What does it take to make a movie? I talk with Latter-day Saint filmmaker Garrett Batty about his new film, Faith of Angels, the story of a boy lost in the mines of small-town Utah
all right I'm excited for you to meet
Garrett baddy a Latter-Day Saint
filmmaker who has produced the movie
faith of angels it comes out September
September 12th in Utah and September
26th Nationwide he's very talented and
this is an opportunity for you to
support latterday Saint filmmakers
Garrett is also a friend of mine and as
an official spokesperson for going do
travel I need to say he was on the
momentum cruise with me both the East
and the West earlier this year the
momentum cruises are happening again
next year 2025 there is a momentum West
cruise from January 4th to 11th and a
momentum East cruise from February 8th
to 11th this is a great opportunity for
you to be with hundreds of other
Latter-Day Saints see great
entertainment and listen to edified
messages go to Quick media.com go to the
top at trips and events and then scroll
down to momentum
cruises here we go
D do you think we could go into the mine
now can you imagine walking around in
this with no light can't even see the
opening anymore hello can anyone hear me
it's been nearly 24 hours since
10-year-old Joshua Dennis was last seen
Joshua all right welcome to Quick show
my name is Greg Matson and I am your
host in this episode we've brought on
filmmaker Garrett baddy who's got a new
film coming out this September called
faith of angels which I've seen twice
Garrett welcome to the show thanks so
much Greg thanks I'm excited to be here
yeah I really want to talk about this
movie it's it's a fascinating story it's
based on a true story that happened in
Utah um about and some people might
remember this about the the young boy
who was stuck in the mind they couldn't
find him for several days what brought
you to make this movie Why Did You Have
the idea that I need to bring this to
film yeah it's a good question and one
that I love talking about um I was
unaware of the story despite it being
mentioned several times in in general
conference throughout the years you know
this happened in 1989 and here we are 35
years
later um I had been uh working as a
director for um the church's Book of
Mormon series and some of the producers
reached out to me after that or during
that process and said one of the extras
in that
series proposed to them the idea of
telling this story as a movie and uh
they said wonderful sounds like a great
idea it's something they don't do but I
was fortunate enough that they reached
out to me and said is this a story you'd
like to tell and I do get a lot of
inquiries of that nature saying hey
here's a story would you like to tell
this but the one thing that stood out to
me in this particular incident was that
there were some sort of angelic uh
Inspirations or Angels involved and that
immediately drew me to it as a filmmaker
and a story toer I thought that that's a
story I want to
tell so you went up to the T what is the
name of the town the town that uh this
took place in is ofer it's yeah it's
about 39 people live there and just this
beautiful quiet little town outside of
to it's like uh is it op hir right op
hir yes yeah okay so it's a small town
in Utah where this happens so you went
up and did a little research on this
right we did yep as soon as got soon as
we got idea for the story and I wanted
to figure out what it was going to be uh
you know where it was going to go and
before writing the script I kind of go
and try to get a sense of the the vibe
of the town or the feel of the place and
yeah as we explored over uh we
immediately we were approached by
residents of the Town who wanted to know
what we were doing there and um I
explained to them oh I'm I'm looking at
telling this story and they referred me
to one of the individuals who played key
part in this in this story in the actual
event and so uh again every every step
of the way we felt kind of LED and
um kind of directed as to who to talk to
and how to proceed so give an overall
view of what the story is I mean what
what is the story you talk about the
angels that are involved in this that
your interest but what what is the
overall story here I I remember I was
actually I didn't live in Utah for very
long but I was in Utah when this
happened oh is that right I remember the
news story coming out but uh what is the
overall story here yeah um so
essentially back in September 1989 a uh
a stranger John Skinner is up in Montana
fishing and he receives this mysterious
prompting to uh drive to Utah he doesn't
know why or doesn't know what for he's
he's from Utah originally in Utah but uh
he was up in Montana for this three week
solo getaway vacation and packs up early
drives to
Utah arrives home and come to he finds
out or discovers that there is a young
boy that has been missing in an
abandoned mine and people have been
unable to find him John just so happens
to be uh a a historian in that area and
has familiarity with the minds and he
feels compelled and prompted and
to help um almost called to help and he
makes his way up to the mine and um we
so so we've got John that's got these
Angelic or promptings to help um we have
a boy
that's missing uh we're assuming lost in
the mine and how old is he he's 10 10 uh
11 name is Joshua Dennis 11-year-old kid
lost in the mine um who was up there
with kind of a father's and Son's group
and just got separated from the group
and and um they couldn't find him uh but
and then it's compounded by the
authorities have had experiences like
this in the past where kids have gone
missing or or it's a dangerous area this
m is DET uh very dangerous and
treacherous and the authorities need to
proceed with Extreme Caution in
searching for this lost individual this
Lost Boy and so John the person who
feels compelled and called
to support and almost lead this effort
is kept out of the mind because of
authorities and because of the dangers
so the movie tells that story of what
happens and how John deals with and how
we all kind of deal with these
promptings of feeling to act um the
sense of being called the sense of a
greater purpose and yet the obstacles
that oftentimes come in the way of that
yeah and that's interesting because you
know we do all feel that we have those
INSP ation it's like am I really hearing
something is this really something I
should
do and and you know you can see how in
his mind where these experts are going
through they can't find him uh why would
John be able to find them and you know
why how you would start to doubt
yourself right it's like I'm GNA doubt
myself I'm going to doubt what these
inspiration this inspiration is because
it doesn't seem like I'm really you know
this is just must be something that is a
mistake stake right it's just in my head
sure we we all go through that and
whether it's the self-doubt or I mean
the odds are stacked against John in
this situation and oftentimes in all of
us
where uh it just doesn't make sense I
mean three days four days five days go
by they're unable to find a boy uh
people can't survive without food and
water in in in in those circumstances
and so even the logic is is against John
and against the situation and yet still
he's having these promptings to to go
and help help them see help them see is
what he's you know the promptings
there's a couple of other places in the
film where you bring in these angels you
know one of them is John comes he's
looking around at another entrance I
think that's when he finds it he goes to
another entrance of the mine um and he's
looking around and and in the movie at
least he he finds a little
statuette I believe it is and it's an
angel is that part of the movie or is
that actually part of the story is that
real yeah both both uh and it was
fascinating uh when when I went up to
ofer to scout out the location and look
at this I met with John in his home and
John showed me he he told me the story
completely in his experience and his
point of view of it I've also met with
Joshua's family and heard their
experience uh but yes John showed me the
collection of things that he had found
he had found um an actual little angel
statue at the time of searching for Josh
you know this time where hope is lost
and how can
I go back and you know am I making a
fool of myself offering this help and
feeling this at this low Point um you
know he finds in the dirt this little
angel statue uh
that reinforced to his mind that uh that
he was being guided and watched over and
he should continue to try to be involved
in this effort so it's like a little
sign that he of a confirmation for him
right it's like okay these are real
these these feelings are real and I I
shouldn't doubt them maybe yeah he he
took it as such yes okay and then later
on well well not later on but also in
the film you've got the young boy right
which is uh it's Joshua right Jos Dennis
yes yeah so Josh is in the mine and he
describes that he sees Angels isn't that
correct so Josh describes and speaking
uh I guess it's not a spoiler speaking
with Josh uh years and years after the
event um he talks about there were two
instances that he could feel well let's
see there were two instances that came
to his mind specifically um that we
portray in the movie but he said the
entire time he could feel angels with
him he did not see Angels but uh he says
I wasn't ever scared because there were
angels with me he actually reported that
to the news and that was his statement
uh throughout this thing he thought he
had been missing for about a day and uh
he said there were angels with me and so
we um use techniques to try to show what
Josh may have been feeling during that
time yeah and there was wasn't there
some significance as to who is playing
the
Angels yeah I think so as a as the
filmaker and Storyteller I thought okay
well um how do we do this you know and
who are the Angels in my life when I
think
of
um experiences where where perhaps hope
has been lost or or trials have had to
be overcome um I think who who has the
most interest in me succeeding in that
and uh it occurred to me and and
throughout interviewing Josh and John
and their families and even the way that
this story came in came uh into into my
life um
that I I think that there's a reason to
believe that those angels that are with
us could certainly be past descendants
and so uh we hint at that in the movie
and that's not a spoiler at all but
certainly a thought-provoking um idea
that uh both John Skinner his great
great great grandfather was the Mind
superintendent uh of this particular
mine uh Josh and his family talk about
exper it's experiencing Angels um with
each of their siblings and and and uh so
forth and so um yeah we we we hint or we
suggest that those angels might be
familiar to Josh and John uh that are
now helping them okay there's another
conflict in in the movie where you have
the experts are looking at a specific
map uh that they have and they're going
through and they've looked in every spot
right they've gone through they've
looked everywhere they can think of and
obviously it's Pitch Black in there as
they go but but they cannot find him
which means they can't hear him either
right so they're going through they're
looking at this but John I believe
doesn't he have a different
map with him it's it's interesting the
maps that they used in both in the story
and in the film were uh maps that John
Skinner had sketched out previous to
this event even happening John lives in
ofer now he lived near the mine at the
time and was a essentially just a a
historian and a big
fan of the minds excuse me I'm going to
get a little sip of
water so he often would go in and search
or play in the mindes as a
boy so yes uh the maps that they used in
the in the movie were his sketches that
he provided uh to the to the Searchers
at the
time
and John's request was also that they
just feel like it's not necessarily
about the maps but it's going down and
and and feeling you know paying
attention to what is being felt in the
darkness and um that
was that six sense a little bit and that
was beyond what the Searchers understood
or wanted wanted to understand
rightfully so hey we're down here
there's a boy missing let's go through
the method and proven way to find him
we're going to walk and shine our
flashlights we'll yell for him and every
eight feet we'll hang a ribbon and then
move on and they did that and they
covered 22 miles of mine doing that W
and uh it's that
large
yes yeah I mean there are shafts 22
miles 22 miles of shafts yeah that is
incredible the The Rescuers say that
they can do that in about a day and a
half they say look 22 miles he'll Tak us
about a day and a half to be pretty
thorough and so after a day and a half
say okay well let's uh let's do it again
in Reverse or whatever let's do it again
they brought in the search dogs brought
in everything and could not could not
find this boy and he but he could hear
them they could not hear him okay so he
heard
them but they couldn't hear him
and I'm guessing after a while he's he's
not able to speak much he's not able to
get much of a a yell out for so to speak
right yeah and and Josh talks about that
it was that just feeling totally uh
certainly dehydrated and a little bit
hypothermic and um what time of year
this was in September this was September
and they say that it should be about the
same temperature in the mind throughout
the year it's usually about 55° pretty
consistent temperature so it's not
freezing but it's cold it's cold he's
got a jacket and a pair of jeans and um
yeah he he he was he was cold but not um
I I think when he came out there was a
little bit of frostbite that they had to
treat treat there's another character in
the movie who is the
sheriff who
is he's a little almost adversarial in
in the search right he's he's he's
holding people off he's part of the
reason John Skinner is not allowed into
the mine um he seems to want to give up
early uh saying and you could give some
reason to this right I mean if they've
gone through that 22 miles a couple
times and they haven't found anything
and how long can an 11-year-old boy live
I you know food is one thing but
water is completely different right and
so how you know maybe he's kind of
that's what I liked about the film is
that I started to give up sure right I'm
giving up because it's so long and and
you know I know there's probably light
at the end of the tunnel no pun intended
here but it's you know there is just an
obvious sense of
Doom and sure and and loss and wanting
to give up you know it as I researched
the story that is exactly the sentiment
that I felt was um
yeah it it just doesn't make sense like
it it doesn't make sense that uh that
they would continue looking you know and
I start to relate to the sheriff the
sheriff we we um is played by an
incredible actor named Cameron Arnett
who is in a lot of faith-based films and
just does an amazing job and when we
talked um about the role and and and and
the purpose of the character in this in
this film that was the realization is
that he he had to represent sort of the
logic behind all of this and that is
that in his experience and in any
experience it is certainly
understandable that one there's a boy at
risk and going in to search for him
increases that risk for people and so
he's got to protect and make sure that
everybody is safe and then two kind of
the the timetable and saying look after
two or three
days um it
probably shifts from a rescue to a
recovery and uh you know three or four
or five days into this it's sort of um
maybe risking a lot more than
potentially receiving and so uh it was a
difficult role for him to be able to
balance that but I think Cameron Arnett
does a great job of it so it's putting
in play a dynamic really of logic versus
inspiration right and John obviously
represents that
inspiration and and and overcoming the
logic right I mean and all of us to rely
on Lo logic but but there is something
else and and that's kind of what the
film shows there's a great there's a uh
a scene that is a kind of a dialogue
between the two lead characters John
Skinner and the sheriff and they're
asking about look is this Faith um you
know you don't he says you don't run
something this important on faith and uh
both characters have correct
perspectives on that in their in their
own way and their own from their own
backgrounds um but that that is
essentially the theme of the a theme of
the movie is there's this Faith versus
logic and hey I might even be called to
do something and doesn't make sense I'm
I'm not
qualified and
yet I'm I'm the one that's been called
so so I'm not gonna go too much more
into this because I don't want to go
into the spoiling some of these things
but give me an idea then of I'm always
fascinated with this one I go I love
watching movies and and and obviously I
what we see is the end product it's like
reading a book on History where there's
so much more behind it and you know
we're just getting what the author is
giving us right so we're getting what
you have put together you've written you
directed you produced this and what what
does it take to put together a film like
this you know what what do you start
with you I'm guessing the
story how do you put this together sure
uh it's a question it has been it's been
a long journey it's been a this will be
a three-year Journey so far uh before
this movie hits the screens from the
time that um you know I initially
received that phone call and it starts
with research and saying look is this a
is this a story that's worth telling and
what what is the message that um that I
I hear from this story and would that
resonate with an audience and uh so I do
I do a a lot of interviews and research
with the individuals that were involved
in the story and try to do my best to
build a story line that that interweaves
all of their perspectives because you
know so and so says this is what
happened and but they weren't here at
this time and so I built a great big
timeline say here are all the characters
here the 10 characters in the movie who
we're going to follow here's where they
were on day one day two day 10 or
whatever it is and um then see what
strong story points I think come out and
try to try to tie those together um and
then it's building a team you know once
we have a script and have a little bit
of money raised for it then we build the
team and start to cast and reach out
with this film we're fortunate to cast
John Michael Finley as the lead he plays
John Skinner a lot of you will recognize
John Michael Finley from I can only
imagine he's just you know a wonderful
movie and John's an incredible talented
actor and then Cameron Arnett plays our
Sheriff uh so those are our two leads
and then on that we've also uh we we
were fortunate to cast a lot of
Wonderful well-known LDS actors like
Kirby Habor and Jason Wade Ben lomu uh
and um so we just kind of stacked the
cast that way and then we break it down
we we filmed in ofer for what was it 18
days 18 or 19 days uh how do you how do
you set that up I mean are you going
chronological with it or or or is it the
set and the area and everything that's
going to happen in that area you put
together yep exactly that way with this
film it's shot out of sequence uh um you
know we had we had Cameron arnet for a
week with us but he appears throughout
the entire film so we'd shoot all his
scenes you know outside the mine and
then out by his car and shoot all those
as much as we could and then he gets to
go home and we bring in the other actors
and um shoot everything that takes place
in the mine we're there for a few days
and then at the at the ground zero type
you know police area and so forth so
it's based on location and our our first
ad uh Matt schramer builds a set a
schedule based on set and need and and
uh we stick to that play and and uh get
it all done in as few days as possible
okay there's another there's a reveal
here can I reveal about the the the son
Joshua uh yeah for sure okay okay so so
you there's a certain actor that plays
The The Lost Boy right who's listed as
Michael Bradford in in the show um and
this was a big reveal when you actually
premiered this and we saw this but uh
tell us a little bit about uh casting
Michael Bradford so we knew we needed a
talented uh kid that could P portray
this
11-year-old uh boy and um I we submitted
a lot of tapes uh our casting director
is named Jeff
um okay casting director is Jeff Johnson
who's one of the best casting directors
in the state he casts uh Yellowstone and
you know Kevin Cosner and Sh Taylor
sheron's work and uh so he looks at all
the tapes and he knows everybody comes
in at any rate uh he looked at all the
tapes and submitted the top three to me
and one of them was my son who had
submitted a tape and uh Jeff Johnson
said hey here's you got to look at these
kids and I had to confess to Jeff that I
knew uh one of them and uh Jeff said
look if you don't you know he's
excellent and if you don't hire him
you're you're making the wrong movie and
so when the Pape was submitted was it
under the name Michael Bradford yes yeah
yeah so Michael baddy is my son who
plays Josh Dennis in the movie uh but he
submitted under a different name and
said you know he told me he's said Dad
I'd love to do the movie but I don't
want to do it BEC I don't want to be
hired as the director's kid I want to do
it because I've earned the part and when
you watch the movie and this was so fun
even on set he would come on set as
Michael Bradford and all the talent and
cast and we got professional actors that
are uh working with him and when they
would slowly learn that that uh he's the
director's son they were just blown away
like oh wow wow so he does a great job
and it's fun for for people to to learn
that
yeah yeah that's a lot of fun um all
right so before we get to uh talking
about the the release of this you also
did you write produce direct serov
approach yes okay I bring that up
because I've seen that absolutely love
that movie I'm sure a lot of the
audience has seen that movie as well and
how long ago was that did you say 12
years ago yeah we we filmed that in uh
let's see 2012 we released in
2013 and uh we've been fortunate yeah
people responded very well to that film
uh that's the the two missionaries in
Russia that get abducted and um and yeah
and I can't believe it's already been
over 10 years since that movie premiered
yeah yeah that was awesome all right so
Garrett thanks so much for coming on
here tell us a little when this is going
to be released and where it's going to
be released awesome so we are releasing
the movie The Faith of angels opens in
Utah on September 12th and then
Nationwide September 26th and what we've
what we've done is we want to make sure
that we open it in theaters that people
want to go see it in uh we don't want
just open it to to empty screens and so
we're encouraging anybody who would like
to see it uh to go to our website which
is faith- of- angels.com
and you can request your theater you
just put your name your email and your
zip code and uh a little little pen will
pop up on the map and we can see the map
and it's on the website so you can see
the more pins that are around your area
the more likely we are able to bring a
bring the movie to that theater great
well we'll put that link in the
description box so that everybody's got
it so be good Garrett it's great to see
you again really pre appreciate you
coming on the show and and I I want to
go see this again so thanks yeah thanks
Greg thanks for having me yeah we'll
have you back again appreciate it
