Once I Was a Beehive
| Once I Was a Beehive | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Maclain Nelson |
| Produced by | Maclain Nelson and Jake Van Wagoner |
| Screenplay by | Maclain Nelson |
| Starring | Paris Warner, Lisa Clark, Hailey Smith |
Release dates |
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Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Box office | $732,655[1] |
Once I Was a Beehive is a 2015 American Mormon[2] film directed by Maclain Nelson. It was released by Purdie Distribution and saw a wide release of 32 theaters and grossed a total of $732,655.[3]
Plot
Lane Speer (Paris Warner) is a young girl who enjoys camping with her parents. Lane's father dies from cancer, and her mom re-marries a Mormon a year later. Before Lane's mother and her new father go off on their honeymoon, they encourage Lane to go to on a week-long girls' Bible camp for the LDS Young Women. Lane eventually decides to go on the trip so that her phobic step-cousin Phoebe (Mila Smith) would also go.
The first task that the girls face is to set up their teepees. Most of the girls rush to put up their tents to get to the lake, while Lane and Phoebe take their time to set theirs up. It rains the following night, flooding the other girls' tents and they all crowd into Lane and Phoebe's tent. Phoebe has secretly brought her dog Roxy to camp, and she tells them to keep it a secret.
After hiking to a glacier, Lane accidentally gives one of the girls, Bree, a bloody nose. Lane tries to make amends with Bree by cooking dinner for her and they eventually make up. While the girls prepare for the "Trial of Faith" event, a bear raids the camp and Phoebe becomes convinced that it ate Roxy. They run into the bear and play dead to make it ignore them.
Together, they decide to go through with the "Trial of Faith" activity, described as a Sunday school lesson taught by Indiana Jones. Phoebe uses her knowledge to help the girls solve the various puzzles and they eventually find "Noah's Ark". The bishop arrives and reveals that Roxy is still alive. On the last night of camp, they have a testimony meeting and Phoebe, Lane, and Bree share their experiences. At the final camp talent show, Lane and Phoebe perform their new song "Together".
Production
The movie was filmed in Payson, Utah and Provo Canyon . The scenes featuring the bear were shot with a trained bear named Tank. The ark was made by a local woodcrafter and was temporarily lost during transport because it was not properly attached.[4]
Sneak peek screenings aired in various towns in Utah in early August.[4] It was released in Utah on August 18, and expanded to theaters in Idaho and Arizona in September.[5]
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was released in December.[6]
Reception
Adam Forsgren included Once I Was a Beehive as one of his 10 favorite films of 2015, praising the movie for deriving its humor from the characters instead of LDS culture.[7]
Kerry Legel gave the film a mixed review, praising the acting but criticizing the "downright clunky" writing.[8]
The film was a finalist in the best film category of the 2015 AML Awards but lost to Peace Officer.[9]
References
- ↑ "Once I Was a Beehive (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/purdiedistribution/
- ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=onceiwasabeehive.htm
- 1 2 Gallagher, Alisha (2 August 2015). "Buzz about girl's camp: Local actors and directors bring sweeter-than-honey movie to theaters". UtahValley360. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ↑ Jennifer, Johnson (20 August 2015). "'Once I Was a Beehive' is expanding camp". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ↑ Peterson, Lottie (5 January 2016). "12-year-old singer Evie Clair featured on recently released 'Once I Was a Beehive' soundtrack". Deseret News. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ↑ Forsgren, Adam. "My 10 Favorite Flicks of 2015". East Idaho News. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ↑ Legel, Kerry (17 September 2015). "Review: 'Once I Was a Beehive' a Mormon camp comedy, Mormon, Utah". AZCentral.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ↑ Hall, Andrew (4 March 2016). "2015 AML Award Winners". Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 24 March 2016.