(Photograph courtesy of James Jordan)
First of all, I want everyone out there to be aware of the Interpreter Foundation’s new specialized website:
Witnesses of the Book of Mormon
I’ve mentioned the website here before, obviously, but I think that I probably haven’t put enough emphasis on it. We launched it not very long ago, and it’s still growing. Moreover, it will continue to grow: Although it’s manifestly occasioned by and intended to accompany and to supplement our Witnesses theatrical film, we are designing it to have a useful life long after the time that Witnesses leaves the theaters. We hope that it will become the principal repository (and the go-to location online) for good, solid information related to the witnesses of the Book of Mormon — and not only to the Three and the Eight but to the several additional, informal, unofficial witnesses, as well.
Take some time to explore it. Look around in it. Helpful suggestions will be happily welcomed.
Please also consider going to Witnesses of the Book of Mormon and leaving your own testimony there — whether in writing, or in audio form, or as a video, or in some combination of those forms:
Finally, I hope that you’ll call other people’s attention to it. And invite others to contribute their testimonies.
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Additionally, I can’t stress this too much:
If you would like the Witnesses theatrical film to appear on screens in your community, please go to the appropriate “button” at the top of the Witnesses website and say so:
Please sign in on the website even if you’re already serenely confident that the film will almost certainly be screened in your neighborhood. Please do so even if you’re virtually certain that it won’t be screened in your neighborhood.
I can’t overstate the importance of this.
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Nor can I overstate the importance of marking Friday, 4 June, and Saturday, 5 June, on your calendar. The Witnesses theatrical film will open on Friday, 4 June 2021.
One or two of you may have missed my explanation of the fact that, when a new film is unveiled, its performance on its opening weekend is vitally important. I have no great hopes for a vast turnout of Latter-day Saints on Sunday, 6 June 2021; in fact, for reasons that should be manifest, I hope for quite the contrary. But that, of course, means that Friday, 4 June 2021, and Saturday, 5 June 2021, loom even larger for the “market success “or “market failure” of Witnesses.
What do I mean by “market success” and “market failure”?
Once again, I point out that, however well or however poorly the film does, I will derive no money from it. (Nor, in a vain attempt to cover all the bases with my obsessive critics, will my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my in-laws, my nieces and nephews, my cousins, my neighbors, my pets, or any other of my heirs or assigns, nor any dummy corporation in the Cayman Islands.) There is nothing in any contract related to any aspect of the overall Witnesses effort that grants me any personal financial interest in the film whatsoever. Whether you buy tickets or not, whether you buy tickets for your ten thousand closet friends to watch it a hundred times each, I won’t earn a single cent. (I hope that’s clear enough.)
What I mean by “market success” or “market failure” for Witnesses relates to the size of its audience. That’s how we will measure our success. We want people to watch the film. We want members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to see it, of course. But we would be delighted if people outside of the Latter-day Saint community see it, too. We want to get its story out there.
And if it performs well on its opening weekend, that greatly increases the likelihood that it will appear on a higher number of screens and that it will be scheduled for longer runs on those screens.
So, please, plan to attend a showing of Witnesses, if you can, on either Friday, 4 June, or Saturday, 5 June. Or, for that matter, both! Take friends and family! Bring people from your ward! Bring nonmember friends!
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I’m a bit late with this one because I didn’t see it until recently, and, honestly, it’s somewhat out of date. Still, I think that a few of you might enjoy reading it (or at least seeing the photograph that accompanies it):
Provo Daily Herald: “‘Witnesses’ opens LDS Film Festival, with events running through Saturday”
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Finally, here are some new items that have recently been posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:
Interpreter Radio Show — February 21, 2021
The discussants for the 21 February 2021 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show were Bruce Webster and Mike Parker. In this installment, they discussed five principles of obedience to the Lord. The first portion of the show was a roundtable discussing the upcoming Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants lesson #14 (Easter). The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.
Interpreter Radio Show — February 14, 2021
The hosts for the 14 February 2021 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show were Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen. In this episode, they discussed John Gee’s recent articles on the translation of the Book of Abraham. The second portion of the show was a roundtable discussing the upcoming Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants lesson #13 (D&C 29). The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.
The discussants in the Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 11, “Strengthen the Church” on D&C 23 – 26, were Steve Densley, Matt Bowen, and Mark Johnson. This roundtable was extracted from the 31 January 2021 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show. The complete show may be heard at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-january-31-2021/. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.
Generously provided by Jonn Claybaugh:
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