next-door-film
Update (2/24/17): The Next Door is featured in the LDS Film Festival, March 1-4 at the Scera Theater in Orem, Utah. See ldsfilmfestival.org.

Two LDS missionaries become concerned when someone they teach goes missing. As they search for answers, they find themselves plunged into a world of danger and deceit. That’s the plot of The Next Door, a new independent short film produced by film students from BYU and UVU, most of which are in their freshman year of college.

This mystery thriller was produced on a shoe-string budget, independent of any BYU funding. Lead by director/writer Barrett Burgin, they were somehow able to recruit actors Michael Flynn (Best Two Years, 17 Miracles), Mason D. Davis (Saturday’s Warrior, The Cokeville Miracle, 16 Stones), Austin R. Grant, Alexander Woods, and Paris Warner (Once I Was a Beehive).

Watch the trailer for The Next Door:

The film has a limited premiere this Thursday and Friday, September 29–30, 2016. Tickets are only $5, available online:

  • Tickets for the Utah Valley showing, Thursday, September 29, 2016, Megaplex Theatres at Geneva
  • Tickets for the Salt Lake showing, Friday, September 30, 2016, Salt Lake Art Center

next-door-film-premiereAfter this week’s premiere, the film will immediately go into the festival circuit, submitted to festivals such as Sundance, the LDS Film Festival, the Student Emmys, and FilmQuest. After the film has gone through the festival circuit (and hopefully garnered some awards), it will be posted online for all to enjoy.

This 35-minute film has a non-linear story line set in the 1990s. The neo-noir film style gives it an interesting mystique. It’s not a kids’ film—it’s a little dark, and frankly they likely wouldn’t follow the twists and turns in the complex plot. It also isn’t your typical LDS film with inside humor or an underlying spiritual message. It could just be the first film in a new era in Mormon cinema.

“I know it’s a little unconventional, but my hope is that doing something kind of bold and intense can garner some attention and be the first step in expanding the liturgy within Mormon Cinema,” said director Barrett Burgin.

“I was nervous about doing this. But I tried to be prayerful in it, and hope it can be a means to an end in creating gospel cinema that is interesting, truthful, and challenging.”

 

 

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