Winding Roads was filmed in late 1998 in Springfield, Missouri, and produced through Melfi and Quinn's company Goldenlight Films. It was screened at the 1999 Austin Film Festival, premiered in Springfield on September 14, 2000, and was later shown in theaters in the Midwest.
Winding Roads was screened on October 8 and 10, 1999, at the sixth annual Austin Film Festival.[3] As a means of attracting a potential distributor, a private industry screening for 450 guests was held at 20th Century Fox Studios in Hollywood on April 12, 2000.[4]
The world premiere of Winding Roads took place on September 14, 2000, at the Wehrenberg Theatres Campbell 16 in Springfield, Missouri, where it played for the next two weeks.[2] The film's theatrical release — including a two-week run at the GQT Forum 8 theater in Columbia, Missouri in March 2001 — was orchestrated entirely by Melfi.[5]