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LMGI COMPASS
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Fall 2025
That spirit of a community united in hope and optimism
is what inspired Ampah to make this film. With a 35-
year career in filmmaking, including record-setting
box-office hits like Poetic Justice, White Men Can't
Jump, In the Line of Fire, 8 Mile, Million Dollar Baby
and The Color Purple, it's The Shawshank Redemption
that he credits as his most popular contribution to the
film canon. Arguably more watched than any other
film he's worked on and undisputedly the only film
to have birthed an athletic event. "One of only two
films in history to have spawned an athletic event,"
according to Ampah. "That's what so interesting to me,
there are plenty of movies about sports but only two
sports events inspired by movies, Field of Dreams and
Shawshank."
The film and its lessons have helped to raise a
generation. Those of us who have watched the film
countless times and still dream of escaping our prisons
and retiring on a white sandy beach in Zihuatanejo
(which Ampah actually found in St. Croix). Those of us
who have found obtaining a career equal to Ampah's a
lot harder than we ever imagined, but remain steadfast
in our hope, because, as Andy wrote to his friend under
that oak tree: "Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of
things. And no good thing ever dies."
Hollywood continues its digital evolution yet it's these
personal, soulful moments of human connection that
prove the one thing we all still agree on: Movies have
the power to move us. In Mansfield on race day, when
the starter's pistol fires and we see the costumed
prison guard reading a comic on a commode run
past, we recognize something familiar in ourselves.
Countless other connections made here reflect the
special and lasting moments that attracted us to the
film in the first place. Moments in life that are only
cultivated through time, repetition and participation.
In Mansfield, where it all began over 30 years ago, the
town offers something back each year to the film that
gave it so much, and the fans who love it.
So, when you finally wear your rock hammer down to
its nub, and you make it to the other side of what you're
working on, the legacy of Kokayi Ampah's thoughtful
location work will be waiting for you. Not on a beach
in Zihuatanejo but on a park bench in Mansfield, Ohio.
Next year's event: 12th Annual Shawshank Hustle,
August 15, 2026—Mansfield, Ohio, does sell out. For
more information and early registration, please visit:
www.destinationmansfield.com
https://shawshanktrail.com/events/shawshank-hustle/
https://www.facebook.com/shawshankhustle/
ohiostatereformatory.org
Greater Cleveland Film Commission-
www.clevelandfilm.com
shawshankhustle@gmail.com
LM Kokayi Ampah/LMGI, DP Roger Deakins and director
Shawshank Redemption scout in 1993. Photo courtesy
