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If you happen to have to poked your head in over at "SeN" lately, you are bound to have noticed the blitzkrieg of promotional commentary focused on Bowdlerizing Brigham, the latest Interpreter Foundation film project that has also become the pet project for the Capo Regime of Mopologetics and the President of the Interpreter Foundation. The project is already facing challenges, with disappointing viewership numbers for the episodes that have been released so far (the producers are apparently aiming for a grand total of some *75* episodes spanning clear into the midpoint of 2027), and a potential scandal emerging due to the President (allegedly) deceiving readers about the nature of his compensation versus his donations to the Interpreter Foundation--i.e., he repeatedly and publicly claimed to be a "donor" to Interpreter while simultaneously racking up charges in the realm of $10,000 via his participation in the Bowdlerizing Brigham production. (More on this later.)

But it's worth noting that this isn't the first of Intepreter's serialized film projects. You may remember that, just a few years back, Interpreter launched another film project aimed at highlighting the lives of Latter-day Saints in Africa. But if the Brigham viewership numbers have been disappointing, the Not By Bread Alone numbers are downright dismal--some of the episodes on YouTube barely have 100 views. The Afore has been repeatedly saying, about Brigham, that the goal is to get as many people as possible to watch. Is this due to the apparent failure of Not By Bread Alone? You have to wonder: what was said at Interpreter's Board meetings in the wake of the poor viewership numbers? What lessons--if any--were learned from the experience of Not By Bread Alone? While we will likely never get to hear the Mopologists' side of things, there are certainly things that *we* can observe and comment upon.

For one thing, you have to wonder: did NBBA get such lousy viewership because of the subject matter? Maybe US Latter-day Saints just don't care about Africa? The videos for Bowdlerizing Brigham have something like 10x or more the viewership numbers. It's very tempting to read between the lines here: little interest for "uplifting" stories about Saints in Africa vs. substantially more interest in Brighamite Mormonism's appallingly racist leader. Perhaps, though, the discrepancy can be chalked up to marketing efforts. The Afore has been absolutely flogging away in terms of promoting this project (which, it's worth pointing out, he himself figures into prominently). By comparison, his promotion of Not By Bread Alone seemed subdued. Sure: he mentioned it here and there, but it was more like, "Uh, hey, here's this project we're working on. Uh, check it out if you want or whatever." Compared with his downright desperate pleas for viewers for Bowdlerizing Brigham, the difference is striking.

Could this be due to vainglory? After all, Not By Bread Alone was really the pet project of Jeffrey Bradshaw. Maybe the promotional activities are a means of helping to remind Interpreter's executives who the "real boss" is? Whatever else you might say about the project, at least it was more transparent about financing. Just look at this explanation about the films' financing:

Through generous in-kind donations of time and resources by volunteers, we aim to finish the film series for a small fraction of the typical costs of similar productions. On-site filming in Africa in 2023 was made possible through seed funding from the Interpreter Foundation and the very generous production rate afforded by Redbrick Filmworks for a continuous month of action-packed filming fieldwork.

Now comes the mountain of post-production work as well as additional production in Africa. We are looking to friends like you to help us complete the series through your donations.

"seed funding from the Interpreter Foundation." So, yes: Interpreter *did* apparently pay for all of Bradshaw's travel and lodging. Compare this to the Afore's disingenuous denials about how Bowderlizing Brigham has been paid for--he acts as if the whole thing has magically been paid for by Redbrick Filmworks.

In any case, I find the comparison between the two projects to be very instructive. (And it may be worth noting that Bradshaw was never publicly complaining about having to choke down Gatorade and microwaved Pizza Hut while in Africa.) At minimum, one can extrapolate a great deal about the Mopologists' priorities.

Doctor Scratch wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 24, 2026 7:58 pm

The project is already facing challenges, with disappointing viewership numbers for the episodes that have been released so far (the producers are apparently aiming for a grand total of some *75* episodes spanning clear into the midpoint of 2027), and a potential scandal emerging due to the President (allegedly) deceiving readers about the nature of his compensation versus his donations to the Interpreter Foundation--i.e., he repeatedly and publicly claimed to be a "donor" to Interpreter which simultaneously racking up charges in the realm of $10,000 via his participation in the Bowdlerizing Brigham production. (More on this later.)

Great insights, Dr. Scratch. It’s crazy that the Afore has already racked up $10k in charges just on Bowdlerizing Brigham. At this rate, with 75 episodes planned, that total is easily going to clear $100k. I can't wait for your next update on this.

One has to marvel at the amount of money the Afore is racking up in expenses. If this 10k is the bill for just one project that is only partially completed, the total tab for the Afore’s various side projects must be astronomical. Clearly, Mopologetics is big business and the Afore is cleaning up. Just think of how much beef pizza you can buy for 10k.

Yes: does Pizza Hut have beef pizzas on its menu?

In any case, the comparison between Bowdlerizing Brigham and Not By Bread Alone is definitely very revealing and instructive:

--75 episodes vs. 5 episodes
--A non-stop torrent of pleading-style marketing vs. a very low-key, nonchalant marketing
--Afore is the point-person vs. J. Bradshaw is the point-person
--Films are about the virulently racist BY vs. films are about "salt of the earth" Latter-day Saints in Africa
--Highly secretive about funding vs. transparent about the fact that Interpreter was paying the bulk of the money
--A few thousand views per video on YouTube vs. a couple hundred view on YouTube (if that)

Who do the Mopologists care more about--BY, or the humble Saints from the DRC?

There is, as far as I can tell, no mention whatsoever of Not By Bread Alone on Redbrick Filmworks' website. It's as if they've completely disowned the project. Now, is this because they don't feel confident about the quality of their work? Or, instead, is this a case of their most prominent patron "asserting his suzerainty"?

Doctor Scratch wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:54 pm

There is, as far as I can tell, no mention whatsoever of Not By Bread Alone on Redbrick Filmworks' website. It's as if they've completely disowned the project. Now, is this because they don't feel confident about the quality of their work? Or, instead, is this a case of their most prominent patron "asserting his suzerainty"?

I vote for the latter.

What kind of restaurants and hotels and entertainment do they have at the filming location?

as the RHE factor increases, does the probability of sustained funding increase with it?

Gadianton wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 25, 2026 1:40 am

What kind of restaurants and hotels and entertainment do they have at the filming location?

as the RHE factor increases, does the probability of sustained funding increase with it?

I would assume so. Though (if I may) I would suggest swapping out “Mopologetics” with “entertainment” in your formulation, though I freely admit that the two terms are basically interchangeable for the key practitioners.

It would seem that the Interpreter Foundation President is really having to suffer and endure a life of deprivation due to his involvement with the Brigham Young film project:

After the filming was completed, though, the three members of Redbrick Filmworks had lunch together at the JSMB’s Garden Restaurant. I joined them, and Redbrick picked up the tab for the small bowl of potato soup that I enjoyed and for the cold tap water (on ice!) with which I washed that soup down.

No sir! No Jalapeño Pork or French Dip sandwiches for this Saint! He's practically like Jesus Christ himself, fasting for 40 days and nights! What a dedicated martyr for the cause: settling for a meager (and "small"!) bowl of potato soup!

In all seriousness, though: you have to wonder why he and his wife didn't just keep their "donation" to Interpreter and just have him pay for his own potato soup. That way, there wouldn't be any need for the subterfuge concerning the exchange of money between Interpreter and Redbrick (whose only patron appears to be....Interpreter).

Meanwhile, it seems that something may be amiss at Interpreter's "journal" where today's offering was every bit as "small" and meager as the President's potato soup. Is this the shortest "article" they've ever posted? It certainly seems like it's giving Midgley's review of Gee's book a run for the money.... Not enough money to cover the President's travel, food, and lodging expenses, but you get the point.

A small bowl of potato soup is about 200 calories. Dan is at least 270lbs, at age 73 requiring a base metabolism of approximately 2100kcalories a day to maintain that body mass.

The real miracle is that he's not losing weight on such an austere peasant diet. Perhaps that can be investigated in the same book as Near Death Experiences as evidence of the supernatural!

hmmm. Was this an authentic or a staged lunch? Suppose these public conversations about the film project never happened. Would that still have been the lunch?