Did the Church "Bail Out" Interpreter with Tithing Money?
Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2023 8:05 pm
As readers here are no doubt aware, the Interpreter Foundation's debut movie project, Witnesses, was a box office flop: it failed to recoup its production budget during its theatrical run, which is the dictionary definition of a "box office bomb." We know, based on things that Dr. Peterson has said, that the budget ran to well over $1 million, though strangely, despite repeated assurances that Interpreter is devoted to financial transparency, the actual details of the movie and its budget are scarce.
Luckily, I received a pair of links recently from an "informant" which help to shed some light on the situation: namely, Interpreter's 2021 and 2022 tax documents. These documents show, very curiously, that rather than burning a hole in Interpreter's budget, Witnesses managed to somehow turn a profit: $387,000 for 2021, and $102,000 for 2022. What on earth is going on here?
Well, I don't know about you, but I cannot help but speculate. The first thing that comes to mind are DVD/Blu-Ray sales and whatever streaming distribution deal was hammered out. But would this really add up to nearly half a million dollars? I know that industry professionals have said that streaming deals can be very lucrative nowadays, but would someone really shell out half a mill for a movie that failed to break the $1 million mark at the box office--a film whose principal audience was likely just about already exhausted? I'm willing to grant that this is *possible,* but it still raises some issues.
I cannot help but wonder: is this ~$500,000 "windfall" actually the Church's doing? My recollection is that the streaming distributor for Witnesses was some arm of Deseret Inc. or something to that effect. Which would mean that, Yes, in effect, the Church *did* bail out Interpreter. If the LDS Church's movie streaming network paid for a movie that failed at the box office, then I think it's perfectly reasonable to view the situation as a case of the Church stepping in to "help" Interpreter. Plus, we have to remember that Louis Midgley publicly admitted on "SeN" that the Church gives money to Interpreter, FAIR, and other Mopologetic organizations.
Now, I get that there are people out there who would object to my characterizing the "bail out" as having come from "tithing money." The old Mopologetic response to this line of argument was always, "Nuh-uh! It's not tithing money! The Church has made investments in the market, and that's where the money is coming from!" Without getting too deep into the weeds, I would simply respond, "You mean 'investments' like Ensign Peak? In other words, the 'bail out' is not coming from 'tithing money' per se, but rather, from *dirty* money that the Church attempted to hide from the IRS?"
Regardless, it would seem that the Interpreter Foundation's lack of transparency--and Louis Midgley's big mouth--are raising questions yet again.
Luckily, I received a pair of links recently from an "informant" which help to shed some light on the situation: namely, Interpreter's 2021 and 2022 tax documents. These documents show, very curiously, that rather than burning a hole in Interpreter's budget, Witnesses managed to somehow turn a profit: $387,000 for 2021, and $102,000 for 2022. What on earth is going on here?
Well, I don't know about you, but I cannot help but speculate. The first thing that comes to mind are DVD/Blu-Ray sales and whatever streaming distribution deal was hammered out. But would this really add up to nearly half a million dollars? I know that industry professionals have said that streaming deals can be very lucrative nowadays, but would someone really shell out half a mill for a movie that failed to break the $1 million mark at the box office--a film whose principal audience was likely just about already exhausted? I'm willing to grant that this is *possible,* but it still raises some issues.
I cannot help but wonder: is this ~$500,000 "windfall" actually the Church's doing? My recollection is that the streaming distributor for Witnesses was some arm of Deseret Inc. or something to that effect. Which would mean that, Yes, in effect, the Church *did* bail out Interpreter. If the LDS Church's movie streaming network paid for a movie that failed at the box office, then I think it's perfectly reasonable to view the situation as a case of the Church stepping in to "help" Interpreter. Plus, we have to remember that Louis Midgley publicly admitted on "SeN" that the Church gives money to Interpreter, FAIR, and other Mopologetic organizations.
Now, I get that there are people out there who would object to my characterizing the "bail out" as having come from "tithing money." The old Mopologetic response to this line of argument was always, "Nuh-uh! It's not tithing money! The Church has made investments in the market, and that's where the money is coming from!" Without getting too deep into the weeds, I would simply respond, "You mean 'investments' like Ensign Peak? In other words, the 'bail out' is not coming from 'tithing money' per se, but rather, from *dirty* money that the Church attempted to hide from the IRS?"
Regardless, it would seem that the Interpreter Foundation's lack of transparency--and Louis Midgley's big mouth--are raising questions yet again.