Like the LDS Church in general, the MPS is run by regular people – they don”t necessarily have a film or theater background. In 1991, church leaders decided to separate the studio from BYU and renamed it the LDS Motion Picture Studio. They built a make-shift building, located where the Wilkinson Center now stands, and affectionately called it “The Green Barn.” Their first film: “B Y and You.” It actually began as the BYU Motion Picture Studio in 1953. He said non-members even have to sign a MPS version of the Honor Code.īut the LDS Motion Picture Studio has more in common with BYU than merely sharing the Honor Code idea.
If we can”t find the expertise within the Latter-day Saint community, then we will hire people who are not members of the church, but they must live the standards of the church while they are working with us.” “They must be worthy Latter-day Saints, if we can find them.
“There is a standard in our hiring practice, both with the actors and the crew,” Schaefermeyer said. “Also involved in that is the correlation committee in the church that must approve concepts first, then scripts, and then the final finished video.”Ĭast and crew working on church films are also required to follow strict guidelines. “We would send up proposals and when they finally saw one that they really liked, they gave us direction,” he said. It also took about that long just to get approval, he said. “We don”t just make them up and send them out.”įor example, “Testaments” took about two years to make. “Obviously, President Hinckley won”t be able to watch everything that we do, but it goes through approved channels,” he said. Schaefermeyer made it clear that the LDS Motion Picture Studio operates under the direct guidance of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. “If you talk about films, this is where they”re made,” Schaefermeyer said. Responsible for creating a large portion of official church audio-visual material, the studio has created movies such as “The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd,” which is shown in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, the CES seminary videos, missionary videos, visitor center videos and even “Johnny Lingo.”
The MPS definitely takes its role seriously. Schaefermeyer said it”s because the church needs to be careful about anything media related. Why does the LDS Motion Picture Studio reside in such a guarded atmosphere? At first thought, it doesn”t seem like the kind of place that needs James Bond antics.īill Schaefermeyer, the director of the LDS Motion Picture Studio, wouldn”t comment on MPS”s current projects, and he wouldn”t comment on how much money each project costs. But after winding around the road, a warehouse appears. Once past the guard, still nothing can be seen.
The only thing in sight is a long, thin driveway, which ends with a gate manned by a security guard. The LDS Motion Picture Studio sits hidden from the street behind a high wall.
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