creating the dozens of social posts, ads, contests, and videos on behalf of the building, I remained anonymous. It wasn’t about me. It was about generating joy for the visiting fans. I enjoyed sharing knowledge of the filming locations and promoting ticket sales for the building. But I was there to work, not to pose.
On those occasions when I was asked to be on camera, I couldn’t exactly remain anonymous. But I never saw those moments as opportunities to promote myself on my social media pages. My priority was to promote OSR. In fact, most of the photos you see here, I’m sharing publicly for the first time. If I did post a picture to my Facebook page, I did so to thank someone, to promote the building, to advertise the Shawshank Trail, or to generate new memberships in the fanclub I created.
To make sure I remained anonymous, I was asked by the Executive Director to make an alias e-mail address, so fans inquiring about the 25th anniversary wouldn’t know my name. He suggested, “shawshank@mrps.org” — and that worked fine.
I was also asked to make personal appearances to further promote the building and the 25th anniversary weekend. I wore a Shawshank inmate uniform to Columbus for Ohio Tourism Day, where I invited hundreds of attendees, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, to attend Shawshank 25. I'm happy to say he did show up, and had a blast. I found when making personal appearances, it helps to be personal with the public.
I was also asked to appear at the AAA event in Columbus, where I met with guests, talked movie trivia with fans, encouraged them to visit, and recorded interviews with them for OSR’s Facebook page.
I was also asked to take part in promotional events at the Richland Mall. I wore the inmate garb to look like Andy Dufresne, and became a walking billboard for the building. As the smiles below suggest, these assignments were great fun, with Hallie Statham-Kitzler, Dan Smith, Rita Miller-Bunker, and a happy but rather quiet Morgan Freeman.
To promote attendance at the anniversary weekend, I was also asked to create social media posts and movie-trivia contests. I created a weekly series of posts with facts about the value and sources of various props that appeared in the film, messages about specific filming-site locations, quizzes about character quotes, and updates about the growing list of cast and crew members who agreed to attend Shawshank 25.
Plus, I created a good number of happy-birthday cast-member videos for the OSR Facebook page. I felt glad watching the number of page “Likes” climb, leading up to the big event.
Every Thursday, I wrote, designed, and shared a post about items that appeared in the movie, in a series called, "Prop Tales." Plus I posted regular videos with updates about the restoration progress, and later, I created other videos that helped drive enrollment in a members-only organization, complete with its own exclusive website I built, called The Shawshank Forever Fan Club. Here’s a collage of some of those posts about the Shawshank movie props.
I also was asked to order directors chairs for all the cast members, ensuring that their names were spelled correctly on the chair backs. Used during the panel discussions, the chairs were a big hit, and we’re sold at a nice profit after the events were over. I was grateful to Matt Winemiller for his kind help on that project.
I was also asked to design and produce all the VIP badges for all the celebrities, press people, prize winners, members of the returning cast and crew, and all the members of the Shawshank 25 event team. This was a fun project: see if you can identify all the references to the film I embedded in the badge below.
Just before the big weekend, Frank Darabont and his lovely wife Rae sent me few dozen Fed Ex boxes. At Mr Darabont's request, I didn’t open them, but I stored them in my office until he and his wife arrived before the anniversary meet and greet, at which time he helped us open each box.
What was inside? A few dozen treasured, one-of-a-kind movie artifacts and posters, all of which will soon go on display inside the Frank and Rae Darabont Gallery, being built in the hallway outside the room used for Red’s parole board scenes.
This is the spot where I suggested they be displayed. I’m proud to have made that contribution, and look forward to the grand opening.
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I also created and posted about a dozen videos to promote tours of the building, boost visits to the museums, encourage ticket sales, announce contests, and drive memberships in the fanclub I created after Shawshank 25 ended.
I was also asked to re-cut a tour-guide training video hosted by OSR Superman, Ron Puff. I turned the video into a six-part series, and posted it on Facebook. Ron’s skill as a presenter is legendary, and the series was a success. I remain grateful to Paul Smith for trusting me with assignments like this, and giving me the green light to freely create these promotions with his approvals.
I'm proud that all the videos I made “managed not to get in the way” (as David Ogilvy said) of the breathtaking building.
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One thing I didn't do: I refused to use these cherished filming locations to make "spoof" videos. It was tempting. But it was also too easy. Mainly, I didn’t want to score cheap laughs at the movie's expense. I respect the film and the people who made it too deeply to have created clips that would denigrate Mr Darabont's masterpiece. Some creative endeavors deserve to remain sacred. The Shawshank Redemption is one.
Shortly before the big anniversary weekend celebration, I was in an antique store in Wooster, where I found a vintage wheelchair that was a near screen match to the one Bogs used in the movie. After a few phone calls, the owner of the wheelchair donated it to OSR —for free.
I was told that the Shawshank Museum had no room for the wheelchair, so we loaned it to another movie-related museum in Upper Sandusky, The Shawshank Woodshop, owned and operated by Bill and April Mullen. Lovelier fans of the film simply don’t exist.
During the big weekend, Mark Rolston posed for pictures while sitting in the chair in the Mullen’s museum, right in front of the actual ambulance associated with his character's departure from The Shank. Talk about movie magic. Big thanks to Dr Carter for his generous donation.
In July, I represented OSR at a minor league baseball game in Akron where Bob Gunton threw out the first pitch. Bill and April attended, as did Jodie and Bret Snavely, and a host of friends from the Shawshank Woodshop.
The first 500 patrons received a “Warden Norton Bobblehead.” When I returned to OSR, I gave the collectible figurine to my colleague Rita Miller-Bunker, to thank her for all the assistance she had so kindly been giving me at the office.
With only a few weeks to go before Shawshank 25, I created a special entry ticket for the event: designed to look like Red’s bus ticket to Fort Hancock, Texas, it became yet another extension of the Shawshank experience. Even the ticket was a prop worth collecting.
A week or so before the big weekend, I led a bike tour with the Mansfield Slow Roll Club. The 20-member organization and I pedaled to all the local filming sites marked out along the spectacular Shawshank Trail. At each stop, I shared some background information about the location’s role in the movie.
The tour ended with an icy-cold, Bohemian-style beer at the Phoenix Brewery, just down the road from some of the movie's filming locations. We sat drinking our beer with the sun on our shoulders and felt like the lords of all creation. Big thanks to my neighbors, Nelson and Stana Shogren, for planning the escape. Here we are above, gathered around Brooks’ bench.
The actual reunion weekend remains a joyful memory. The Friday night panel discussion and 25th-anniversary movie screening in the landmark theater where it first premiered, the Saturday cast meet & greet, the Saturday night panel and exclusive fan reception, the Shawshank background actors and authors panels on Sunday. So much to celebrate.
I treasured every minute, and was grateful for the help of the staff at OSR, without whom we couldn’t have made it all happen.
Big thanks to Joe Cihy for kindly capturing this image of Frank Darabont and me.
A scene from the Exclusive Shawshank Reception after the second panel discussion in the Shawshank Mess Hall.
Tremendous thanks to Jodie Snavely for capturing this image of me with Warden Norton, Bob Gunton, inside his old stomping grounds.
Jodie was the guiding light for the entire weekend. She led with such warmth, joy, and kindness. I'll never forget how hard she worked to bring happiness to the fans. A truly lovely person, I can't thank her enough. Speaking of thanks...
As a way for OSR to say thanks to Mr Darabont, who I learned is a big fan of The Beatles, I purchased for him a rare, apple-shaped metal paperweight with a USB drive hidden under the stem that includes every song the band ever recorded, in both FLAC and MP3 files.
I gave it to him before he and his lovely wife Rae headed back home. To get a hug of thanks from Mr D. himself, while standing in the Shawshank prison yard? It was a sensational way to end the big event. Huge thanks to Lee Tasseff for capturing that picture.
Later, that final, celebratory, icy-cold Bohemia-style beer went down really easy with Lee Tasseff, Jodie Snavely, Scott Stahler, and Scott Cardwell of the Phoenix Brewery.
I’m so grateful to have experienced that level of joy. I salute everyone who made it all happen especially Jodie Snavely, Lee Tasseff, Frank and Rae Darabont, Eve Lapolla, Kokayi Ampah, Dan Seckel, Bill and April Mullen, Bob Watchman, Bob Gunton, Mark Rolston, Alfonso Freeman, Gil Bellows, Claire Slemmer, Bill Sadler, Scott Mann, Renee Blaine, Frank Medrano, Neil Giuntoli, VJ Foster, Scott Stahler, Shari Robertson, Heath Underwood, Carolyn Young, Ben Mankiewicz, Maura Grady, Mark Davidziak, Cary Oberbrunner, Jonathan Pierce, Beau Roberts, Dave Damron, Mark Miller, Ryan Shealy, Jessica Angelas, Joel Winterstellar, Matt Winemiller, Becky Avery, Leann Arnholt, Kym Lamb, Kim Miers, Mary Rodriguez, Veronica Bagley, Sydney Dameron, Hallie Statham-Kitzler, Madison Lasch, Robert Figeuroa, Jazmyn Ross, Rylie Ross, Josie Scave, Tiffany Young, Rita Miller-Bunker, Joshua Armstrong, Zoe Fitzgerald, Kayleigh Shultte, Jayce Snyder, Kyle Ross, Alayna Ross, Cassidy Stonehaus, Ron Puff, Keith Fischer, Mike Humphrey, Bill Hale, Marty Sneeringer, Mike Tom, Vic Amesquita, Mark Jordan, Dan Smith, Rebecca McKinnell, and Gina Jessee.
These are the folks who helped give thousands of fans the thrill of their lives on August 16, 17, and 18 of 2019. After we all caught our breaths, we gathered for a final thank-you message to the members of the cast and crew who took part in the anniversary weekend.
Before the glow of the anniversary faded, I was asked to help raise additional funds for the organization — specifically for the development of the art gallery — through Richland Gives, an annual charity event for non-profits in the county.
I created the content for the OSR fundraising page, including the photos of the building and descriptions of the ongoing restoration work, and I even entered a singing contest in town, and promised I'd donate a dollar for every vote I received. You can see the video for the song at the end of this essay. Happy to say I helped generate the highest total in donations OSR had ever achieved during this yearly drive.
Incidentally, I took that photo of Mr Darabont and his radiant wife Rae. Talk about a perfect match. I’m delighted that such sensitive, kind, and talented artists were able to find each other.
I was also asked to write, rewrite, and record brand new educational content for the Audio Wand Tours, wherein guests can rent digital devices and hear pre-recorded information, as they tour the prison at their own pace.
I’m pleased my voice can still be heard inside the storied hallways on these devices, along with the voices of the talented Vic Amesquita and Alayna Ross.
I was also asked to spearhead the updates to the content, layout, and design of the printed “take-one” promotional brochures that are used to advertise OSR at rest stops and tourist centers.
While I evolved the booklet’s design, I revised all of the copy. I’m proud of the way the piece turned out. I remain grateful to Monique Orban for her skills in executing the revisions with speed, grace, and kindness.
I was also asked to make improvements to the content on the official OSR website. While I made the biggest contributions to the page about the movie, I made edits all over the site. I’m particularly happy about the tweaks I made to the opening paragraph on the homepage.
With my 30 years of advertising experience, I can say that working with Jessica Angelas from Spire Advertising was a distinct pleasure.
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Keeping the anniversary momentum going into 2020, I got the approval from management to create The Shawshank Forever Fan Club, a new source of revenue based on membership in a website I built with members-only content, a rare image library, unique interviews, one-of-a-kind videos I produced, news articles I curated, and other exclusive info for paying members only.
I personally designed, printed, and fulfilled all the membership cards and the welcome kits, and ran all fanclub management, CRM, and CMS. Meanwhile, I hosted dozens of weekly Facebook contests and posted as many videos to help drive membership in the club. One member was so pleased with the attention to detail in the membership kit and the website, he was moved to tears.
We launched The Shawshank Forever.com Fanclub on Valentine‘s Day, February 14th, 2020. By July, despite five months in COVID lockdown, we had more than 50 paying members.
I was particularly proud of the Daily Bugle Newsletter – a screen-matched replica of the movie newspaper I made and was sharing with members every three months as a PDF, filling it with stories I wrote about the movie, an interview with Frank Darabont, and updates on the current state of the building.
Though the website for the fanclub was eventually shut down, you can still take a peek at some of the content through the Internet Archive. Check it out here:
To further drive fanclub enrollment, I reached out to Mr Darabont, who in turn reached out to his pal Stephen King on my behalf. Mr King gave me permission to record, edit, and post a reading of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption — the original novella Mr King wrote on which the movie is based — and which we shared on our Facebook page.
It took me 12 segments. I didn't imitate Mr Freeman‘s voice directly, but I tried to sound more like him than me. It was a wonderful project. At the end, I was choking back tears. You can actually hear that in my voice in the closing moments of the final reading, shared below.
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I was also asked to operate a 3D, 360-degree Matterport camera and its companion iPad for the development of a virtual-tour program, so that guests from around the world could “visit“ the landmark building from the comforts of home.
Over the course of the next few months, inside a freezing cold and mostly empty prison, I took more than 1,000 high-definition, 360-degree scans of the whole building. With each scan taking roughly 1 minute to record, I spent more than 16 hours photographing the entire place.
While there were a few glitches, I’m proud of my contributions to the project, and prouder that I was asked to write the content that now promotes the virtual tours on the OSR website. I’m especially glad to have written the narration for the video that was recorded by a Morgan Freeman impersonator.
I recently purchased a virtual tour, and it's so spectacular, I encourage you to try it. For just $5, you can use a laptop, desktop, tablet, or smart phone and glide through the whole building from the safety of home.
Congrats to Rita Miller-Bunker, Josh Armstrong, Jazmyn Ross, and Alayna Ross for their work and the success of the final version. Check it out here:
Finally, in the summer of 2020, with the full support of the organization, I began to work on a web-video series, with new broadcast-quality content I made exclusively for members of the Shawshank Forever Fan Club, called Shawshank On Location.
We all know video content is king. But without a staff or even an assistant, I had to write, shoot, edit, and host hours of brand new, exclusive video content. I’m not complaining. I had an empty building due to Covid, and I was making good progress.
I was driving all over the county, visiting all the sites along the Shawshank Trail, shooting footage to help build fan-club engagement and increase memberships, especially during lockdown. In the face of a pandemic, any new sources of revenue that can help keep a non-profit landmark building afloat are critical.
To execute this one-man show, I was allowed to purchase on behalf of OSR a lighting kit, a memory drive, and a programmable slider for smoother camera work. Everything else I used to shoot the show was my own, including my laptop, cameras, tripods, and other audio/video equipment. All tolled, my show expenditures fell short of $500.
As I was final-editing the first episode of the show, my position was eliminated.
I left OSR back in July 2020, and other than the web series, I had accomplished everything I was asked to do, on all the teams I was asked to join, and all to the very best of my abilities.
You probably already guessed that I was usually among the very first to arrive at the building in the morning, and among the very last to leave at night. But I really did enjoy every contribution I made in order to make customers happy.
The Shawshank Forever Fan Club and its exclusive website I was running have been shut down. Maybe it can be revived by a friend of the building who values its connection to the film and to our culture as much as I do.
Finally, speaking of friends, here I am above with Eve Lapolla, former Director of the Ohio Film Commission, and the most humble yet influential hero of The Shawshank Redemption that I know, except maybe Mr Darabont.
I was thrilled to meet Eve, because I had been telling guests about her on my tours: Eve has the distinctions of not only helping save the Reformatory from near-certain demolition, but she is the person who introduced Mr Darabont to the building, back in 1992.
In fact, Eve is the first person to envision The Ohio State Reformatory as Shawshank State Prison: she had read Mr Darabont's script, and knew he’d be looking for a suitable location to shoot his film. She also knew about the Romanesque reformatory in Mansfield, and that it had been recently de-commissioned.
So when she attended a film-maker‘s convention in 1992, she was eager to show Mr D. a picture of the prison. When she finally tracked him down, he liked what he saw, and the rest, as they say, is history.
I treasure my friendship with Eve, who is an absolute blast to be around. That's the theme I take with me, the theme that holds the film together, the theme of friendship. In fact, Mr Darabont quotes Morgan Freeman in describing what the Shawshank experience is all about:
"Andy is basically the Joseph Campbell hero. He’s the mysterious western hero who rides into town, cleans up the place, and rides off in the end. He enters an enclosed society, fundamentally changes it, and leaves. I think Morgan has described it the best, saying that it’s basically a very pure love story. It’s two people who connect, and in a sense, complete each other. It’s what the best friendships will give you in life, a person you can count on, who is your rock. I think that’s one of the things about the film that people find so reassuring. It’s a very comforting thought, to think that we could make a friend like that."
The friend to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude is the Executive Director, Paul Smith. I'm so thankful for his support, trust, and kindness. I'm grateful for the many opportunities he gave me to improve the guest experience, and for allowing me to contribute to nearly every team in the place. And in the process of letting me build the Shawshank brand, he helped me become a better creative director.
I strengthened my writing skills and design chops. I strengthened my social-marketing experience. I sharpened my multimedia development skills. I’m more comfortable and confident speaking on camera as a media representative. I’m brimming with added self assurance. I helped enhance a beloved global entertainment brand. And I made some wonderful friendships.
I‘m happy to have made a friend in Lee Tasseff of Destination Mansfield. His name appears in the credits of The Shawshank Redemption, an honor he earned, and then some. I remain in awe of his kindness to me.
The friendship I treasure most is the one I have with Jodie Snavely, who along with Lee, Kim Miers, and Kym Lamb, made the 25th anniversary an outstanding success. Jodie‘s kindness, warmth, patience, and professionalism never wavered. She was to Shawshank 25 what Mr Darabont was to the movie.
Yes, indeed, I had an enjoyable experience working at OSR. And so I wish all the friends I made who still work there continued good health, extended good cheer, and ongoing success.
I trust they never forget they're carrying the torch for millions of people around the world, who, like Andy Dufresne, may be suffering through any number of life’s hardships, like animosity, hostility, brutality, and injustice.
But like Andy showed us, we can persevere. We can triumph over these adversitlies. We can carve a tunnel of hope through the mountain of despair. We can crawl through a river of filth, and come out clean on the other side.
Because we have hope. Like Andy said, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.
I hope the cast and crew and the staff at OSR remain healthy. I hope to see them all again someday and shake their hands. I hope the 30th anniversary celebration will be as joyful as it has been in my dreams.
I hope.
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