Davis told merchants even a film that is several years old, like "Charley," still sells extremely well. A store owner in Colombia, Catalina Garcia, said she could sell many more Spanish subtitled movies if only she could get them. Davis explained subtitling is expensive. He added that some "mission-driven" movies, such as the first "Work and the Glory" and the Book of Mormon movies, were subtitled without regard to whether the costs could be recovered.

Sonja Brooksby said she prayed and fasted to find good family entertainment for her children. "We know people are searching," she said. Her husband added that their company will share the LDS testimony to the world.

Heimerdinger said he is not interested in "crossing over," even if it means he never wins an Academy Award. "I want to tell stories that celebrate our doctrine, and that's not going to cross over and I don't care," he said.

Dutcher was the most strident of the speakers. "You guys are in trouble," he told the booksellers. "Your market is shrinking. People are going to the Internet. Bookstores are closing all around the world."

"How are we going to solve these problems?" he asked. He recalled going to see Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ," which was playing at the same theater as "The Best Two Years," a movie about a young man on an LDS mission. In "Passion," every frame was about Jesus Christ, Dutcher said.

"Much as I loved 'Best Two Years,' where was Jesus in that film?" He urged filmmakers and film buyers to look at film as art. To not say, "Oh there is no nudity, no violence, so this is a good movie.

"We need good stories, good acting . . ." Later, a woman in the audience stood and said, "We don't have to become part of the world to tell good stories. We can still show passion, anger, pain."

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E-mail: susan@desnews.com