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PROVO -- It's an LDS-themed TV show, with a Hollywood flair. Filmmakers are developing a mini-series they hope will grow into a network television drama.
It's called, "This is the Place." Crews shot a pilot version of the series in Provo on Friday and Saturday.
Co-Creator and Screenwriter Chris Larsen says they take characters - members and non-members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - with day-to-day issues, "and then explore how the belief system of the Latter-day Saint affects making decisions that are common to everyone."
"We have a character who is a professional mother who is calling into question whether she should be home with her children or not," Larsen says. "We have an issue with a young bishop who has this weight of responsibility all of a sudden, and he has to reorganize how he is prioritizing his life - between family and church and his career."
Director Brad Johnson, who also has worked on Super Bowl pre-game and halftime shows and productions included in the 2002 Olympics, says each story in the series is told from a different point of view.
"You could have the exact same situation happen and when you look at it through somebody else's eyes, it can be comprehended in a completely different way," Johnson says.
The makers say the plot differs greatly from the LDS genre formula.
"I kind of started to feel like there was only one story being told," Larsen says. "That story is you have a person of faith, they arrive at a moment when that faith is challenged, they encounter obstacles, and then they ultimately regain their faith and we roll credits."
They also like their talent and producers over other genre fare.
"We're working people that know how to make good quality and we're not here because we got stuck here," Larsen says.
Robert Jayne is a Hollywood actor brought in to play the role of "Vince." He has acted in episodes of "Tremors," "Walker, Texas Ranger," and "Baywatch."
Johnson, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints raised in Los Angeles, says he originally wasn't sure he wanted to sign on to the project, because he "lives in Hollywood and it's not necessarily cool to be LDS there." Then, he looked at the proposal.
"Immediately I saw it and thought it was going to be a good project," says Johnson, who started Good Brothers Entertainment with his brothers.
The other co-creator is Todd Bay, CEO of Bay Entertainment and Media. He's also the mastermind behind a plan to bring a major motion picture production studio to Summit County.
"The timing seems to be perfect with [Todd] bringing in the studio," Johnson says. "It allows us to have the high-quality production we would have in Hollywood."
"The film community is expanding," Larsen says. "We are about to have the infrastructure to sustain bigger projects, and it was really important for us to make sure that one of the first projects that came here was something from our community that could be community-driven."
The creators are eyeing a three-part miniseries that will first air locally. They hope, though, they can use that as a demo to sell a network on a longer running show. They say there is already network interest. The mini-series is expected to debut sometime later this year.
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
