Mitch Davis: Mormon Director

Mitch Davis is a film director, producer, and writer known for his 2001 film The Other Side of Heaven and his 2019 The Other Side of Heaven 2. He recalls an experience that set him on a path to make those movies.

"I was walking along a street in Córdoba, Argentina, with my missionary companion and heard as close to a voice as I've ever heard with a spiritual experience. The voice said, 'Someday you will make a movie about what it means to be a Mormon missionary.' That was an absolute contravention of my plans at the time to become a sports writer for my local newspaper."[1]

Davis earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Brigham Young University. Concerned about making an adequate living for his family, he worked for a time as a computer salesman and wrote poetry in his spare time. He also worked as a screenwriter, but when he realized that screenwriters lose control of their scripts after they are sold, he turned to directing so he could keep his stories as he imagined them.

He earned his master’s degree in film production from the University of Southern California. While working on his graduate degree, he worked as a creative executive at Disney and worked on Dead Poet’s Society (1989), White Fang (1991), The Rocketeer (1991), and Newsies (1992). He then worked as vice-president of development at Columbia’s Cash and Epps Entertainment production company.

He wrote and codirected the Disney channel film Windrunner, which led him to the Disney-distributed The Other Side of Heaven, which starred Christopher Gorham and Anne Hathaway and was based on John H. Groberg’s missionary experiences in the Tongan islands. Davis wrote, directed, and produced A House Divided (2010), a Romeo and Juliet story about a Jewish man who falls in love with a Palestinian woman. His 2015 Christmas feature film, Christmas Eve, starred Patrick Stewart and Jon Heder.

Davis and his wife, Michelle, live in California. Davis is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.