M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Reject It, or I'll Shoot!
by Kieth Merrill

A half a million dollars or your testimony?

When I was a little kid my buddies and I used to gather in our secret hideout and ponder the universe. Admittedly, the "universe" of Farmington, Utah was pretty small, but on Sundays it got bigger. Once a week we were filled with amazing tales of biblical heros, places we could scarcely imagine, and ideas that made the wildly imaginative worlds of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs tame by comparison. But, we were innocent, wide-eyed, and full of faith. We talked about God as easily as old Ben down at the drug store, and contemplated the Celestial Kingdom as if it was down in willow hollow between Hap Robinson's farm and the Lagoon.

We impressed ourselves with the abstrusity of our musings. You know, stuff like, "where God came from, if we could see Kolob on a really clear night, and whether Betty McDaniels was going to have to go to the Telestial Kingdom just because she was a Catholic even though she was really nice."

It was in our childhood musings, I first considered a classic quandary of faith, "Would you deny Jesus if someone put a gun to your head?" We ruminated endlessly on whether it was better to die young for the sake of our belief or tell a little white lie and live long enough to go on a mission. It wasn't long before I learned such drastic choices are precluded by freedom of religion, and the perplexing paradox drifted away with other apprehensions of childhood. When the distinguished Dr. William Curtis asked me to deny Mormonism for gold and glory, it all came flooding back. Curtis is a theologian who started something called "Foundation for Biblical Study and Scientific Research." His goal is to "prove" the untainted truth of the Bible by scientific evidence. His favorite topics are a literal creation--God made the world in six, twenty four hour days-- and the physical facts of Noah and the Genesis flood.

His grand dream is a great Imax theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where Christian pilgrims can see his scientific version of the Bible on the biggest screen on earth. He invited me into his dream when Imax told him I was the only large format film maker they knew who was "religious." I was fascinated by the possibilities of the films. My meetings with Dr. Curtis moved forward. We brainstormed together. I urged a more objective presentation of divergent views allowing the audience to sort out "truth." He reluctantly agreed. Our dialogue about the films became increasingly mingled with discussions about our disparate religious doctrines and opinions.

I shared my testimony of Christ in the back of the Sony Imax theater in New York following the premiere of my film, "Olympic Glory." He confessed "it sounds orthodox to those who do not know what Mormonism teaches." When I suggested we should concentrate on our faith in Christ and leave off talking about the doctrines that divide us he put the proverbial gun of childhood to my head. It was not enough to avoid discussing controversial doctrines of Mormonism. It was essential I "reject them as untruth," and then he wrote: "I believe that you could do a great job on the Genesis flood Imax film, but we can not fund a Kieth Merrill film as long as you are listed on the web site of Famous Mormons. This would be a direct violation of 2 Cor. 6:14 ("be not yoked together with unbelievers ") and none of our group will back off of this position. It may be very hard for you to reject Mormonism because of all the sociological impact, but reject it you must."

It isn't exactly the same as, "deny Jesus or I'll shoot". It is easier to walk away from money than die, but an offer to reject Mormonism for half a million dollars was a shocking return to the quandary of youth. Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver. Did I have a price?

The choices are rarely so blatant, but Mormon film makers are always faced with the subtle compromise between what they believe and what they are willing to do for money. Ironically, it is more appropriately we who must take heed to 2 Cor.6:14 and take care we "be not yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?"

I asked several film colleagues how they deal with questionable material and handle the dilemma of feeding a family without communing light with darkness. They offer a diverse and interesting insight from experience.

LDS Motion Picture Producer:

"I think a producer, director, or writer has a different responsibility than a grip. If the power goes out in a brothel, the electrician who fixes it isn't committing adultery, but the owner, manager, and designer of the brothel profits directly by the success of a process which demeans humanity. I would have worked on RainMan, and have shown it to my children. I would have worked on "Good As It Gets", which had language and nudity, because I would have shown it to my children for the Christianity that Jack Nicholson's character was striving for. I guess that means my bottom line is "can I sit with my teen age children, watch this film, and go to bishopric meeting the next morning with the spirit." It isn't about R or PG for me."

LDS TV Commercial director:

I'm a guy who hasn't seen an "R" movie in years because I read a statement from Ezra Taft Benson from 1986 where he said not to see "R" movies. I wish I'd never read it because there are so many good films I'd like to see that have the "R" rating in the US. I have decided I won't do any advertising for alcohol or tobacco or coffee, etc. I also won't do advertising I feel is in bad taste, too graphic or explicit etc. (as are some of the aids spots I've seen). I don't know what my policy really would be if the only work I was offered was Miller Lite and Marlboro. I suppose I'd do it rather than go on welfare. I'm lucky enough to get to choose right now. I guess that's why I don't in any way judge some LDS person who does beer ads."

Hollywood based LDS music composer:

We both know active members who work on films that, should we say, lack a bit of "redeeming value." Some of those members have tremendous testimonies in spite of the environment they work in. You must be able to separate work from your personal life. Some people are able to do that better than others. I don't think there are any blanket statements that can be made about what to work on versus what not to work on. There are plenty of quality projects. My experience has been that a certain genre film leads to more of the same genre. My experience also has been that Hollywood will try and pigeon-hole you into a category. Why not try and decide where they are going to "put you" by deciding before hand the types of films to work on.

LDS Director of Photography:

I've been on a couple of movies where the script called for the actor to take the Lord's name in vain. Both times I pulled the director aside and asked him to not have them say it. Both times, they changed the dialogue.

Female producer/Non LDS:

I need to be able to sleep at night, so I couldn't undertake anything which might give me a guilty conscience. What would give me a guilty conscience? Without denying the duality of our natures - indeed it is this very struggle which is at the heart of most lives, and most of the best screenplays - I couldn't participate in making something which had twisted morality, or exploited sex and/or violence.

The boundaries are very personal. The definitions of "appropriate" a bit ambiguous. The limits of individual tolerance a little uncertain. Mormon film makers may be faced with defining the shape of our faith with each new project. But all of us face a form of the child's quandary, "Would you deny Jesus if someone put a gun to your head?" Behind our first flippant response to this improbable scenario we encounter a curious discovery about ourselves.

Rejecting half a million rather than Mormonism was easier than being shot. So easy in fact, it may not even have even qualified for discussion in the old Farmington hideaway.

With the development of the Grand Canyon IMAX theater and film project, Kieth and his business partner Douglas Memmott pioneered a new concept in the motion picture business that has become known as "destination cinema." The film, Grand Canyon-The Hidden Secrets, is currently listed as one of the twenty-five most successful independent film projects in history. Kieth also was the director of the 70mm epic film Legacy which has played continuously in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown Salt Lake City for many years. Kieth is known in some circles as "Mr. Imax" as he has worked tirelessly to master the large format film genre.

Kieth is active in church and community affairs, is married to the former Dagny Johnson, and they are the parents of eight children.

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