SOTB DVD - Here's the scoop, folks

Dear friends and amazing fans, we at last are able to give you solid and concrete news about the future of SOTB.  Below is a very detailed letter from Regina explaining exactly what happened and why it is so. This decision was reached by Regina, her husband Andrew, myself, and the core of the SOTB cast and production team. We put much prayer and contemplation into it and feel that this is absolutely the route we need to take. Although the letter is written by Regina, she truly speaks for us all.

It sounds cliche but we have some good news and some bad news.

If you're like me, you'd rather have the bad news first.  The bad news is, we have not finished the movie The Shadow of the Bear, and it looks now as though it will not be finished. 

After several years of intense production, we tried as hard as we could to bring the movie to completion -- but as we neared the end, it became apparent that some aspects of the film were not going to be able to be finished. 

The good news is, we are going to release it anyway, as an unfinished product.  This has been a diificult decision, but it looks as though it's the only viable one. Our actors and production people have moved on, and we are grateful for all the hours of volunteer work that they and their parents put into this film.  It seems that at this juncture, it's probably wisest just to release the movie you have all been waiting for and leave it to a future production company to carry on the work that we tried our hardest to do.

Why is it unfinished, you may ask?  There are several things missing that we wish we would have had a chance to complete or do better. 

1. Missing scenes: we lost one tape of footage that contained two transition shots, and we never got a chance to redo those shots.  In the cut of the movie, there is a black screen says "missing footage" at two different points. 

2. Undubbed audio: since so much of the audio quality on the footage was poor, we decided to have the actors dub their lines.  This is something that's frequently done in the movie industry.  The problem is, not all the actors were able to dub their audio. So some of the voices sound great -- and others are quiet and not-so-great.

3. Missing music -- A friend had asked to supply the music for the film, and she was able to give us a rough soundtrack which she wrote herself.  But we were unable to work with her to get a final cut for the soundtrack.  So the music is unfinished as well.

4. Cleanup -- we would have liked to clean up the audio and the footage a little more but again, we just didn't have time.

This is the same version of the movie which we showed last year at the premiere. We haven't changed anything about it, though we had hoped to do much more with it.

Because it's unfinished, there's not going to be any official release of the movie.  If you would like a copy of the unfinished rough cut of the movie, we'll make that available to those who inquire. If you are interested in obtaining the unfinished rough cut, email andrew@chestertonpress.com. 

So that is how things stand.  The movie is unfinished, but we'll keep this site up for now as an homage to the project, which it was, after all, an amazing undertaking (and an amazing amount of work!) and which led us to form a connection with so many fans of the books.  Again, we are so grateful for all your help, prayers, encouragement, and friendship.

So the Shadow of the Bear movie project is officially over -- for now. 

Who knows?  Maybe our production will inspire another production company with an actual budget and Hollywood connections to come in and recreate this story on screen.  Until then, we'll be waiting and hoping!

Thank you again for all your support!!!

The Production Team for

The Shadow of the Bear Movie

If you have any questions after this message, do include them in the comments and I'll do a follow up post answering as many as I can. 


I also want to say that I, personally, don't see this project as a failure or a waste of time. Although technically 'incomplete' I feel the movie is still in a very watchable and enjoyable state and that the amazing actors and the good work performed by our crew and the power of the story itself do a lot to draw the viewer in despite the technical incompletion. I believe that all of you, if you choose to get the DVD, will very much enjoy the movie and see the story you love come to life on screen.

Thank you all again so very much. 

-Elizabeth Hausladen

P.S. you can find answers to FAQ's on the DVD here - and ask your own! http://theshadowofthebear.blogspot.com/2012/05/dvd-q.html