Nearly eight years ago I got together with my good friends Jon Grundvig and Zach Bjorge at a diner not too far from my home to begin planning a feature length film project (something we had attempted several times with only marginal success). Infatuated at the time with Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring, we began putting together a story that would blend elements of fantasy adventure with Simpsons-esque comedy. That was the beginning of Thomas Destiny which premiered two and a half years later on April 16th 2004 at the Organ Loft theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah.What is Thomas Destiny about? Thomas Destiny is a classic story much in the spirit of the Alice In Wonderland, The Wizard of OZ, and The Lord of the Rings about an unlikely hero far removed from home who gets called upon to save the world. Along the way he meets companions who aid him in his quest all the while struggling to overcome his own weaknesses and self doubts. But instead of meeting the normal (operative word here) types of fantasy allies and enemies, Thomas is thrown into a world where the bizarre is commonplace and many of the fantasy genre’s cliché’s are mocked.
So what’s the big deal about a bunch of film maker wannabe’s getting together to shoot a home movie about swords and sorcery? It’s not like that hasn’t ever been done before. True, and much of the movie’s value is sentimental. However, there was a certain magic about the project that clearly shines through on screen. First of all, this film was produced by an all volunteer cast and crew for an estimated two thousand dollars. No one got paid, yet from pre-production to principle photography to post, everyone made sacrifices to bring the story to life. All of us had regular full time jobs and would get together after work and on the weekends, drive all of over Utah (sometimes for hours) just to work on “our” movie. It was an impressive thing to consider the level of dedication to something we all knew was being undertaken simply for the love of film making. And although Thomas Destiny has some minor production quality faux pas, it looks and feels like a professional production with a unique mixture of comedy, drama, action, and adventure. Enjoy the Special Edition!
