Local filmmaker to give presentation about latest movie during Thursday event

POCATELLO — Eric Johnston, assistant producer of the recent movie “Escape from Germany,” is coming to Pocatello this week to give a presentation about the various projects he’s worked on.

Jim Johnston, Eric’s father, said the presentation will be on Thursday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building at 700 S. 7th Ave. near Caldwell Park. The presentation will be part of the August meeting of the Portneuf Pioneers chapter of the Sons of Utah Pioneers. The meeting is free and open to the public.

“(Eric) is going to talk about the making of that film,” Jim said. “He will speak about his experiences as a producer and specifically this film.”

Thursday’s event will start at 6 p.m. with a potluck dinner. Eric, a Pocatello native, will start his presentation at 7 p.m. People are welcome to come for both parts of the event.

“Everyone’s invited if they want to come,” Jim said. “They should bring an item to share.”

During the presentation, Eric will share clips from “Escape from Germany” and some of the other films he has been involved with throughout his career.

“He has become an outstanding young man in terms of the film industry,” Jim said.

Jim said there has been a lot of interest in this event. They are expecting over 100 people to come. He said Eric has been an entertainer all his life and will be sure to give an entertaining presentation.

“It will be fun,” Jim said. “He’s an entertainer by nature.”

Eric has worked for various studios in the film industry. In addition to the work he has done on “Escape from Germany” with the LDS Church, he has also worked with ABC, CBS, Disney and Paramount.

“He’s worked on Paramount Plus’ ‘Yellowstone’ and CBS’s ‘Touched by an Angel,’” Jim said. “He’s also been a part of the LDS Church videos.”

“Escape from Germany” tells the story of a missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving in Germany just before World War II who is tasked with finding all the other missionaries and getting them out of the country before the war starts.

“It tells the story of how he was able to find the missionaries and give them money to get out of Germany,” Jim said.

Jim said people are welcome to come for both the dinner and the presentation or just one or the other.