Despite the fact that he spells his first name wrong, Kieth Merrill has to be one of my heroes. In a recent Deseret News article he said the following:
“We must embrace the virtues and values (of the LDS Church) as LDS filmmakers,” he said. “We can’t walk with one foot in both worlds. I have tried to walk that fine line as an LDS filmmaker.”
Kieth has started a project discussed here and here called Audience Alliance Motion Picture Studios to promote good movies that support traditional values.
Now, the bloggernacle being what it is, people like Kieth are certain to receive scorn here.
I love movies. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I have hundreds and hundreds of titles in my personal DVD collection. But unfortunately the quality of movies has deteriorated over time. Filmmakers feel like they need to add sex and gore to get audiences.
Interestingly, there have been several recent movies that avoid the basest things of the world — “Invincible” and “Night at the Museum” are two recent examples — and they do pretty well at the box office. So, people like Kieth and myself are not alone.
If you’re part of what I believe is the silent majority, I encourage you to vote with your pocketbook and avoid the worst Hollywood has to offer. You may want to join Audience Alliance — Kieth makes a pretty good pitch in one of the links above. Anything that will bring more family-friendly movies to the marketplace is, in my opinion, a wonderful thing.