Provo was created in a highly collaborative environment. Our small & eclectic crew is comprised of skillful artists who are majority queer, mostly women, and half BIPOC. The intimacy and collaborative process on set shines through the actors' raw performances and stunning visual storytelling.

Provo is a comedy, drama, & western film about an ex-Mormon’s road trip to Utah to reckon with her past. I’m Emma Thatcher, the writer, director, editor, and lead actor of Provo. We wrapped production this summer and we are weeks away from picture locking the final edit. Check out our trailer here.

 

This is our story! 

 

(Still from Provo- Hunter Bryant as “Geoffrey”, Emma Thatcher as “Liz”. Not color corrected)

(Excerpt from Provo’s lookbook- a mix of influential films and my 35mm photos)

 

Director’s storytelling themes
As a filmmaker, I have a unique naturalistic style, in which I cast actors who are similar to the characters, so we can find authentic moments and idiosyncratic behavior through improvisation. I enjoy small stories about relationships and missed connections, where the characters deal with the internal conflict of not wanting to be alone but also being afraid of intimacy. The audience will be able to experience Liz’s journey from believing she is undeserving of love because of the trauma from her childhood, to letting Geoffrey into her life and being vulnerable with him. I like to explore stories about relationships in the modern dating app era. I’ve found that people are constantly trying to protect themselves by not being vulnerable with their partners; often because of an attachment disorder and/or early childhood trauma. My goal as a filmmaker is to make audiences feel less alone when they see a character on screen going through the same thing they are, and to challenge the traditional patriarchal ways movies are often made. 
 

 

Growing up Mormon
Liz’s character feels like an exaggerated parallel version of myself—if I had never gone to therapy. Growing up Mormon, I found that a good portion of my personality and choices were in direct opposition to the doctrine of the church. The Word of Wisdom, a section in the Book of Mormon, says that your body is a temple—so I made sure to trash the hell out of that temple as an angsty teenager who worshiped Kurt Cobain and pierced people's ears in locker rooms. 

I think artists often make art about things that haunt them, and Joseph Smith is a figure that has always haunted me. I’m even named after his (first) wife, Emma Smith, and I am a direct descendent of him. I used to joke that I was a Mormon Princess when I'd first meet someone, until I realized it freaked people out and made them assume I was raised on a polygamist compound. (I wasn't) 

 

(Still from Provo)

Western Sublime
I grew up taking road trips to Utah with my family, and I’ve always felt very inspired by the vast Western landscapes in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah. I remember seeing LDS art on the walls in church and thinking they look just like the celestial vistas of the American West. There was an artistic movement in the 19th century called "Western Sublime”; in which American painters interpreted their romantic experience with the landscapes of the West. Provo beautifully captures the Western sublime in it’s sweeping wide shots.

(Caspar David Friedrich’s Landscape with Mountain Lake, Morning, 1835)

 

Cowboys
I was also inspired by modern black cowboy culture while making this film. It was important for me to portray a black man amidst the Western vistas, in awe of nature, and embracing the cowboy trope. I don't see enough of that in films! I'm so lucky that Hunter Bryant, the gifted actor who plays Geoffrey, shares my nerdy excitement for the cowboy aesthetic. 

(Photo from @eightsecs by Ivan Mcclellen)

 

This Is The Place
Provo is a modern day ex-Mormon pilgrimage from Illinois to Utah. My primary school teachers in church used to talk about the Mormon pioneer journey as if it were the Great American Exodus. I took a long road trip last year by myself for a period film I was researching, and I drove from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City along the same routes as the Mormon pioneers and European emigrants who moved their entire life in covered wagons to Oregon. I was so visually inspired by the rugged Western terrain that I knew I had to make a road trip movie mirroring and subverting the early Mormon exodus. But instead of covered wagons, Liz drives a beat up Honda CR-V. 

(Still from Provo)

According to Mormon lore (or history, depending on who you’re talking to), when Brigham Young first looked out at the empty desert valley from his wagon, he said “This is the place”. I wanted to subvert that zealous colonial attitude of the early Mormons, and reveal their racist history through the eyes of Geoffrey, who questions Mormonism from an outside perspective. “This is the place” also embodies the violent doctrine of Manifest Destiny, and I think it’s important we have images and media that deconstruct and question those ideologies, because they are deeply rooted in the American psyche. I also wanted to acknowledge my ancestors' violent history and spark the conversation about reparations for the black members of the church through Geoffrey's perspective & dialogue in the film.

(Still from Provo. Liz's "This is the place" moment)

 

Our audience
Our target audience includes fans of naturalistic, gritty, indie dramedies, who enjoy seeing people on screen who are authentic and feel like they could be your friend. This project will resonate with millennials who have had a similar experience of leaving a repressive organized religion and deal with unhealthy coping mechanisms stemming from being ostracized by their conservative families. I think Provo will connect with young adults who feel alone in this confusing era of online dating. I want young audiences to have a catharsis when they see part of themselves in Provo's characters, particularly Liz, who struggles with defining her relationships, casual sex, and a fear of intimacy. 

We intend to attract fans of the lo-fi comedic realism style of filmmaking like High Maintenance. The grounded style of acting in our film is reminiscent of the mumblecore movement, but with modern relationship issues and an elevated visual aesthetic.

 

Westerns
I was also influenced by modern Westerns, particularly Meek’s Cutoff by Kelly Reichardt and The Rider by Chloe Zhao. I loved how they used the landscapes and harsh terrain in their visual storytelling to mirror the interiority of the characters. I wanted to subvert the Western genre’s traditionally masculine form of storytelling. Liz’s anger towards her father, and her dialogue about seeking revenge and wanting to throw the Joseph Smith portrait at her father’s dying face, is a play on the Western genre's depiction of retribution and individual justice. But instead of the typical violent or punitive story arc of a Western, Liz looks inward, finds peace, and forgives herself.

 

 

Our music
With the recurring visual theme of the Western sublime, we have also incorporated a beautiful score by Peter Briggs and Will Kyraizis; featuring ambient steel pedal and eclectic country music influences. I would love for people to see this film not only for the visual story, but also for the music! Provo’s score has a unique blend of western style music inspired by Harold Budd, Yo La Tengo, Chuck Johnson, SUSS, and Acetone. Fans of the cosmic country & alt-country genres will be excited to hear a couple of tracks in the film by Dougie Poole and Tommy Allen. I think our distinctive approach to scoring and lyrical montages will attract musicians and move them in a way other movies with traditional scoring do not.

 

We already made the movie- help us reach our audience!

Our goal with Provo is to tell the story right, by raising funds for sound mixing, music licensing, and festival submission fees. Film festivals are the best way to gain exposure for indie features, and if we are able to screen at festivals we have a chance to get a distributor, and then Provo will be on some of the top streaming platforms by the end of next year!

Production was entirely funded by: my good friend Ruby Que, who helped us rent thousands of dollars worth of equipment from her school every week, my sister Sophie Thatcher, and myself. I am so grateful for my crew, they’ve put so much grit and heart into this movie- this truly was a labor of love. My crew deserves to experience Provo with their friends and family, projected onto a large screen with a full audience. 

This is the last step in our journey with the film.  We must ensure audiences across the country will be able to connect to our movie! We are so close to finishing the edit, and then my insanely talented DP, Neil Shukla, will be color correcting it. Right now we just need more funds for a post production sound mixer, so audiences can enjoy the full soundscape of the Western sublime. We also need the funds to submit to festivals, so audiences can be fully immersed in the story and breathtaking landscapes in theaters. 

Provo is dedicated to my filmmaking hero, Lynn Shelton, who passed away last year. 

Thank you for your time & energy, 

Emma Thatcher

 

 

 

Spread the word!

We can only achieve our fundraising goals by leveraging the network of people who support us. Please share our campaign with your friends and family- either on social media, email or by word of mouth! We can’t do this without you!

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Help @provofilm and a group of fearless filmmakers by supporting @emmathatcherr's first feature film, Provo! Contribute to their campaign on @seedandspark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/provofilm and check out the trailer for it: https://vimeo.com/user63121305