LDS Motion Picture Studios


LDS Motion Picture Studios is a film studio based in Provo, Utah and is a directly-managed division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Motion Picture Studios are part of the LDS Church’s media production division, which includes producers, editors, animators, sound stages, editing bays, and a collection of 19th-century buildings on a backlot.

History

It began as the BYU Motion Picture Studio in 1953, led by Wetzel Whitaker. LDS Church leader David O. McKay worked with Ernest L. Wilkinson and others to open the studio, appointing Whitaker as head. Originally the studio was located in a building called the Green Barn where the Ernest L. Wilkinson Center on Brigham Young University Campus is now located.
During Whitaker’s 22-year term at the Motion Picture Studios, the studio produced a host of films, some privately funded, but most created at the request of departments of the LDS Church.
In 1991 the studios separated from BYU and became a directly-operated function of LDS Church and officially became part of the Audio Visual Department of the LDS Church.

Motion Picture Studio South Campus

The Motion Picture Studio South Campus, in Elberta, Utah, was approved by the First Presidency in 2010 and construction began on a set of biblical Jerusalem. Elberta, population less than 1,000, was chosen because of the surrounding area’s similarity to Jerusalem’s geography—hills, plains, cedar trees, and a stream.
Lynn G. Robbins, Executive Director of the Media Services Department for the LDS Church, was instrumental in the creation of the Motion Picture Studio South Campus.
In 2013, the LDS Church has released several scenes of Jesus Christ's life that were filmed there as part of the New Testament Film Project.
In 2017, production started on the Book of Mormon Visual Library, a series of films from the Book of Mormon.

Fire at the Motion Picture Studio Building

In 2014, a morning fire, caused when an electrical box exploded on top of the studio, resulted in power outage and a fire. Occupants evacuated the building, Provo City Fire Department soon put out the fire, and no injuries were reported.

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