Families in entertainment have long been a tradition in Hollywood, and there is one Latter-day Saint clan that is lampooning its way into the industry with its new film "Baptists At Our Barbecue," which opened in theaters Friday.

The movie was based on Robert Farrell Smith's novel of the same name, freshly adapted for the silver screen. Several members of Smith's own family are deeply involved in the creative processes. His father, Farrell Smith and his brothers, Matthew and Mike, collaborated on screenwriting and producing the film.

"Baptists At Our Barbecue," is about a 29-year-old forest ranger whose parents are concerned about his singleness. When he moves away to a small town divided between Baptists and Latter-day Saints, it ends up that he is the one to unite the feuding congregations.

Jed Ivie, the media relations director for Halestorm Productions, said although the Smiths all have very diverse characters, they are very understanding of one another and they like to stick together.

"They see [the film] as a way to really help Robert's career," he said.

Ivie said film is too risky of a business for the Smith's to drop their other successful careers and focus on filmmaking. In fact, not one of the Smiths is a moviemaker by trade. Robert, of course, is a writer, Matt is an attorney and Farrell Smith runs a successful business. "Baptists At Our Barbecue" is a side project for the Smiths, inspired by the success of Robert's novel and Mike and Farrell's passionate interest in movies.

Robert did not write "Baptists At Our Barbecue" with the film in mind, but the Smiths were inspired by the success of Richard Dutcher's "God's Army." At that point, it became apparent that there was indeed a powerful audience for LDS filmmaking.

Robert said the process has been grueling, but still a lot of fun.

"It just seems like it's been about a 40-year project," Robert said. "It's been a really cool experience, but it's just been a ton of work. It's just amazing what goes into it."

The working dynamic with the Smith family at the core of the project was very positive, Robert said. He said he knew at times that they were overwhelmed and tired of one another. While writing the screenplay, Robert could only communicate with his brother Matt, who was in Saipan, over the phone, sometimes at odd hours in the middle of the night.

"I used to like them," Robert joked about his family. "We've been sick of each other at times, but I think we still like each other. I'm not sick of them totally anymore."

Austrian Christian Vuissa, the director of "Baptists At Our Barbecue," experienced life with the Smiths when he moved into Farrell's backyard for two months during the film's production. He said the Smiths trust one another and are supportive and loyal. Those who have worked with Robert generally agree that he doesn't save his humor just for his writing.

"Robert is very funny," Ivie said. "The way he writes is the way he is."

Robert said he wants to see how "Baptists At Our Barbecue" is received by audiences before any more of his novels are adapted for film.

"There is some talk," Robert said. "There is a sequel to ["Baptists At Our Barbecue"] called "The Miracle of Forgiveness" ... but, you know, a lot depends on how this goes."



Copyright Brigham Young University 11 Oct 2004