Jaanus Silla is an Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

n film director.

Education

Silla, a native of Estonia, graduated from Brigham Young University in 1997 with a B.A. in Film Directing. He took a UCLA Law School course in entertainment law for the motion picture industry, continuing his study of contracts, split-rights transactions, completion bond companies, studios and major independents, negotiation techniques, and accounting practices. Silla graduated Tallinn's Technical College of Photography in 1990.

Career

Silla has worked in the film industry in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, Estonia, and Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. He completed the science fiction short comedy "Mr. Calliphor" which won first place at the 1996 Boise Film Festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

. Silla filmed footage of the downfall of Communism

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

 in Estonia for PBS, the rough draft titled "The Singing Revolution

Singing Revolution

The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1991 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania...

" was completed in 1997. He is in the process of pre-developing several film projects, including "The Megalith", "Happythought", "Ford", "Dale Carnegie", "Abe" and "Unicorn". Silla has the experience of setting up a motion picture production company intended as a subcontractor to a major studio in the United States and is interested in promoting the industry. Silla has also been connected in some way with attempts to develop a biodisel industry in Estonia.

World View

Silla intends to keep ahead of time as futurist. He also holds the views of agnosticism after becoming a Jack Mormon

Jack Mormon

The term Jack Mormon is a slang term originating in nineteenth-century America. It was originally used to describe a person who was not a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but who was friendly to Church members and Mormonism, sympathized with them, and/or took an...

. He has not been active in the LDS Church for years.
Silla was one of the earliest converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

. Silla and his mother were baptized on January 6, 1990. Silla was introduced to the church by Valttari Rodsa who had joined the church while on a visit to Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. Silla served as the official spokesman for the LDS Church that testified before the Estonian government in the successful petition for recognition. Silla was called to serve as a missionary while Estonia was still part of the USSR. He served in the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. In fact Elder Silla was the first LDS missionary called who had a USSR passport.

Silla has not included any overtly LDS material in his films, but has at times at least sought for scripts that have LDS principals without being obviously LDS related.