From Josh Groban to Rancho Cucamonga

Recently came away from the LDS Booksellers Association expo. It’s an annual event, where people from LDS bookstores from around the country (and a few from around the world) gather to see what’s new, especially for the coming Christmas shopping season, from people who make or distribute stuff.

Even David Osmond himself dropped by to check out the new 'Josh Groban' Liken.

Our presence at the LDSBA has evolved over the years, pretty much mirroring our circumstances. Back in early years of Liken, we shared some space at the end of a table with our then distributor. By 2006, we had our own monster-sized booth consisting of six booth spaces surrounded by city walls and gates from one of our sets, a mammoth four-sided screen overhead playing an endless loop of clips, and guest appearances from Liken stars throughout the three-day event.

The last couple of years, times being what they were and without much new to talk about, we didn’t go at all. But with Jonah coming out, we decided we should make an appearance. This year, we had two booths side by side. Nothing too fancy, but Josh did a nice job of setting us up. We made a tall banner of Jonah (that some people thought was Josh Groban). I prepped a 5-minute video loop that included a 90-second teaser of Jonah, which was based on the version I prepared for the stage production, but with some additional clips added in from the modern-day portion that we didn’t have before:

I’d say the booth was a success. I think it would be safe to say that most people at the event sat down, put on the headphones, and went on that ride of dancing Ninevites, a hearty band of Spanish mariners, and our adorable undersea creatures. We even had a brief visit at our booth from Mr. Jonah himself, David Osmond. (When we told him about the Josh Groban comments, he suggested we not try to clear up those misconceptions.)

Being back after being away for a couple of years allowed us to see that the LDS bookseller industry, like many industries, is going through some changes. The show is smaller, in terms of number of days (now two instead of three), number of exhibitors (the hall was only about 2/3 full), as well as number of stores represented. We used to be one of several independent production companies in attendance. Most of them weren’t there this year. The industry has undergone a lot of changes in a short period of time. Hard to believe now, but when we released our first title back in 2003, we actually released it on DVD as well as VHS (remember those?). Now, DVDs are being challenged by digital downloads. Makes sense, but it is another squeeze on the already pretty well squeezed independents.

To be honest, the marketing side of this business has always been an enigma. We had hoped when we made our first Liken back in 2003 that it would be so novel and fun that audiences would discover it themselves and support it well enough that all we’d have to do is just keep making them. But it didn’t quite work out that way.

Here's the booth in the process of being set up. Humphrey the Great Fish's costume was a featured guest.

Getting any kind of media attention was a huge struggle. What attention we did get tended to be pretty dismissive and curt (after struggling to get his attention, Chris Hicks of Deseret News finally wrote a one paragraph review of “Nephi and Laban,” calling it a “glorified road show”; actually, I’m not even sure he used the word “glorified”). Buying space in retailers’ catalogs was incredibly expensive (I didn’t even know before you had to buy that space). And there was a surprising level of turf wars and politics.

In short, making the movies, as hard as it was, was a cakewalk in comparison to selling the movies. But we consider it all part of the same overall challenge, so we keep pressing forward as best we can. Honestly, nothing we’ve done has ever eclipsed our greatest marketing tool: word of mouth – people who tell their family and friends about the movies (thanks for that, everyone). So over the years, even when we haven’t been producing new titles or promoting our existing titles, the orders kept coming in. And not just from the U.S., but from all over. Not huge orders, but just this steady flow of orders that seemed to indicate that Liken wasn’t disappearing from the collective consciousness, but was maybe actually growing.

Just got back from a brief family vacation in Southern California before the girls go back to school. Had a lovely time. We drove, so it gave me a lot of time to mull. About 20 hours of mulling time. I spent a good chunk of the time mulling Liken and this never-ending challenge of selling enough of what we make to be able to afford to make more of them.

Somewhere around Elgin Carp (one of those Nevada exits that always sounds like a character I have to work into my next screenplay), half of Mulling Me suggested that creative endeavors such as Liken should have to stand on their own two feet, and if they don’t, that means they should be allowed to die a natural death. I don’t like that half of mulling me, but I can see his point. Those who create “creative endeavors” are usually a little too close to their work to be objective. So audience support is a pretty good yardstick.

Somewhere around Jean Primm (another Nevada exit/screenplay name), the other half of Mulling Me countered that our cultural history would be sorely lacking if we removed from it everything that wasn’t an immediate financial success. I’m not trying to liken Likens to Van Goghs. But I do think our titles are doing some much-needed good in this world. We still get emails daily from parents and grandparents and even some kids themselves thanking us for these movies and encouraging us to continue. What’s more, the nice Mulling Me reasoned, sometimes something good can slip by before it finds its audience, so it can also be a question of did the makers stick with something long enough to let its audience find it.

I confess I didn’t get it all worked out before I ran out of freeway at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. In my heart of hearts (which I arrived at somewhere around the Rancho Cucamonga exit – a name which probably won’t make my next screenplay), I still believe we’ve only scratched the surface of what this series can do. But how we get beneath the surface, or reach that tipping point, is something we’re still pressing forward on all fronts to figure out. I do know that having fewer LDS bookstores out there doesn’t help. Nor does it help to put the titles into a Walmart without sufficient marketing support. People aren’t inclined to buy what they’ve never heard of.

As we keep working on post-production with Jonah (which, to me, has taken Liken the next step up in running time as well as overall quality), the thinking caps are on. What can we do with Jonah that will help Liken take the next step toward an audience big enough to help ensure that there will be a Liken 10 someday (and so that hopefully it won’t take another four years to make it happen)?