Private Project

Hope in Hardship

Hope in Hardship is a short film created as part of Shining Light's Collaborative Arts Project, "Creations of a Caged Bird Volume 2", where incarcerated participants have a chance to encourage and inspire thousands of their peers in prisons across the country through original artwork, which is produced by professional artists/filmmakers and sent back into prisons for an uplifting facility-wide experience. This short film is a powerful allegory that reminds us that no matter the battle raging within you, Hope can prevail against even the steepest odds. Hope in Hardship is inspired by a script written by Leonard T who is incarcerated in Eastern Pennsylvania. With screen actor Denver Taylor, a teaching artist for a Shining Light Impact Workshop in 2018, Attack Theatre transformed his script into a dance and spoken word film that embodies the spirit, emotions and struggles of Will Hope, sharing what overcoming can mean both within and without. The final production was distributed to partnering prisons to be played on televisions and individual tablets in PA, Ohio, South Carolina, North Dakota, Chicago’s Cook County Jails and Rikers Island in NYC.

  • Peter Kope
    Director
  • Leonard T.
    Writer
  • Attack Theatre
    Producer
  • Shining Light
    Producer
  • Simon Phillips
    Key Cast
  • Denver Taylor
    Key Cast
  • Attack Theatre
    Screenplay Adaptation
  • Joshua Sweeny
    Cinematographer
  • Dave Eggar
    Music Director
  • Dane Toney
    Editor/Projection Designer
  • Ben Peters
    Sound
  • Hearcorp
    Sound
  • Michele de la Reza
    Collaborators
  • Peter Kope
    Collaborators
  • Simon Phillips
    Collaborators
  • Leonard T.
    Collaborators
  • Denver Taylor
    Collaborators
  • Dane Toney
    Collaborators
  • Sarah Zielinski
    Collaborators
  • Dave Eggar
    Music
  • Phil Faconti
    Music
  • Tanner Perry
    Music
  • Will Cassell
    Additional Music
  • James Bowman
    Additional Music
  • Tom Pirozzi
    Additional Music
  • Tanner Perry
    Vocals
  • Phil Faconti
    Guitar
  • Dave Eggar
    Strings/Keys
  • Will Cassell
    Guitar/Bass/Programming
  • Tom Pirozzi
    Bass
  • James Bowman
    Keys
  • Mike Stephenson
    Drums
  • Elveeta Nelson
    Makeup Artist
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Dance
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 4 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 7, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Peter Kope

Peter Kope is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Attack Theatre. Peter began his dance career working with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. He also toured internationally with Jacob Pillow’s “Men Dancers: The Ted Shawn Legacy.” Prior to founding Attack Theatre with his partner, Michele de la Reza, Peter danced with Pittsburgh-based Dance Alloy (Mark Taylor, Artistic Director) and NYC-based Perks DanceMusicTheatre (Rebecca Stenn, Artistic Director), creating and touring new works throughout the US with both companies for seven years. Together with Michele de la Reza, Peter is the recipient of three Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowships and the Hardie Educator of the Year award.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

From Writer (Leonard T.):
“You don’t have to be in jail to experience something. Pain can grind our emotions- you can feel sad, depressed, angry, not confident in yourself. You can’t give into your feelings and your emotions, you have to persevere and the things you’re taught that you know are right… you can’t give up. You gotta fight.”