Larry Mortorff’s experience in the film industry spans back to his days as an attorney for two of the most prestigious U.S entertainment law firms. Mortorff later became the Vice President of Feature Business Affairs at ICM, before founding numerous film companies. Subsequently, he served as President of Kushner Locke Films, overseeing the production of 15 movies.

As an accomplished film producer, Mortorff has crafted over 30 motion pictures in the past 20 years. Among the movies in his repertoire are Romero (1989), The Jungle Book (1994) and The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996). Mortorff also produced breakthrough films for Renee Zellwegger, with The Whole Wide World (1996), and Reese Witherspoon, with Freeway (1996).

Meanwhile, Mortorff is certainly no stranger to faith-based features. According to the producer’s biographical information, his The Omega Code was the “number one independent U.S. theatrical release for 1999.” Mortorff also produced the film’s sequel, Megiddo (2001), as well as One Night with the King (2006).

At this time, Mortorff is preparing to unveil his latest production, Billy: The Early Years, opening in theaters on October 10. Billy chronicles the beginning of Billy Graham’s evangelistic career, while examining his interactions with friend Charles Templeton and Ruth Bell Graham. Regarding the public reception to Billy, Mortorff hopes audiences “enjoy the fact that people spent two years making a movie they can be safe and sure they can take their families to see.”

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Josh Armstrong: Why did you decide to make Billy: The Early Years?

Larry Mortorff: First of all, I make a lot of motion pictures. I was looking for another one to do. Second, part of the focus I have is making pictures for young people. I made Pinocchio, The Jungle Book and Andre.

My business partner, Bill McKay - his mother went to school with Ruth Bell at Wheaton College. Bill had done a documentary on Billy Graham. We began talking about the fact nobody had really done a feature on this amazing icon. We sat around and decided that the best movie to make was not Billy in the 1950s and ’60s, when he was advising the President, but it was the young person’s story. We tried to reach out and make a film about young people making good choices, using Billy to show how he overcame his adversities and obstacles, made good choices - with strong family and strong faith - to get to the point where we all got to know who he was.

JA: How did Robby Benson become the director for Billy?

LM: Robby and I did a picture together 15 years ago. Our director resigned mid-January over a creative dispute.

The movie kind of came together: We had a couple of cast members; we had the script. We had locations picked; we had a lot of the crew picked. I needed a director who was a writer and a really good collaborative director - easy-going and really good with young actors, because a lot of our cast was going to be actors who had limited, if not any, experience in front of a motion picture camera.

I called Robby and gave him the script, and he committed. He’s a dear friend - a dear man with a dear heart. He brings to the movie a lightness and a touch of depth. He got performances out of these actors that were just nothing short of spectacular. There are no weak performances in this movie. It’s a really well-directed, well-acted piece.

JA: Was Armie Hammer your first choice to play Reverend Graham?

LM: Well, he was our final choice to play Billy Graham. We’d actually hired another actor in January, only to discover in late February that he had done a movie that no one knew about and he should not have done. So unfortunately, we had to terminate his involvement. Then we had a second search for Billy and found Armie Hammer through that search.

JA: How did Martin Landau become involved with the film?

LM: Martin Landau is a friend of mine. I made a movie called Pinocchio about 15 years ago. Martin played Geppettto in Pinocchio. When we came up with the device, in January, of the young and old Charles Templeton - kind of having the older Charles Templeton be the equivalent of Salieri from Amadeus - I called around. I first called Peter O’Toole, because I had done a picture with him. Then I called Martin Landau, flew to L.A. and had dinner with Martin, and Martin committed.

JA: Why was Peter O’Toole not able to play Charles Templeton?

LM: He has a very tough schedule. I don’t think he really wanted to travel for the three days of shooting for that role. He had other things to do. He and I have done two pictures together, in the past. Also, all of a sudden, it got very complicated to shoot him in Tennessee here. It got too complicated.

JA: How did you get Josh Turner for the role of George Beverly Shea?

LM: My executive producer and music supervisor is Anastasia Brown. Josh Turner’s manager is on the floor above her office, which is our headquarters here in Nashville. Josh wasn’t sure he could fit it into his schedule. But he had the perfect voice and a really good look. He wanted to be in the movie but didn’t want to have a big part. He wanted to start his film career and build slowly. He loves Billy Graham and loves George Beverly Shea music.

Once he met the director, he committed to doing it. It was really because he was family and friends with Anastasia Brown and the management company. Once he came in and knew the kind of movie we were making, he committed to playing George Beverly Shea.

JA: How accurate did you try to make Billy, while still expressing artistic interpretation?

LM: We did about a year’s worth of research for Billy. Most of the storyline is correct and accurate. Certainly some of the dialogue and things were made up. Some of the sequences were made up. But the circumstances were correct. Like when Billy gets turned down by Emily at the dance, we’re not sure it happened at a dance. But it did happen at the Florida Bible Institute. Billy was not present at the birth of Gigi. But for dramatic impact, we had him present at the birth of Gigi. We tweaked a few things. But 95% of the movie is completely accurate.

JA: Should audiences expect other Billy movies that focus on Reverend Graham’s later years?

LM: I think that’s a question of if audiences are supportive of the work we’ve done here. Our movie opens October 10, in selected theaters in the South and Southeast. We have a website, www.BillyTheEarlyYears.com. People can look there for a local theater.

We’ve built it. If they come, there will be a sequel. But right now, our focus is this movie. We have a soundtrack coming out with Sony; we have a novel coming out, with Thomas Nelson, all in October with the movie. We’re just hoping we have created a movie that families will want to bring their children and grandchildren to see, to enjoy this thoroughly entertaining and also very stimulating movie about Billy and his life - his life with Ruth, his family and his fundamental faith in the Gospel.

JA: Reverend Graham’s son, Franklin, has expressed his disapproval of the film, I suppose one might say. How does that make you feel?

LM: I don’t know that he has expressed disapproval of the film. What was on their website was correct, which is, ‘This movie is not sanctioned by the BGEA [Billy Graham Evangelistic Association].’ (By the way, we have that statement on the film.)

We did not seek their approval. We did not want to work through committees and spend years trying to get approval. We did not need their approval to make this film.

BGEA wanted to distance themselves. I think a pastor in Atlanta announced to his congregation that this was a BGEA film. So [Franklin] needed to go on record that this is not BGEA, and people shouldn’t go to it, thinking it is a BGEA-sanctioned, BGEA-financed or BGEA-produced film. This is a privately financed entertaining motion picture. This is not a documentary or a BGEA film.

JA: How did you find distribution for Billy?

LM: I’d made a number of Christian films, from The Omega Code through One Night with the King. Rocky Mountain Pictures works with us very closely. We choose theaters; we choose cities that are strong in the faith-based world. We raised the financing for the movie; we raised the financing for the distribution ourselves. So we actually controlled our own destiny, as to what destinations to run at and what radio stations and that kind of thing. We’re actually distributing ourselves through a system that has released The Omega Code, Megiddo, Carman, One Night with the King, End of the Spear and a whole bunch of family films.

JA: What is the main message you want audiences to receive from Billy?

LM: I believe there is a general and a specific message. The specific is, to see how Billy led his life and how Ruth led her life. The general is, for young people to see a healthy family relationship and healthy decision-making about, ‘What am I going to do with my life? When confronted with adversity, what is the best way to deal with it?’ I hope children come with some lessons from those decisions that Billy and Ruth made in their lives. If that happens, we will have done our part as filmmakers.

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Billy: The Early Years will open in theaters on October 10, while its soundtrack will hit stores on October 7. For more information, please visit the film’s official site.

*Click images to view larger versions. Screenshots from Billy: The Early Years are through the courtesy of Katherine Bomboy.

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