LDS films timid, Dutcher says

SANDY — "I go into a movie looking for something to acknowledge my human condition, my brokenness," Richard Dutcher told an audience of LDS book and DVD sellers.

"I want the meat," he said; he doesn't think audiences relate to the perfect people they see portrayed in recent LDS movies.

Dutcher seemed to be addressing other producers of LDS movies, who sat with him on the panel, when he asked, "Why are we so timid now?" He also asked, "Where is Jesus Christ in our movies?"

Dutcher, who produced "God's Army," "Brigham City" and "States of Grace," spoke Tuesday at a convention of merchants called "LDS Booksellers University," held at the South Towne Exposition Center. He was joined on the panel by David Hunter of HaleStorm and Stone Five Studios, producer of "The Singles Ward," "The R.M." and "Mobsters and Mormons;" Brian Brough of Candlelight Media Group, producer of "Everything You Want" and the yet-to-be-released "Passage to Zarahemla"; Randy Davis of Excel Entertainment, marketing "The Other Side of Heaven" and "The Work and the Glory" and also writing the children's cartoons, "Junior's Giants"; Sonja and Craig Brooksby, of Lightstone Studios that produces the "Liken" series of live-action musicals; and Chris Heimerdinger, writer of "Passage to Zarahemla" and the "Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites" series.

The panelists took turns defining the focus of their movies and then addressing the quality of LDS movies in general. Hunter said his company just moved into new state-of-the-art facilities, featuring the largest stage in the Intermountain West. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints movie niche is a very small niche, he said. They are about to expand into a wide range of family friendly scripts that are not necessarily about LDS characters.

Brough agreed that the LDS market is so small it makes economics difficult and said they are always looking for LDS films that can "cross over," something along the lines of "Saints and Soldiers." He said his company distributes a wide range of secular titles, including "Pride and Prejudice" and "Anne of Green Gables."

When he took questions from the audience, he heard from several store owners who were offended by immodesty or language in something his company distributes. One man said he lives in Canada and feels his store represents the LDS Church. When customers see something questionable in a film, "They think it reflects on the church as a whole," he said. "That's the position you put us in as store owners."