After Steven Spielberg's classic Raiders of the Lost Ark was released 35 years ago, three 11-year-old boys from Mississippi set out on what would become a 7-year-long labor of love and tribute to their favorite film: a faithful, shot-for-shot adaptation of the action adventure film, which the New York Times calls "a testament to the transporting power of movie love." They finished every scene... except one; the film's explosive airplane set piece.

Over two decades later, the trio reunited with the original cast members from their childhood in order to complete their masterpiece in what IGN has dubbed "the Boyhood of fan movies."

Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made is just that — the story of this long-gestating project's culmination, chronicling the friends' dedication to their artistic vision-mixed in with some movie magic-to create a personal, epic love letter to a true modern classic, in "a triumphant, feel-good documentary of the highest caliber that dares you to dream" (Cut Print Film).

This ultimate bootleg fan film has taken nearly 30 years to complete. We share what we learned in this amazing documentary about what it really takes for screenwriters and filmmakers that have a passion for a cinematic storytelling to realize that dream no matter what the cost.

1. Inspiration

There’s a reason screenwriters and filmmakers want to write and make movies — because they love them. These three kids — now men — were driven by Steven Spielberg’s vision. They were driven by films of the 1970s and 1980s, specifically those with the cinematic scope that captured their imaginations.

Inspiration is what fuels screenwriters and filmmakers to go to the lengths they do to tell their stories. They themselves want to inspire others as Steven Spielberg inspired them.

2. Aspiration

The inspiration of the movies and stories that screenwriters and filmmakers love force them to aspire to achieve that quality in their own writing and filmmaking.

These kids in the 80s aspired to emulate their cinematic hero in Steven Spielberg. They saw what he did and asked themselves, “Can we do that?” And then that aspiration lead them to a point where most would respond with, “No. That’s too hard. It would take too much money, time, and effort.”  Instead, their response was, “Let’s find out.”

And that’s where screenwriters and filmmakers are born. The people that chase a dream are an uncommon breed that embrace their inspirations and aspirations.

3. Dedication

It takes a lot of time and effort to write great screenplays. It takes a lot of time, effort, and money to produce and direct an indie film, or in the case of these three kids — the ultimate fan film.

As you’ll see in this amazing documentary, their dedication is off the charts. They gave away their evenings, nights, weekends, paychecks, birthday gifts, holiday gifts, and even some of their childhood — and later adulthood — to finish this film. And not just for two or three months. For seven years. And then years later, they returned to finish it despite past quarrels, estrangement, and the possibility of losing their jobs.

Without dedication, screenwriters and filmmakers won’t last. You can’t just phone it in when you have some free time now and then. You have to dive into the process head first and be willing to swim through anything in order to accomplish your vision.

And like the journey with these three kids, the journey of the screenwriter and the filmmaker is a long one. There are no such things as overnight successes in Hollywood. The media likes to sell that story, but that first script sale or that first hit film are just the product of years upon years of hard work, failure, lessons learned, and yes, dedication.

4. Determination

Beyond dedication, screenwriters and filmmakers need to be utterly determined to finish what they started, whether it be a single script, single film, or realizing a dream of a career doing what they love.

Dedication means nothing without determination. Determination is what drives you to accomplish what you’ve dedicated yourself to do.

This Raiders of the Lost Ark-loving trio were determined to finish their movie. They wouldn’t let anything stand in their way. And if something did with no hope of breaking through it, they found a way around it.

That’s what screenwriters and filmmakers need to do. That’s the perspective that drives them through all of the rejection, failure, and dead ends.

5. Imagination

Without imagination, there is no storytelling.

And it’s not just about being able to conjure a concept, setting, character, or scene. It’s not just about creating worlds, drama, laughs, scares, twists, turns, and thrills.

It’s about imagining solutions.

These guys didn’t have millions of dollars to make their shot-for-shot remake. So what did they do? They used their imaginations to find solutions to their restraints.

They imagined ways to create a life size rolling rock to chase after their Indiana Jones. They imagined ways to recreate the otherwise death defying stunts of the original Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Screenwriters need to find solutions for any number of questions that come up regarding where their stories and characters are going and what will engage and surprise an audience most. They need to find solutions to even get the script read, and then get the script to the point where when a reader puts it down, they’re ready to give it their recommend.

Filmmakers need to do the same, only on a whole different elevated plain. They need to use their imagination to solve hundreds of problems per shooting day.

Despite what many may think, there is no single way to find the right solution for every screenplay or film. Each script and each movie being written or produced is different than every one that came before. That's where imagination truly kicks in.

6. Execution

It’s not enough to be inspired. It’s not enough to aspire to be something or create something. It’s not enough to just be dedicated and determined. And it’s certainly not enough to just have a great imagination.

You have to execute.

Day in and day out these three kids executed what they set out to do. They were inspired by Spielberg’s film, they aspired to emulate that cinematic experience, they were dedicated and determined to make it happen, and they had the imagination to accomplish it. And then they went and did it.

Even two decades after they were done, with one final scene that was never shot due to the expense and scope of it — the scene where Indy tries to stop the plane from taking the Ark to Germany — they finally executed that scene.

That’s what it takes to be a screenwriter and filmmaker. Those six elements that these three friends had drove them to realize a dream that most would have given up on.

And the endgame for them wasn’t even a career in screenwriting or film. It certainly wasn’t about money, as they knew that they could never profit from a fan film.

They had a vision and they wouldn’t let anything stand in their way — not even time — to realize it.

And they even had the chance to meet their hero, Steven Spielberg, after all of those years.

What’s your dream? Will you be able to go the distance using your inspiration, aspiration, dedication, determination, imagination, and execution?

Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala and Jayson Lamb did.

Do you want to see your own vision of your favorite movie, TV, or literary characters come to life in an ultimate bootleg film? Enter ScreenCraft's Bootleg Universe Short Script and Story Contest! 

Tim Skousen & Jeremy Coon's critically-acclaimed documentary Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (Certified Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes with a 93% rating and an Audience Score of 92%) premiered at SXSW in 2015 and enjoyed a healthy festival campaign before its debut in theaters and On Demand. It then debuted on Blu-ray and DVD.

Special features include more than four hours of bonus content such as dual audio commentary tracks (with Skousen & Coon as well as Strompolos & Zala), deleted scenes from the documentary, outtakes from the Adaptation, Q&A footage from the Adaptation's 2003 premiere at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX, a photo booklet featuring storyboard art from the Adaptation and a free HD digital copy of the film.

The release is a must-watch for screenwriters, filmmakers, movie buffs, and dreamers alike.