Thirst for LDS-oriented products burgeoning

As the predicted hordes of locals flock to theaters this week — cash in hand — to catch the latest movie geared toward members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, marketing gurus who hope to capitalize on a burgeoning thirst for all things LDS will be watching carefully.

"The Work and the Glory," a $7.4 million movie adaptation of author Gerald Lund's best-selling series of LDS historical fiction, has been widely touted ever since Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller announced months ago that he would fund the project. Believed to be the most expensive LDS film ever produced for a general audience, Miller told the Deseret Morning News if he is able to at least break even he will probably consider production of up to five sequels in order to do justice to Lund's nine-volume series.

The books chronicle the story of the fictional Steed family, using the backdrop of 19th century LDS history as the setting for their conversion to the fledgling faith and their migration West with the Latter-day Saints. The story line fleshes out the details not only of their daily lives but of the places and events that some 12 million Latter-day Saints the world over have come to revere as sacred.

Miller sees the film as "more than just an LDS story. It's a love story on the frontier and happens to take place in an LDS setting. People won't come away feeling LDS values were jammed down their throat, but then I'm like a dad talking about his kids."

The film, produced by Excel Entertainment, will be the first to be released by Deseret Book since its merger with Excel last week.

Excel president Jeff Simpson, who is now executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Deseret Book, will oversee product development under the company's Shadow Mountain label — which targets both LDS and secular audiences.

That desire to find a "crossover audience" is becoming more common as LDS filmmakers and other artists find commercial success. The coveted status is represented in a new version of the national best-selling series of Chicken Soup books, the newest of which will be "Chicken Soup for the Latter-day Saint Soul," according to Salt Lake advertising executive Peg Fugal.

She is seeking short stories — to be e-mailed by the end of the month to her at pegfugal@aol.com — to appear in the book after being approached by one of the series' original authors. The 90 titles in the Chicken Soup series have sold more than 90 million copies, and Hansen was convinced the time had come for an LDS version.