Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Shawshank Redemption is based on Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, a 96-page novella by Stephen King published in his 1982 collection Different Seasons. Frank Darabont purchased the rights from King for $5,000 in 1987 and wrote the screenplay over eight weeks, five years later.
The film earned approximately $16 million during its initial theatrical run against a $25 million budget. Its failure was attributed to competition from Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump, the general unpopularity of prison films, a lack of female characters, and a title audiences found confusing and unmemorable.
Principal photography took place between June and August 1993 almost entirely in Mansfield, Ohio. The Ohio State Reformatory served as the fictional Shawshank prison, while interior cellblock scenes were shot on a purpose-built set inside a nearby shuttered Westinghouse Electric factory. The beach reunion scene was filmed on the island of Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The film received seven Academy Award nominations at the 67th Academy Awards in 1995, the most ever for a Stephen King film adaptation. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor for Morgan Freeman, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Original Score. It did not win in any category.
Warner Home Video shipped 320,000 rental copies across the United States in 1995, and the film became the top video rental of that year. Regular airings on the TNT cable network beginning in June 1997 further built its audience. The film's seven Academy Award nominations in early 1995 introduced it to viewers who had missed its brief theatrical run.
The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio is open to visitors. The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society purchased the site from Ohio for one dollar in 2000 and operates it as a historical landmark. Destination Mansfield maintains the Shawshank Trail, a series of 15 marked filming locations across the surrounding region that generated $16.9 million in revenue in 2018.