HEAVEN ON LATE NIGHT: 2 April 2002 - In what may have been the first-ever promotion of LDS Cinema on national network television, Anne Hathaway appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn to promote "The Other Side of Heaven." The title of the movie was mentioned multiple times during the introduction, in reference to what is coming up in the program. Hathaway, the film's lead actress (and the star of the surprise hit Disney movie "The Princess Diaries"), appeared as the second guest. She didn't have as much time as Bill Paxton (the first guest), and didn't get to experience Craig's famous "Five Questions" quiz. But she did have a chance to say very kind things about "The Other Side of Heaven" and say a few sentences about the film's plot. Answering Kilborn's questions, Hathaway also talked about "The Princess Diaries." In case you're wondering, the only "M" word used to describe the film was "missionary." It was a nice, generic plug. About a third of the interview time was taken up by Kilborn's questions and comments about college "keggers." (Hathaway is currently a 19-year-old student at Vassar University.)

One interesting note: Hathaway mentioned that she got the part in "The Princess Diaries" only because she was able to go to an audition in Los Angeles while she was there on a 26-hour layover between the East Coast and New Zealand, where she would be filming "The Other Side of Heaven." So if it hadn't been for "Heaven", she wouldn't have been in "The Princess Diaries."

Also: This week "The Other Side of Heaven" passed the $2 million mark, just in time for its upcoming national release on April 12th. It will be interesting to see how national distribution affects its numbers. Just a guess, but I don't think it will take the film quite as long to reach the $3 million mark.

ANGLESEY FILM SEEN ROUND THE WORLD: If you watched the Priesthood session of General Conference (6 April 2002), you saw a few scenes from Latter-day Saint director Alisa Anglesey's 1997 short film "Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath." Scenes were shown while a general authority discussed the story of Elijah and the widow. Carrie Morgan (seen recently as "Peg", Richard Dutcher's sleuthing secretary in "Brigham City", the movie's top-billed actress) and Robert "Bob" Nelson were seen prominently playing the parts of the widow and Elijah. Nelson had a small part in "Brigham City" (as "Parker") and had a lead role in Feature Films For Families' "In Your Wildest Dreams."

MORE GENERAL CONFERENCE NOTES: Also during the Priesthood session, Elder Spencer J. Condie put in a plug for road shows, saying that young men should participate in "original one-act plays." During Saturday's afternoon session, extremely popular Latter-day Saint author Gerald N. Lund was called as a general authority. He is already the best selling novelist in the LDS market, with his "Work and the Glory" series of historical novels. He has also written two published science fiction novels (The Alliance and The Freedom Factor). With the current success of the movie "The Other Side of Heaven," based on the memoirs written by current general authority John H. Groberg, will it be long before a Gerald Lund-based script goes before cameras?

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA REDUX: It appears that development is moving forward on a new "Battlestar Galactica" television project (based on the series created by Latter-day Saint television producer Glenn Larson). According to Sci Fi Wire, the "SCI FI Channel announced that it is developing an ambitious slate of original miniseries and movies, including several backdoor pilots for possible series." These include "Battlestar Galactica. This four-hour miniseries re-imagines the classic '70s SF TV series. Ronald D. Moore (Roswell) wrote the script, with Breck Eisner (Taken) attached to direct. Distributed by USA Cable Entertainment, the project will be executive produced by David Eick." (Other miniseries being developed include Cyan's "Myst", Haldeman's "Forever War", and Zelazny's "Chronicles of Amber.")

RYAN VS. THE ROCK: It looks like there's a battle brewing -- between movies starring Mormon male leads. "Murder By Numbers" starring Ryan Gosling is going to open on April 19th -- the same weekend that "The Scorpion King" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson opens. Who'll nab the Number One spot? Well... "Murder" has also got Sandra Bullock in it (1st billed, over Gosling's 2nd billing). Gosling, who starred in the critically acclaimed Sundance winner "The Believer," is one of the finest actors of his generation. The Rock, on the other hand, brings with him his immense WWF popularity, special effects, and a much bigger budget. Look for "Scorpion King" to K.O. "Murder By Numbers" in the first round. But expect "Murder" to go the distance with critics.

RECURSIVE LATTER-DAY SAINT FILMMAKING: We managed to catch the "Latter-day Saints on the Silver Screen" documentary between the sessions of General Conference on Sunday and found the documentary, hosted and produced by KSL's Carole Mikita, to be well-produced and informative, although of course it is impossible to fully cover the subject within a half-hour show. Some important historical productions, such as "One Hundred Years of Mormonism" (the first feature-length documentary ever made) were left out.