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Mitch Davis is an American film director, writer, and producer noted for his 2001 film The Other Side of Heaven about the trials and adventures of a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), John H. Groberg. His movies range from intense dramas to lighthearted, family-friendly comedies. He has written seven films, directed five, and produced three. He is from Escondido, California. He attended Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of Southern California.
While working as a screenwriter, Davis realized how much directors and producers could change his original work. He became a director and producer to ensure that his films would be released how he originally envisioned them. He explained: "That's how I became a filmmaker top to bottom; I was kind of backed into it."
Davis was struck by lightning while on a camping trip in Colorado. This near-death experience motivated him to begin production on The Other Side of Heaven. It was inspired by Groberg's book, In the Eye of the Storm. Davis and his family moved to the Cook Islands to make the film. There, Davis worked alongside producer Gerald R. Molen and John Garbett. It was released on December 14, 2001. More than three million copies of the film have been sold; about 200 million people worldwide have seen it. Davis stated that the film was "played in nearly every majority-Muslim country in the world."
After The Other Side of Heaven, he wrote and directed Language of the Enemy (originally entitled A House Divided), a story about an American Jewish man's travel to Israel and his subsequent romantic relationship with a Palestinian woman. Davis then wrote a three-part documentary series for BYU TV entitled Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of the King James Bible, a historical piece featuring figures such as William Tyndale, Martin Luther, and King Henry VIII. He continued with BYUtv to write another documentary about Handel's Messiah in 2014. In 2015 he wrote, directed, and produced Christmas Eve, a family holiday comedy starring Patrick Stewart. In 2017 he released The Stray, which showcased his own life experience. Davis co-wrote the PBS docudrama Joseph Smith: American Prophet in 2017, a remake of the 1999 film of the same name.
, a sequel to the previous film, was released on June 28, 2019. It is set 10 years after the original, and tells the story of Groberg's return to Tonga with his family.
Davis has released a book entitled Journey of Faith: The Making of the Other Side of Heaven, with Molen and Garbett as co-authors. The Other Side of Heaven: The Screenplay is also available.
| 1994 | Windrunner | Russell Means, Margot Kidder | |||
| 2001 | The Other Side of Heaven | Anne Hathaway, Christopher Gorham | |||
| 2015 | Christmas Eve | Patrick Stewart, Jon Heder, James Roday, Cheryl Hines, Gary Cole, Max Casella | |||
| 2017 | The Stray | Michael Cassidy, Sarah Lancaster | |||
| 2019 | Christopher Gorham, Natalie Medlock, Ben Baker | ||||
| 2021 | Witnesses | Michael Zuccola, Caleb J. Spivak, Lincoln Hoppe, Paul Wuthrich |
| 2010 (DVD) | Language of the Enemy | F. Murray Abraham, Eion Bailey, Linda Hardy | |||
| 2011 (TV) | Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of the King James Bible | (documentary series) | |||
| 2014 (TV) | Handel's Messiah | (documentary) | |||
| 2017 (TV) | Joseph Smith: American Prophet | Gregory Peck (narrator), John Foss, Anna Daines |
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