***
Well, we’re back from the premiere of Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. It went very well, I think. The large theater at the SCERA Center for the Arts has something on the order of 750 seats, and I overheard someone (someone who would know) say that all but 72 seats had been sold — which seems to mean that the theater was 90%+ sold out. And that would be consistent with my own impression: The theater was almost full. (I was, to be perfectly candid, pleasantly surprised.) Lots of friends came, but also lots of people that I don’t know. I didn’t see him there, but I was told that the president of the Utah Area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came. And so did Gary Herbert, who served as governor of Utah from 2009 through 2021, and for whom I led a tour in Jerusalem some years back. The audience was, so far as I could tell, quite pleased and enthusiastic. A considerable number of people came up to me afterwards to tell me how much they loved the film. Which means that we’re off to a good start with this one.
We anticipate that Undaunted will be available on DVD on 24 May 2022. That’s a bit later than we had expected — the film is finished, and I’m not sure what the reason for the delay might be — but it will work. And Undaunted will also be made available via streaming and, I think, on the Interpreter Foundation website.
We also shared one of our “Snippets,” our short features (about which, like it or not, you’ll be hearing more from me fairly soon). We chose to show our “Snippet” on the blessings of Kirtland. Its centerpiece is an interview by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses, of Gerrit Dirkmaat, who teaches at Brigham Young University.
And we were thrilled to announce our next project, which is entitled Six Days in August. The current plan (always subject to evolution) is to do something comparable to the overall Witnesses project — that is, to produce a dramatic film for theatrical release, a docudrama sequel, and a flotilla of accompanying short features.
Before going to the premiere, we had a celebratory dinner at a local restaurant, including spouses, with our director, Mark Goodman; our producer and associate producer, Russ Richins and James Jordan; our graphic designer, Ryan Knowlton; and the Interpreter Foundation’s treasurer, Kent Flack. They’ve all done marvelous work, and we’re deeply grateful for them. Excited, too, for the next adventure.
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