Tucked away in the woods near the Provo River is where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints studio, formerly known as BYU Motion Picture Studio, brings movie magic to life.
“I’ve been working here for roughly 35 years, so I’ve seen a lot of different projects come through,” Dave Neyman, a studio employee, said.
The studio has worked on a lot of projects for the Church, and they also support additional Church-affiliated projects, such as BYUtv productions like Studio C and projects from BYU Idaho.
They have also supported outside projects like the hit series The Chosen, which is primarily filmed at its Jerusalem Motion Picture outdoor set in Goshen, Utah.
The highlight of the tour was being able to get a behind-the-scenes look at an upcoming BYUtv production set in World War 2.
Jake Van Wagoner, the film's director, said he appreciated working at the studio.
“We wouldn’t have been able to make this movie or make it look like it does if we weren’t able to come and film here at the motion picture studio lots,” he said.
The backlot set contains a replica of the N.K. Whitney Store that is in Kirtland, Ohio, and a cabin built out of actual log timbers.
When the outdoor sets aren’t being used for filming, they are used for storage.
Neyman says the studio does try to keep the facility in as good shape as possible.
“We want to be a world-class facility even though we are small," he said. "If you compare us to large production studios in Los Angeles, we’re really, really small, but we try to keep it as clean as we possibly can and as up to date as we possibly can and as organized as we possibly can.”