LDS Uncorrelated: Mormon Cinema, Acting Origins & the Java Jive Coffee Date (with Brad Whitt) On LDS Uncorrelated, the hosts welcome guest Brad Whitt (Ward Radio, Escape from Germany, BYU Physical Science course videos) and discuss acting backgrounds, LDS culture, and LDS “homegrown” cinema. Arantxa shares starting acting at seven through auditions and agents, while Brad traces his start to school improv and studying acting at BYU, plus his mission in New York. The group debates key LDS films like God’s Army, Brigham City, and Singles Ward, and talks about Mormon-adjacent films like Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos. They highlight Brett and Jessica Bergen’s short film Java Jive, about an awkward first date at a coffee shop and the pressure around the Word of Wisdom, then digress into stories about schismatic figure Phil Davis and other Mormon folklore. They close by encouraging more LDS-coded filmmaking and teasing a future episode analyzing Hollywood depictions of the temple endowment.

00:00 Cold Open Banter

00:35 Show Intro Guest Brad

10:56 Arantxa Acting Origins

12:14 Stage Names Bits

13:29 Three Nephites Sitcom Pitch

14:06 Ages And Generations

15:24 LDS Cinema Beginnings

17:51 Gods Army And Dutcher

22:06 Singles Ward And Stars

24:51 Broadway Will Swenson Story

25:43 Acting as Service

26:39 Brad Acting Origins

28:58 Loving the Character

30:39 Napoleon Dynamite Mormon Cinema

32:10 Gentlemen Broncos Deep Cut

35:12 Java Jive Spotlight

36:29 Word of Wisdom Comedy

39:48 Chocolatier Prophet Lore

45:18 Tin Pot Messiahs Folklore

47:52 Make the Movies

49:56 Utah Storytelling Call

52:36 Wrap and Next Episode Tease