If you’re looking for a unique and powerful depiction of this week’s Come, Follow Me material, check out this new short film produced by Book of Mormon Central and Messages of Christ.
The new film is about 30 minutes long and has been described as a mashup between The Chosen and The Christ Child. The writers and producers used the Bible as a basis for the script, but did not limit themselves to the Old Testament text to tell these stories in a more relatable way.
The video’s executive producer, Daniel Smith, said, “I wanted to see their story portrayed for several years, and that in essence the stars aligned at the right time to make it happen. I wanted to make sure the story of Sarah was told, and that her emotions and heartache could be depicted, even though not recorded in scripture.”
Writer and producer Benjamin Griffin said, “As we went through the process of developing the script, we established early on that this story needed to be real. We tried to read between the black words on the white pages and put ourselves in the character’s shoes. We tried to look at all possible angles to tell the story effectively. During the writing process, we would often sit back and ask questions like, ‘How would Sarah have reacted to the news that Abraham would need to sacrifice Isaac?’ This train of thought led us to make creative decisions that would progress the story in a way that would convey the powerful human emotions to our viewers.”
Creators only began preproduction, casting, location scouting, and script writing for the short film in mid-January. They then filmed in frigid Utah winter weather for two full days and were able to miraculously edit and produce the final version for its release on Valentine’s Day.
Director and writer Taylor Riley said, “There was no way that we could have done this size of a production in less than a month without the hand of God. From the beginning, I knew God wanted us to contemplate the lives of our father Abraham and mother Sarah. With this reminiscing spirit throughout the entire process, I think we all learned how this family not only has blessed the entire world, but each one of us individually.”
Learn more about the filming and project on Book of Mormon Central.
