Jared Lawrence Hess (born July 18, 1979) and Jerusha Elizabeth Hess
(née Demke; born May 12, 1980) are husband-and-wife American
filmmakers best known for their work on Napoleon Dynamite (2004),
Nacho Libre (2006) and Gentlemen Broncos (2009), all of which they
co-wrote and which were directed by Jared (Nacho Libre was co-written
with Mike White). They also produced music videos for The Postal
Service's third single, "We Will Become Silhouettes", and The Killers'
Christmas charity single "Boots".Jerusha was born in Omaha, Nebraska
and Jared was born in Glendale, Arizona. Jared is a graduate of Burton
Elementary School located in Kaysville, Utah, which he attended while
living in Fruit Heights during his youth. He also attended Manhattan
High School in Kansas for two years, before transferring to Preston
High School, from which he graduated in 1997. Many scenes from
Napoleon Dynamite were filmed there. As a teenager Jared worked in
film production with T. C. Christensen.Jared met Jerusha while
attending Brigham Young University's (BYU) film school. Together they
co-wrote the film Napoleon Dynamite, which was produced and edited by
their classmate Jeremy Coon.While at BYU, Jared wrote and directed a
student film entitled Cardboard Only, which is about a seven-year-old
Idaho farm boy who struggles to escape boredom while wearing a
cardboard box over his head. While at BYU, Jared also wrote and
directed a short film entitled Peluca, which became a prototype for
Napoleon Dynamite and featured much of the same cast and plotline,
including Jon Heder as Seth, "super nerd extraordinaire."
(née Demke; born May 12, 1980) are husband-and-wife American
filmmakers best known for their work on Napoleon Dynamite (2004),
Nacho Libre (2006) and Gentlemen Broncos (2009), all of which they
co-wrote and which were directed by Jared (Nacho Libre was co-written
with Mike White). They also produced music videos for The Postal
Service's third single, "We Will Become Silhouettes", and The Killers'
Christmas charity single "Boots".Jerusha was born in Omaha, Nebraska
and Jared was born in Glendale, Arizona. Jared is a graduate of Burton
Elementary School located in Kaysville, Utah, which he attended while
living in Fruit Heights during his youth. He also attended Manhattan
High School in Kansas for two years, before transferring to Preston
High School, from which he graduated in 1997. Many scenes from
Napoleon Dynamite were filmed there. As a teenager Jared worked in
film production with T. C. Christensen.Jared met Jerusha while
attending Brigham Young University's (BYU) film school. Together they
co-wrote the film Napoleon Dynamite, which was produced and edited by
their classmate Jeremy Coon.While at BYU, Jared wrote and directed a
student film entitled Cardboard Only, which is about a seven-year-old
Idaho farm boy who struggles to escape boredom while wearing a
cardboard box over his head. While at BYU, Jared also wrote and
directed a short film entitled Peluca, which became a prototype for
Napoleon Dynamite and featured much of the same cast and plotline,
including Jon Heder as Seth, "super nerd extraordinaire."
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