Dave's Latest Documentary - "Mario's Conviction"

So I recently finished a feature-length documentary called "Mario's Conviction" and would encourage all of you to check it out.  Actually, you can't really check it out because it's not available in the public library, but you can purchase a copy of the DVD.  The DVD is available through Cedar Fort Publishing at cedarfort.com, at Deseret Book, and other places that sell fine LDS products.  The film will also be shown at the LDS Film Festival in January 2009, and at the Foursight Film Festival next spring.

Mario's Conviction is based on the life of Mario Facione, a man who grew up in an Italian family and was heavily involved with the Mafia in Detroit, then ended up changing his ways when he joined the LDS church.  It is based on the book, Mafia to Mormon, published by Cedar Fort Publishing.  Jason Conforto was the director of the documentary, and I, Dave Lindsay, was the producer through my company Avalanche Studios.

We shot the film on location in Detroit and also did some production in Utah and Arizona. When we were making plans to travel to Detroit, Mario offered to let us stay at his home during production.  However, since he grew up dealing with Mob, he is still very suspicious and cautious about things, so he wouldn't give us his address or any information over the phone.  We got our plane tickets and told our wives goodbye, but were unable to tell them where we were staying - just that we'd be hanging out somewhere near Detroit with a mobster.  It worked out fine though and Mario and his wife Kathy were very gracious hosts and we had a great time with them.  The documentary turned out great and I think most people will be inspired by Mario's story.

Lake Powell Trip

Luckily, we have nice friends or we'd never do anything fun.  In September, some of our neighbors invited us to go on an adults only trip to Lake Powell.  We grabbed our speedos and sun tan lotion and gladly ditched our kids for a few days.  We went with Kent & Renee , Eric and Lenice , Aaron & Liz , and Bobbi Jo & Tim Something (not sure what their last name is).  The weather was perfect and we had a great time.  We ate tons of food, rode around on boats alot, and caught a lizard.  

The second day there, we left our campsite and went back to the marina at Antelope Point to pick up Bobbi Jo and Tim, who were joining us late that evening.  On the way, the boat died and we had to tow it with a SeaDoo to the marina. We tried to get it fixed but it was after hours and we wouldn't be able to do anything about it until the morning.  That meant we had 10 people who needed to get back to the houseboat with only two 3-man SeaDoos in the dark.  Kent, Tim and Aaron were so brave and stayed with the boat.  The rest of us piled on the SeaDoos and made the 45-minute journey, under moonlight skies, back to the houseboat.  It was soo scary, but I learned a valuable gospel lesson:  make sure your boat doesn't break. 

The rest of the trip was great fun as we hiked up a slot canyon, watched movies at night on the houseboat, enjoyed the beautiful scenery and did plenty of water sports.  Although Heidi is a great water skier and a good athlete in general, I have never been very good at it.  Water skiing requires upper body strength, balance, and mental toughness, yet I lack three of those things. I did learn how to ski on two skis when I was a teenager, and actually slalomed once when I was about 24, but honestly had no desire to risk my life again as an overweight, middle-aged man.  But of course, I gave in to peer pressure and had to try it again, anyway.   It took 4 or 5 attempts with the ski boat, which didn't work, and then a couple of attempts behind the SeaDoo to finally get me up on the slalom ski.  After about 30 seconds or so, I had experienced enough of the exhileration and I was done.  The rest of our group are all really good water skiers, wake boarders and the like, and it was fun to watch them do their thing.

We were really grateful to get away for a few days and hang out with our neighbors and friends - Thanks to Kent & Renee for hosting the great party. 

Summer Time 2008

So far this has been a great summer.  It started when our house almost burned down, then my car broke down, then it broke down again, our sprinklers broke, then I broke down.  Now we are just broke.  So we decided to solve our problems by going on vacation, where some more stuff broke. We went to California for Heidi's little sister's wedding reception.  She was married here in Salt Lake but had a second reception in Santa Cruz, where the new stud is from.  We had a great time at the beach, shopping, hanging out and going to the Mystery Spot (I'd tell you what that is but then it wouldn't be a mystery anymore). So then we spent another chunk of our vacation in the resort paradise of Fresno, with Heidi's other sister Hillori.  We went to Yosemite National Park, played golf, tennis, swam, watched movies, ate food, and went to a baseball game on the fourth of July. It was great to hang out with Bret and Hillori and their new baby, Sienna.  We are home now and getting back into the routine of work and real life, but are still enjoying our summer.  I just hope this blog doesn't break.