The FINAL Q&A is going to be posted on Monday...

... so hurry up and submit your questions if you haven't already!

Fans, we want to hear from you!

For four years you guys have been following this blog and supporting this amazing project. You've read our story, and now you've seen the movie (or will very shortly!) for yourselves. While this blog will stay up for the time being as a testament to and chronicle of this project, we probably won't be posting on it very much anymore.

However, before we step back into the gray mists of regular incognito life, I thought it would be really fun to have a sort of celebration of all that this project has brought into our lives. So there are two things I would like your help with!

#1 - already we are getting some really wonderful comments on the blog of how much you guys liked and appreciated the film. Would any of you like to step out of the comment box and into the posting? Would you share your story of how you found this blog, followed the project, and what you loved about the film (or what surprised you)? If you've got a story, e-mail it to me at elenatintil [at] gmail [dot] com under the heading "SOTB Story". If you've got a picture of yourself (with the DVD, in a FTNish costume, with the books, etc) or a piece of your fan art that you'd like to include as well, that'd be awesome! I'll be posting the stories in the order I receive them over the next month.

#2 - I'm going to do one last big Q&A session! Here are the rules:

• Watch the film first!
• Read the FAQ's page to make sure your question hasn't already been asked!
• I can't answer questions about what will happen to the film or any future filming of the story, that's for Regina to say. 
• Submit your questions in the comments below, and if you are posting Anonymously, please sign some sort of name to it. Thanks!

That's it! I will answer everything to the best of my ability - locations, props, casting, acting stories, why we had to make the choices we did (was it budget? Time? Dramatic effect?), make-up, costume, editing, writing, you name it!

Also I can now officially announce that I will be releasing the blooper reel at the end of the summer, for a limited online showing (probably for the fall or something?). We weren't able to put any special features on the DVD, but I already had the blooper reel mostly compiled and really wanted to share it with you as I know many of you have asked to see it. Regina agreed to a release for a limited amount of time, so it will be coming!

DVDs arriving!

My shipment of the DVDs arrived today! Yours should be coming soon! Any questions? e-mail andrew@chestertonpress.com!

(The DVDs I got are for the cast and crew, who I have contacted via facebook and e-mail. If you're in that group, please reply to my message by the end of this week! Thank you!)

DVDs Start Shipping Out Next Week!

Chesterton Press has been super busy lately, so I don't think they'll get everyone's out next week, but they'll do the best they can! Also, copies will be for sale at the IHM conference this weekend!

To recap:


Official DVD Price -- $10 (each additional copy is also $10, no discounts for ordering multiples).

To order, please contact Andrew at andrew@chestertonpress.com. He will tell you the preferred payment method.

You MUST include your shipping address. If you place an order by letter, please include an e-mail address or phone # in case we need to contact you.

Important DVD information!

Official DVD Price -- $10

To order, please contact Andrew at andrew@chestertonpress.com.

You MUST include your shipping address. If you place an order by letter, please include an e-mail address or phone # in case we need to contact you.

We have had several people place orders by letter, and have only included $5. They also have not given us any way to contact them to let them know the full price. If you are in this group, please contact the e-mail above so that we can rectify this!

The DVDs are still being manufactured at this point, so please be patient - it make take a bit longer before we are able to ship them out. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to Andrew at the e-mail address above.

DVD Q&A

(PLEASE read the original DVD post completely before asking questions here. Some questions are being asked that were clearly answered in the original post. THANKS! :) )


Several of you asked how you could order the DVD, so I'm going to restate the information from the original post here:


"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. "


Please include your Snail Mail address. 


I do encourage you to get your inquiry in soon, as (as I understand it) we'd like to not distribute these DVDs indefinitely. 


Official cast and crew will be getting their DVDs separately, so don't order yet as I'll be contacting those of you who haven't been informed yet once we nail down the list


Also, for those of you who know something about film, I want to clarify what we mean by 'rough cut.' The film is actually very finely cut, and we only had a few tweaks to make in Post. The majority of the issues, as stated, are related to audio issues. 


Now to the questions... (if you have any that aren't discussed here, leave them in the comments and I'll add them to this post)

Una Mariah said...
YES! YES-YES-YES-YES-YES!!!!!! Oh, yes! (Falls on floor in ecstasy) On a more practical note, how much does the movie cost? I'd like to get it as a surprise for my little brother. 

Our Answer: We are still narrowing down the price as we determine what the costs will be, but it will be under $15.

Anonymous said...
Oh my gosh!!! Yay! Question, is the DVD have it's own movie box or what?

Our Answer: I'm not sure of this one, whether it'll be in a DVD box or a CD case. I'll try to find out.

 Maria Collins said...
Questions? I only have about a million, but I'll throw out two. Your not missing the prom scenes, right? Please say yes!!! Or the visit to St. Lawrance? Can't wait!!! 

Our Answer: Nope! All of the iconic scenes are in there.

Elenaflutterby said...
Firstly, the news that The Shadow of the Bear movie is going to be released totally made my day! I've been looking forward to seeing it for so long, and I'd like to order it ASAP, but I was just wondering if there will be any issues with me ordering from overseas, as I live in the UK?

Our Answer: No issues whatsoever! You'll have to pay whatever the postage rates are, but otherwise it's doable.

Amy said...
Will you later be selling the post-production version (with the audio issued resolved?) or is this a one-time-only opportunity to purchase the film? Thank you!

Our Answer: No. As we said in the original DVD post, we will not be formally releasing the DVD with post production finished, as our actors have moved on and such correction would be impossible. For awhile it was up in the air whether we would even be able to make the unfinished version available to fans, so I'm very thankful that we are. Do order yours asap, as I believe we will not be doing this indefinitely.

Una Mariah said...
Could you please post when you decide on a definite price? I need one before Mama will let me order it. 

Our Answer: Absolutely!

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