Garrett Batty is an American film director, writer, and producer known for his film ''

The Saratov Approach ''The Saratov Approach'' is a 2013 American dramatic thriller film written and directed by Garrett Batty. It depicts the 1998 kidnapping of two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Saratov, Russia. It be ...

''. He is a graduate of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

and a native of

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...

. He is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, (LDS Church) and his films are part of

Mormon cinema Mormon cinema usually refers to films with themes relevant to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The term has also been used to refer to films that do not necessarily reflect Mormon themes but have been made ...

, but with a more general audience. He has written, directed, and produced four full-length films, including ''Freetown'' (2015) and ''

Out of Liberty ''Out of Liberty'' is a 2019 film directed by Garrett Batty, starring Jasen Wade as deputy jailer Samuel Tillery. The film tells the story of Joseph Smith (Brandon Ray Olive), his brother Hyrum Smith (Casey Elliott), and four other men being held ...

'' (2019), and will begin work on a fifth in 2020. For ''Freetown'', he was awarded the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Best Screenplay alongside

Melissa Leilani Larson Melissa Leilani Larson is an American writer and playwright based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mormon literature critic Michael Austin described her as "one of the true rising stars of Mormon literature." Producer Jeremy Long described her as the "b ...

Early life and education

As a young boy in

, Batty began making short films. He attended

Park City High School Park City High School is a public high school located at 1750 Kearns Boulevard in Park City, Utah, United States. It is one of eight public schools in the Park City School District and serves tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. The district's ...

and often attended the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

. In both high school and college, Batty participated in acting, improv comedy, and filmmaking. After serving an

LDS mission A mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, he graduated from

in 2001 with a film degree. He is a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

Professional career

During his early career in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, Batty edited TV pilot episodes, trailers, and DVDs. He often worked with LDS film companies such as

Excel Entertainment Excel Entertainment is an Production company, Indian production company, founded by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar in 1999. Based in Mumbai, they mainly produce Hindi films. In 2017, they released India's first original series for Amazon ...

and

Halestorm Entertainment Halestorm Entertainment was a film production and distribution company based in Orem, Utah. It was founded in January 2001 by Kurt Hale and Dave Hunter, who were both film majors at Brigham Young University. Halestorm films were largely created b ...

. He later moved to

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, where he and his wife adopted three children. He was inspired by LDS films such as ''

The Singles Ward The Singles Ward franchise includes the original film, ''The Singles Ward'' from 2002 and the 2007 sequel, ''The Singles 2nd Ward'', both directed and written by Kurt Hale and John Moyer. The Singles Ward ''The Singles Ward'' is a 2002 romantic ...

'', and after moving to Utah, filmed ''Mormon Messages'' for the

. He began a production company, Three Coin Productions, in 1993. His short film "#Pound# 646" was shown at the 2008 LDS Film Festival and later compiled into the Best of LDS Film Festival 2008 DVD. In 2009 he wrote, directed, and produced ''Scout Camp'', a movie about a group of

boy scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...

starring Shawn Carter and

Kirby Heyborne Kirby Heyborne (born October 8, 1976) is an American actor, musician, singer, songwriter, narrator and comedian. He is known for his work in films centered around the culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Heyborn ...

. Batty drew from his own experiences as a boy scout, and the actors who played scoutmasters improvised many of their lines for comedic effect. According to Batty, the film produced enough money to "pay back all of tsinvestors." While continuing to work for the Church, he began working on ''

'', a film based on the true story of the

1998 kidnapping of LDS missionaries in Saratov, Russia The 1998 kidnapping of Mormon missionaries in Saratov, Russia involved the abduction of two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Andrew Lee Propst and Travis Robert Tuttle, on March 18, 1998. One of the ki ...

. Batty first heard the story as a college student, and resolved to one day tell it through film. He obtained permission from the men who had been kidnapped, then began working on the script while recovering from

heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

. It was released on October 9, 2013, and grossed $2.1 million; it was Batty's first theatrical release. According to ''

The Daily Universe ''The Universe'' (formerly ''The Daily Universe'') is the official student newspaper for Brigham Young University (BYU) and was started in 1956. History BYU's student-published newspaper was first titled ''White and Blue'' (1898–1921), later bec ...

'', ''Saratov'' "shattered all previous LDS movie records." After ''Saratov'''s success, Batty released another film documenting a true story about LDS missionaries, ''Freetown'', in 2015. Filmed in six weeks in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, it depicts the missionaries' struggles during the

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War lasted from 1989 to 1997. President Samuel Doe had established a regime in 1980 but totalitarianism and corruption led to unpopularity and the withdrawal of support from the United States by the late 1980s. The Nat ...

. Batty worked alongside screenwriter

on ''Freetown'', for which they were awarded the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Best Screenplay. In 2019, Batty directed, wrote, and produced ''Out of Liberty'', a drama western about the imprisonment of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, told from lesser-known jailer Samuel Tillery's perspective. It grossed $265,279. According to the ''Daily Herald,'' Batty will begin filming a movie about missionaries in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 2020.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

* Winner of the 2014 Filmed in Utah Award for Best Screenplay (''The Saratov Approach'') * Winner of the 2014 Filmed in Utah Award for Best Director (''The Saratov Approach'') * Winner of the 2014 Filmed in Utah Award for Best Feature Film (''The Saratov Approach'') * Winner of the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Best Screenplay (''Freetown'', with Melissa Leilani Larson) * Nominated for the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Directing (''Freetown'') * Nominated for the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Best Picture (''Freetown'') * Finalist for the 2015

AML Award The AML Awards are given annually by the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) to the best work "by, for, and about Mormons." They are juried awards, chosen by a panel of judges. Citations for many of the awards can be found on the AML website. T ...

(film category) (''Freetown'') * Nominated for the 2016 Black Reel Award for Best Foreign Film (''Freetown'') * Nominated for the 2016 Nigerian Entertainment Award for Best Picture (Non-Nigerian) (''Freetown'') * Finalist for the 2019 AML Award (narrative-feature-film category) (''Out of Liberty'')2019 AML Award Winners
by Andrew Hall. ''Dawning of a Brighter Day''.

Association for Mormon Letters The Association for Mormon Letters (AML) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 to "foster scholarly and creative work in Mormon letters and to promote fellowship among scholars and writers of Mormon literature." Other stated purposes have inc ...

. 2 May 2020. Accessed 2 May 2020.

References

External links

Three Coin Productions website
*
Latter-day Profiles interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batty, Garrett Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Park City, Utah Brigham Young University alumni Latter Day Saints from Utah American film producers Film directors from Utah American film editors Screenwriters from Utah Harold B. Lee Library-related 21st century articles