Thomas Laughlin lives in Clinton, Utah.
What are some names of the books or other media you have created?
In my over twenty-year career, I’ve been privileged to have worked with and mentored by several LDS filmmakers such as TC Christensen ASC (producer/cinematographer for Love Kennedy and 17 Miracles), Peter Czerny (film editor of the original Johnny Lingo and LDS film classics of the 1960s-1990s), Dennis Lisonbee (film director and composer), and so many who have worked for the BYU and LDS Motion Picture Studio. I’ve done several award-winning documentaries, including A Reel Legacy: The History of Judge Whitaker and the LDS Motion Picture Studio, Stripling, and more recently I was director and producer of Remembering Heaven.
What inspired you to become a creator of media?
I have always loved cinema. I was always enamored with the process from writing to editing. My parents encouraged me to follow my dream, so after a mission to Sao Paulo Brazil, I left my hometown of Wichita, Kansas, and headed to Provo, Utah, went to UVU, got married, and have been married for the past twenty years.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Before I came to live in Utah after my mission, I came out here to visit some mission friends and attended the first LDS Film Festival. It was a tiny festival back then, but I was amazed by all the filmmakers—I had found my people! This festival is what brought me to Utah. Twenty years later, we entered our documentary Remembering Heaven and won the Twentieth Annual LDS Film Festival, with my wife and kids looking on, as we took the stage and got the “Best Documentary” award. It felt amazing!
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given in your creative journey?
The best advice I ever got was to study storytelling. Every filmmaking process is tied to story. It’s the same whether it is a novel, book, short film, or whatever the medium. You have to have a strong beginning, middle, and ending. At the recommendation of a college film friend, I read Screenplay by Syd Field, and it changed everything for me. I wrote around fifteen feature film scripts in college—so do a lot of writing, shooting, and editing.
What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?
Whatever background or experience you have, learn as much as you can about the “film business.” If you have a great idea, manuscript, or a book (that you want to make into a film or a documentary), take the time to research and learn about filmmaking, scriptwriting, marketing, and distribution. Have a specific goal and run to that goal and don’t stop until that goal is achieved. Intern on a film set or work on a short film. This will add to your experiences and skills. Be tenacious and passionate!
What keeps you inspired in your daily creative work?
What inspires me is my inner drive to always tell a story with the most emotional or uplifting impact. Oftentimes, we don’t always get to work on big projects. Maybe they are small car commercials or corporate videos. But even still, you can always try and make the content inspiring or uplift your viewers. There are so many film pioneers before us, who had to work with more primitive filmmaking tools. We have digital tools like the iPhone, that can film anything. We have laptops that can edit. Tell those stories!
What would you like others to know about you or your creative process?
The creative process is like a muscle. The more you do it, the stronger and better you get. Like bodybuilding, you can target certain muscle groups or areas of focus. The creative process is a journey. Just keep going.
In what ways do you feel you have been able to be a voice for good in your creative pursuits?
Especially with my last two documentaries, Stripling and Remembering Heaven, I have tried to inform and truly inspire the members of our LDS youth and members to remember the gospel of Jesus Christ. In everything I try and do, I look at it as if the Lord is looking at the film and ask, would he accept this offering? As many artists know, we do our best and hope that what we do turns people’s hearts to (or back to) the Savior. (And, I hope to work on future projects with others in the LDSPMA!)
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