MR says: Every Monday, the A.V. Club features a relatively unknown side the arts and entertainment world in a series called Wiki Wormhole. This week, they featured Mormon independent films and even had some nice things to say about this growing industry. Check it out!
This week’s entry: Mormon cinema
Strangest fact: Naturally, Mormon cinema has a nickname ending in -ollywood. Just as India’s film industry is referred to as “Bollywood,” a portmanteau of Bombay (what the British called Mumbai) and Hollywood, LDS cinema comes from Mollywood. The name is a play on “Molly Mormon,” . . .
► You'll also like: 'Once I Was a Beehive' Is a Must-See, the Best Mormon Comedy To Date
Thing we were happiest to learn: Even with a potential audience of only 6 million Mormons in the U.S. (out of 14 million worldwide), several LDS films have been box office successes, if on a smaller scale than what Hollywood would consider a bit hit. God’s Army made $2.5 million on a budget of $300,000, and Wikipedia lists five other films that earned over a million dollars from six-figure budgets. Bigger is not always better, however, as The Other Side Of Heaven, a 2001 Disney-produced drama about a Mormon missionary, only made back two-thirds of its $7 million budget.
From the classics to new releases, check out all the best of Mormon independent films at Deseret Book!
Once I Was a Beehive: Lane Speer is a 16-year-old girl who spends her family vacations camping in the mountains. She takes the memories for granted until she loses her father to an unexpected bout with cancer. Only a year later, her mother remarries a guy that Lane hardly knows. Worst of all, he is a Mormon. To top it off, she finds herself whisked away to a bible-themed girls camp with a bunch of young Mormon girls in a trip that is both hilarious and unforgettable!