![Goodman with crowd of \"Witnesses\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/09\/70350812_670152833485676_422620053167407104_o.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As we approach the theatrical debut of the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s dramatic film, Witnesses<\/em>, some aspects of that debut are coming more clearly into focus.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve said earlier that Witnesses<\/em> will begin screening in theaters on 4 June 2021, and I\u2019ve encouraged you to mark your calendars for that date.\u00a0\u00a0But permit me now to refine that announcement just a little bit:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Current practice for movie debuts, I\u2019m informed, has them actually commence on the Thursday night prior to the debut weekend.\u00a0 In any case, that\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen in the case of Witnesses<\/em>.\u00a0 Showings will begin at 7 PM on the evening of the third<\/em> of June \u2014 that\u2019s Thursday, 3 June 2021.\u00a0 So please mark your calendars for 3 June, 4 June, and 5 June.\u00a0 Opening weekend ticket sales \u2014 Thursday evening through, yes, Sunday (though we\u2019re not expecting or even hoping<\/em> for large Sabbath revenues!) \u2014 are seen in the movie industry as a very important indicator of a film\u2019s prospects, and they can make it far easier (or far harder) for a film to secure movie screens in the ensuing weeks.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Moreover, Witnesses<\/em> will likely debut in Utah (and perhaps, though I\u2019m not sure of this, in some immediately adjacent areas) before it rolls out to other places beyond the state boundaries.\u00a0 The idea here is that, if the film can generate a \u201cbuzz\u201d in the center of gravity for the Latter-day Saint film market\u00a0 \u2014 that is to say, if it can garner good word of mouth recommendations \u2014 that \u201cbuzz\u201d will effectively supplement or multiply advertising expenditures in areas where the Latter-day Saint population is less concentrated and encourage more theaters to devote screens to its showing.\u00a0 In other words, it\u2019s possible (though I\u2019m not yet sure) that areas like greater Phoenix and southern California (to say nothing of more distant locations) may see debuts of the film a week or two after it appears along the Wasatch Front, in St. George, and so forth.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As I write, the concert film Lamb of God<\/em><\/a> \u2014 which I\u2019ve strongly recommended \u2014 is screening in a number of states beyond Utah<\/a>.\u00a0 I\u2019m told that, according to agreement, the trailer for Witnesses<\/em> is to be shown before every screening of Lamb of God<\/em>.\u00a0 If you attend a showing of Lamb of God<\/em> and the Witnesses<\/em> trailer is not<\/em> shown, could you perhaps let me know about that?\u00a0 (Please identify the theater and, perhaps, the screening date and time.)\u00a0 You can write to me at daniel_peterson@byu.edu.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Other than the theatrical trailer, we\u2019re basically holding off on advertisements and a publicity campaign until we\u2019re a bit closer to 3 June.\u00a0 I suppose that it\u2019s something like the military order to hold fire, save ammunition, and, for maximum effectiveness, wait until the approaching foe is closer:\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!\u201d\u00a0 We expect that our advertising and other efforts would be somewhat squandered at this point, and that they will be much more effective during the thirty or forty days immediately preceding the film\u2019s debut.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019re also planning a special premiere, slightly before the general debut, which may end up being by invitation only.\u00a0 More on that later.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Incidentally, it probably needs to be said once again:\u00a0 Certain critics assiduously cultivate the falsehood that I have been, or will be, lining my pockets with the cash that Witnesses<\/em> may bring in.\u00a0 This is, as I\u2019ve pointed out many times before, flatly untrue.\u00a0 There is no expectation on my part or on anybody else\u2019s part that I will earn a penny of profit from Witnesses<\/em>.\u00a0 There is nothing in any of the contract documents related to the project that promises or permits me any financial interest in the success of the film.\u00a0 No money will accrue to me from the movie \u2014 neither directly nor indirectly.\u00a0 (Nor \u2014 I know how certain critics\u2019 minds work! \u2014 to my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my cousins, my present or future pets, my estate, my heirs and assigns, my neighbors, or any shell company or secret bank account in the Cayman Islands.\u00a0 Neither in cash nor in kind nor in gold bullion nor in doubloons nor in Swiss francs nor in bitcoin nor in corv\u00e9e labor.)\u00a0 Whether the film project fails miserably or breaks even or earns $800 million, my share of the earnings will remain unchanged, at precisely $0.00.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I realize that that\u2019s almost certainly not clear enough for certain folks, but it\u2019s the best I can do at the moment.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Our film crew is back in Massachusetts today, where they have been shooting material for the Witnesses<\/em>-related docudrama that will come out a short interval \u2014 four or five months, I would think \u2014 after the theatrical movie.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been working pretty hard over the past few days, with lots of emails and conference calls, and we are very near to signing a contract for the distribution of Witnesses<\/em> in both DVD and streaming form.\u00a0 This is exciting to me, not least because it should help in making the film available to people beyond the United States who have expressed interest in our project.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I want to take the opportunity now, while I\u2019m at it, to thank all of those who have made this project possible.\u00a0 There was a time, candidly, when I thought that we might not make it.\u00a0 But we have.\u00a0 Many donors, large and small, stepped forward.\u00a0 I thank Ed Snow for his indispensable help with fundraising.\u00a0 Our filmmaking team \u2014 at its core, Mark Goodman, James Jordan, and Russell Richins \u2014 has been superb, selfless, dedicated, and a pleasure to work with.\u00a0 Steve Densley has helped out at crucial points with legal advice.\u00a0 Our actors are great.\u00a0 The whole thing has been amazing, and I\u2019m deeply gratified that we\u2019ll soon be able to share this story (and, after it, the docudrama that will shed a great deal of light on it) with what I hope will be a large and interested audience.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u00a0 *** \u00a0 As we approach the theatrical debut of the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s dramatic film, Witnesses, some aspects of that debut are coming more clearly into focus. \u00a0 I\u2019ve said earlier that Witnesses will begin screening in theaters on 4 June 2021, and I\u2019ve encouraged you to mark your calendars for that date.\u00a0\u00a0But permit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[259,5691,873,975,114,21917,2160,5688,4003,921,6384,21713],"class_list":["post-90697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-book-of-mormon-witnesses","tag-eight-witnesses","tag-film","tag-interpreter","tag-interpreter-foundation","tag-lamb-of-god","tag-movie","tag-three-witnesses","tag-witness","tag-witnesses","tag-witnesses-film","tag-witnesses-of-the-book-of-mormon"],"yoast_head":"\n