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PARK CITY — The BYU grads and husband and wife team behind the films "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Nacho Libre" returned to the Sundance Film Festival Wednesday for the premiere of their latest comedy, "Don Verdean."

The Sundance Film Festival brings in the best independent filmmakers from all over the world, but instead of hopping on a plane Jared and Jerusha Hess hopped in their car and drove up Parleys Canyon.

As the stars arrived on the red carpet at the Eccles Theater in Park City Friday, it looked more like a scene from Hollywood than the work of two Salt Lake City locals.

KSL News spoke with the filmmaking duo before their big premiere. Jared calls the film a religious comedy that is bound to be a little quirky like its predecessors.

The film follows the fictional Don Verdean, played by Sam Rockwell, as he scours the globe looking for religious artifacts. He heads down a less-than-righteous path as he finds himself in the midst of two feuding congregations.

"I've always been fascinated with the world of biblical archaeology, which really isn't real archaeology," said Jared. "It just seemed like a world ripe for comedy."

Wednesday's return to the festival marked 11 years since the premiere of "Napoleon Dynamite," a film that became an overnight hit.

"We have a tender spot for it in our hearts," said Jared. "We love this festival. It's what launched our careers."

We just started sneaking writing time in every nap our babies had. I don't know how we hammered this movie out. It was such a labor of love because we had no time. We had no energy. –Jerusha Hess

It's been a busy year for Hesses. They're parents to four children and admit finding time to be creative takes effort.

"We just started sneaking writing time in every nap our babies had," Jerusha said. "I don't know how we hammered this movie out. It was such a labor of love because we had no time. We had no energy."

When they heard that labor of love found a place once again on the world stage, it was worth it.

"This is it," Jerusha said. "It's the best. We're over the moon"

Jerusha was also at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 for the film "Austenland," which she directed.

Through all their success, the Hesses say they're grateful to those who helped them get their start.

"We had very supporting and loving teachers who were just really great and encouraged us to write our stories," Jerusha said. "We're still dear friends with them and go back and lecture at BYU all the time."

So while most of the festival's successful filmmakers will hop on a plane and head back to New York or L.A., the commute is a little easier for them.

"It's so great to be able to drive off the mountain and sleep in my own bed at night," Jared said.

Prior to Wednesday night's screening, Lionsgate announced the purchase of the film. It will be in theaters later this year.

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