Latter days

Latter Days was written by C. Jay Cox after the success of his previous screenplay, Sweet Home Alabama, gave him the financial resources and critical credit to write a more personal love story. Cox based both characters—Christian and Aaron—on himself. He was raised as a Mormon and served at a mission before coming out as gay, and had wondered what the two halves of himself would have said to each other if they had ever met.

Latter Days was filmed in 24 days on an estimated budget of USD$850,000. All funding was acquired from private investors who wanted to see the film made. It was distributed through TLA Releasing, an independent film distributor, who picked it up through its partnership with production company Funny Boy Films, which specializes in gay-themed media.

Latter Days is a gay romantic drama released in 2003. Set in Los Angeles, California it portrays the seduction of Aaron Davis, a Mormon missionary, by Christian Markelli, a party animal who falls in love with him. The film, written and directed by C. Jay Cox, stars Steve Sandvoss as Aaron, Wes Ramsey as Christian, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Elder Ryder, and Rebekah Johnson as Julie Taylor. Mary Kay Place and Jacqueline Bisset have supporting roles.

Latter Days premiered at the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on 10 July 2003. It was released across America over the next 12 months, and was released, mostly at gay film festivals, in a few other countries.[1] It was the first film to openly show the clash between the principles of the Mormon church and homosexuality, and its exhibition in some states was polemic. Various religious groups demanded the movie to be retired from theatres and DVD stores under boycott threats.

The movie was not well received by film critics, although it was popular with most film festival attendees. In 2004 T. Fabris made Latter Days into a novel, which was published by Alyson Publications.

Sources:
WIKIPEDIA