Why Hasn't "Interpreter" Published Financial information for "Witnesses"?

[Doctor Scratch]

If you have been following the exploits of the Mopologists, then you know that a hotly anticipated announcement is just around the corner. Right about the time when "Interpreter's" documentary about the "Witnesses" debuts (I think it's called Undaunted or something stupid like that), they plan to announce their next movie project! Very interesting, no? I know that I'm anxious to hear what this is going to be. Certainly there has been a lot of speculation as to what the follow-up might look like.

Meanwhile, however, I can't help but wonder about the financing of this. Witnesses, as you no doubt recall, was a box office flop: it failed to earn back its production budget via theater ticket sales. The Powers that Be at "Interpreter" never bothered to publish actual financial details, but it was estimated that the film cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.25 million to produce. And Executive Producer Peterson has insisted many times that he hasn't earned any money from the project--all while taking a seemingly months-long vacation to various exotic places around the globe.

One can't help but wonder: How was the money spent for the original two films, and where on earth did they scrape together *additional* money to finance a new project? Rumors have swirled that this was all a matter of "donations," and if that's the case, then who is bankrolling these projects? And why the secrecy? One obvious possibility is that the LDS Church itself is funneling money into the movies, hence the lack of transparency. This is the Lord's money, so it's nobody's business how it's spent (even if it results in a box office flop, I guess). Still, ever since its launch in 2012, the Mopologists have tried mightily to convince everyone that their enterprise is a purely volunteer effort, and that no one is in it for the money, and so on. Further, they've claimed that they're committed to transparency, but the case with the moviemaking is clearly a glaring hole in those claims.

So, I ask again: Why haven't the Mopologists posted information about the financing of their movies?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Perhaps the answer with regard to finances can be found within DCP’s latest blog entry where he brags about stuffing, yet again, his maw in Hawaii?

… Witnesses film, its producer, Russ Richins, has been on vacation over here in Hawaii with his wife. (He took the photograph that I’ve shared above.) We met up with them last night at a restaurant here in Ko Olina. There are very few things in this life that are better than good conversation with good friends over good food.

What are the odds these two main players in the Witness boondoggle were vacationing in the same spot at the same time? That’s a fairly pricey vacay the Witness producers are taking, no?

- Doc

[Marcus]

Perhaps the answer with regard to finances can be found within DCP’s latest blog entry where he brags about stuffing, yet again, his maw in Hawaii?

… Witnesses film, its producer, Russ Richins, has been on vacation over here in Hawaii with his wife. (He took the photograph that I’ve shared above.) We met up with them last night at a restaurant here in Ko Olina. There are very few things in this life that are better than good conversation with good friends over good food.

What are the odds these two main players in the Witness boondoggle were vacationing in the same spot at the same time? That’s a fairly pricey vacay the Witness producers are taking, no?

- Doc

He does like to name-drop. And location-drop.

[Doctor Scratch]

Maybe the idea was that they would hold out on financial transparency and *if* the movie was profitable, *then* they would post the information? Well, completely setting aside the obvious, which is that that’s not real transparency, I think we can begin to see a lot of the reasons why, given the failure at the box office, they might opt for secrecy.

And yes: it’s certainly interesting that Russell Richins is there vacationing in Maui at the same time as DCP. How much does one earn to direct a Mormon box office bomb, I wonder? I mean, I doubt he directed the movie for free. Regardless, he’s clearly doing well enough to vacation in Maui.

No wonder the Mopologists are making another movie: if there are no consequences for failure, then why not?

[drumdude]

Someone's gotta ride the church tithing gravy train. The widow's mite isn't going to spend itself. And Peterson's Hawaiian lobster isn't going to pay for itself.

[Moksha]

And Executive Producer Peterson has insisted many times that he hasn't earned any money from the project--all while taking a seemingly months-long vacation to various exotic places around the globe.

It is Dr. Peterson's duty as Executive Director of the prestigious Interpreter Foundation to put in appearances all around the globe, and in times of a pandemic where international travel is restricted, scenic attractions in the United States. Fortunately, that also satisfies the terms of the contract with the International House of Pancakes.

I think it's called Undaunted. I know that I'm anxious to hear what this is going to be.

I believe the third and final movie in this trilogy will be titled, You Can't Disprove it. It will feature board members and Gold Level Contributors of the Interpreter Foundation (which means that no disparagement of Donald Trump will be allowed).

[Doctor Scratch]

I noticed that there was a rather subdued plug for Undaunted on SeN in which the blog proprietor is acting like he knows nothing about whether tickets are available and so forth. I guess the idea is that if he doesn’t know anything about it, that suggests that he’s not profiting from it? Maybe we should file this under the DCP Squirrely Financial Behavior File? That actually has a very nice ring to it….

[drumdude]

It will certainly be interesting to see the 2020 and 2021 taxes from Interpreter Foundation once they have been posted to ProPublica.

Screenshot 2022-02-10 211908.jpg (82.31 KiB) Viewed 466 times

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Boy, you rabble rousers really got under Dr. Peterson’s folds. He just published a screed against the board and any insinuations that he might be profiting from The Witnesses (I mean, it is weird that he and a Witnesses director or producer or whatever just so happened to be visiting the exact same luxury location at the same time stuffing their gullets). Whatever claims of victimization he’s making, yet again, about himself he did link a GoFundMe for a lady who suffered an amputation and since I won’t link to his hateblog I thought I’d link directly to the fundraiser inncase anyone wants to help out:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/wjbv9-help-l ... l-expenses

$20 could really help her and her family out.

- Doc

[drumdude]

any insinuations that he might be profiting from The Witnesses

I believe the main point was that financial information was missing, but I'm glad to hear he followed his typical pattern of latching on to the irrelevant strawman.