Elder Robert Wood expects his Mormon mission to be a glorious affair. As the great, great grandson of Epaphroditus Wood--a legendary missionary in church history--Elder Wood believes that he too will work mighty miracles and convert many to the Truth.
But everything goes hilariously wrong. Harassed by a motorcycle thug, Elder Wood encounters persecution and rejection. He is prompted to perform miracles, but they backfire with comical consequences. His Mission President--obsessed with impossible baptism goals and ridiculous proselytizing programs--works Elder Wood to exhaustion. And to top it all off, his Zone Leader is out to steal his girl.
Just when things cannot get any worse, Elder Wood is paired with Elder Diaz, a mischief-maker whose antics get them into laughable situations, and whose probing mind makes Elder Wood question things he once held as truth. Even visitations from beyond the grave by Epaphroditus--intended to give Wood insight and guidance--reveal a dark truth about his ancestor that Elder Wood would rather deny.
Through all his trials and tribulations, Elder Wood eventually becomes the kind of person that his great, great grandfather, Epaphroditus, would be proud of.
Funny, offbeat and somewhat irreverent, MESSENGERS OF TRUTH humorously depicts some of the hardships, temptations and paradoxes endured by Mormon missionaries.
Brent Jones (Writer/Director/Editor)
Catherine Ransom (Producer)
Jim Karnik (Cinematographer)
Erin Doyle (Associate Producer)
Gregg Smith (Production Assistant)
Starring
Mark DeWhitt as Elder Wood
Humberto Arcila as Elder Diaz
Dave Romero as Kevin
William Jones as President Lofton
"Smokey" Tom Hodgins as Epaphroditus
Nanci Harrington as Karen
Marc Miller as Elder Anderson
Mark Daemon as Elder Wright
Martita Meier as Marilyn
Mark DeWhitt (Elder Wood) has starred in several independent feature films (All Dressed Up & Nowhere To Go, The Wrong Guy, A Family Affair) plus a variety of short and student films. He co-starred on Finest City Magazine for Time Warner Cable and was the lead for O'Mary's (The Musical).
DeWhitt, who has studied under William Cowart, Barbara Balsz and Jerry Frank enjoys yoga, cooking, singing, ballroom dancing and playing piano.
Humberto Arcila (Elder Diaz) has acted in several independent films including Good Men Down and Ninja Nunz, and is active in community theater.
Arcila studied under Joe Behar and D.J. Sullivan, is fluent in Spanish and English, plays soccer and basketball and enjoys skateboarding and body surfing.
Dave Romero (Kevin) has been a student of acting for more than 7 years, starting out at University of San Diego's drama program and continuing with study at the The Old Globe Theater, Carey Scott's Rehearsal Room and most recently, The Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood, California.
While Romero has acted in several short and student films, Messengers of Truth is Romero's first feature. Romero enjoys nutrition, fitness and playing guitar.
William Jones (President Lofton) has appeared in several television programs including Robb Hedden's Dying to Live, and CBS's Pensacola.
A student of D.J. Sullivan, Jones has also received training in Commercial & Film Acting plus stunt and fight choreography.
Jones is a master skydiver, studies karate,
plays the guitar and has four college degrees including a Ph.D.
in Leadership and Human Behavior.
Ever since making his first 8mm short in high school, writer-director Brent Jones has dreamed of making a feature film, but it was a dream that seemed unreachable because of the enormous costs of production.
Wanting to be both creative and pragmatic, Jones graduated in Communications from Brigham Young University, worked in the community relations department of a hospital, then became a freelance writer, photographer and producer. In his spare time he worked on a screenplay--a comedy based on his experiences as a Mormon missionary.
Several years ago, as inexpensive digital filmmaking tools became available, Jones realized his dream to be a filmmaker could become a reality.
Teaming up with his spouse, Catherine Ransom, the two set to work on bringing Jones' script to the screen. Their goal was to make the best movie possible using volunteer talent for cast and crew, and the help of family and friends.
Producer, Catherine Ransom, has worked in video and multimedia for over 10 years, producing content for a wide variety of corporations and non-profit organizations, including educational programs for park visitor centers.
A graduate of the University of Redlands' Johnston Center for Integrative Studies, Ransom has a Masters Degree in Philosophy from San Diego State University, and studied Chinese language in Taiwan.
Director of Photography, Jim Karnik, began working with film and video while in high school. He continued to study film, photography and graphic design in college and attended a private film school in Half Moon Bay, California.
Inspired by Cousteau and National Geographic programs, Karnik developed an interest in natural history documentaries. In 1987 he formed a video production company. His Fieldnotes Nature Series (www.fieldnotes.com) airs on PBS, cable and the Internet.
When Brent Jones and Catherine Ransom set out to make their first full-length feature comedy, MESSENGERS OF TRUTH, they believed the limits of their meager budget could be overcome with creativity, good planning, hard work, and a lot help from their friends.
Now, after receiving extremely positive audience feedback from several test screenings, they feel their hard work really paid off.
"Audience reaction to the film has been amazing," relates Jones. "People laughed a lot, and our audience surveys indicate that the film really struck a cord with viewers."
Written and directed by Jones, and produced by Ransom, this comedy about the misadventures of several Mormon missionaries gets plenty of laughs while addressing serious issues of religion and faith.
Technical Specs
Like many filmmakers today--including Academy Award winning directors Spike Lee and Steven Soderberg--Ransom and Jones turned to digital video to capture their vision.
"Today's DV cameras are absolutely amazing," explains Ransom, "They allow you to get stunning images without elaborate set ups, and that saves a great deal of time and money during shooting."
MESSENGERS OF TRUTH was shot over the course of 12 days, mostly on weekends because the volunteer cast and crew held day jobs. "We shot about 33 hours of footage," explained Jones.
On the set, things were kept small and simple. "We were going into friends homes and offices to shoot and we didn't want to overwhelm them with a huge crew," said Ransom. "The crew usually consisted of director, producer, cameraman, production assistant and boom operator."
Volunteers were key to the success of the production. Actors and crew volunteered their time, friends volunteered homes, offices, vehicles, pets, and props.
Jim Karnik, a cinematographer friend who shoots and produces nature
documentaries ran camera. His documentary work can be seen
at www.fieldnotes.com.
A friend who works for a hotel offered a conference room for auditions and rehearsals. Another engineer friend created special effects. Brayden Hawk, a professional stunt man with a lot of Hollywood experience volunteered to do the motorcycle chase scenes.
"We borrowed everything and what we couldn't borrow, we made or bought at thrift stores," added Jones.
"One friend even gave us a graphics software package that she had just bought on sale and we used it to create tee shirts, book covers, magazines, newsletters--all of the movie's graphics," said Ransom.
Weekdays, between shooting, the Ransom/Jones team kept very busy preparing for the upcoming weekend shoot. There were rehearsals to hold, props and graphics to create, production schedules to make, and even food to prepare. In addition to tackling all aspects of producing, Ransom catered the shoots herself.
Jones also took on the job of editing the film which was done on an iMac DV 400 with Apple Final Cut Pro software.
How would you describe MESSENGERS OF
TRUTH?
Funny, surprising, ironic and satirical come to mind. It also
touches on various religious issues like faith, doubt, honesty
and personal integrity.
What inspired you to write the script
and where did you do your research?
I was raised in the Mormon church and served a 2-year mission
in Florida. One day I decided to write a screenplay based loosely
on my experiences and MESSENGERS OF TRUTH just came tumbling out.
Why did you decide to make the film yourself?
Cathy--my spouse and the Producer of the film--and I thought it
would be fun to make the movie, so we just dove in. We put together
a terrific volunteer cast and crew, and we all had a great time
working together.
Where did you learn to make films?
When I was at BYU I took a couple of film production classes,
and for the past 12 years, Cathy and I have created media for
visitor centers, nonprofits and corporations. For this project,
we also bought a bunch of books on low budget filmmaking.
What was your budget, and how did you
finance the project?
One of the things we read in our independent filmmaking books
was never to reveal your budget. However I can tell you that the
project was financed entirely from change found under our sofa
cushions.
In one of the opening scenes, you play
a guy who is about to drink a beer, but the missionaries walk
by and convince you to abstain. How did you get that part?
That was just one of many instances where you have to be flexible
on the set. The actor that was supposed to play the part didn't
show up, and I was the only one who knew the lines. It was the
first time I'd ever acted, but I think it turned out fine.
Where did you film?
All filming took place in San Diego County, located in beautiful,
sunny southern California.