Salt Lake City (2016) - full transcript

A taxidermist, a pro skiier, a faltering mormon and a teenaged punk. In a city ruled by religion, they live in shadows of counter culture.

Salt Lake City.

Built on gold and God.

It's a thriving place

reinventing its identity.

These four people have figured

out ways to make money here

that as unusual as

the city they call home.

Probably about 80% of the time

I hope I look like I know

what I'm doing right now,

but I really just

feel like I'm drowning.

I had everything lined up

to be the perfect Mormon.

Companies need to make money.

And if they're gonna

pay you to do so,

you've gotta be able to perform.

As a kid I was

always pretty poor,

so I couldn't have that much.

And then as an adult now,

I've kinda spoiled myself.

One city, four people,

and where they live is a

key part of who they are.

* I found a place

to sell my name *

* Along the market's promenade

* High prices

*

* Going down

* Oh the rice is burning brown

* And high prices

* Going down

*

Salt Lake City.

It's the Mormon equivalent

of Vatican City,

and the Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter Day Saints

owns a lot of assets, an

estimated 35 billion worth.

Even though its monuments cast

a long shadow over the city,

only half its people

are practicing Mormons.

*

Sexual repression has given way

to nation-high

online porn consumption.

And the place that once poured

money into anti-gay legislation

is now run by a lesbian mayor.

This town is in the

midst of a culture shift.

This is Andy over

at Remnant Preservations.

I'm just calling to let

you know that your mule deer

is ready to pick up.

Hey Kelly, it's Andy over

at Remnant Preservations.

I'm just calling to let you know

that your Europeans on

those bears are all done.

Hey Kayleen, it's Andy.

I'm just calling

to let you know that

I've got your mouse all done up.

I've been trying to

get a hold of you

for a couple of weeks now,

so if you can please get...

This voicemail box is full.

Please try again later.

Thank you for calling.

Chasing after customers

to get them to pick up

is probably the most frustrating

part about the business,

'cause that's money

that's already done.

I've already put

the work into it.

Andrea has just started

her own taxidermy business.

In a state where hunters

spend half a billion dollars

every year, her business

has great potential

if she can manage her money.

If I could do this job

and not get paid for it,

and just like miraculously my

bills would be taken are of,

I easily would do that.

If I want to continue and

perpetuate this business,

I kind of have to hold money

at like a higher level than

I actually really want to.

This is the freeze dryer.

This is where we do anything

under 31 inches, primarily pets.

I'm the only one in

Utah who works on pets.

If I'm having a slow hunting

season, I can count on the pets.

This cost us $15,000,

definitely the most expensive

thing that we have in the shop,

and it costs about

$400 a month to run.

When I first opened the shop,

I had a private investor

who was willing to

invest about $38,000.

So it was a very, very

terrifying chunk of money.

I have not started

his payments yet.

My goal is to have it completely

paid off in about 4 years.

That might be a little

optimistic, but I wouldn't

be doing this if I wasn't

a little optimistic anyways.

A house on the northern edge

of town is the unlikely location

for Salt Lake City's

small hardcore music scene,

where money is

not the motivation.

The way I look at

money is it's nothing to me.

'Cause you could use it to help

everyone, but people don't.

I'm actually in a lot of bands

right now, but the main one

I put the main focus

into is Nelson Muntz.

The genre of music we play,

there's like a lot

of faux tough guys.

We'd thought from watching

Simpsons for years and years,

we were always like, "Nelson

Muntz, he's the toughest."

But it's funny, 'cause

he's like really sad inside,

'cause of like

his bad childhood.

I was 9 years old when

my dad got taken away,

and then 10 years old, that's

when my mom got taken away.

*

Was that good?

- Yeah.

- Alright.

So my mom and dad went on

a trip when I was a kid.

The trip ended days later with

my mom coming back telling me

that my dad got taken to jail.

And then later on

they came back for her.

*

My dad had always done shady

things to try to make money,

like selling drugs and

stuff and like smuggling drugs.

*

He's just a crazy

fucking dumb guy.

I'd like to think my mom

is smart enough to know,

but I guess love makes

you do dumb things.

With both parents in jail,

Conrad spent six years

bouncing around from

relative to relative,

eventually settling

in with his brother Sam.

I don't think we played

it as well last time.

I tell you we got a set list, we

should add those ones in there.

Nelson Muntz

brings in a bit of money

but it's not enough

for like anything.

And I'd say most

times I break even.

Are you gonna try

and get those screens?

And then we can start

screen printing soon?

Fucking sweet.

I print shirts and stuff.

This is probably the only

profitable part about it

'cause like people like buying

shirts for some reason.

I just never wanted to

go through the trouble

that I've seen my

dad go through.

It just wouldn't be worth doing

that to make whatever little

amount of money you make.

Because you make a big mistake,

you basically lose everything.

*

Salt Lake is a hub

for outdoor sports,

d for sponsored skier Kalen,

's sometimes home base.

*

I lived in various

places in Salt Lake.

I was here for nine years but I

technically can't call anywhere

home 'cause there's

nowhere I actually wanna

plant roots as of now.

So Salt Lake is just

another stop on the adventure.

My name is Kalen Thorien.

I'm 27 years old and

I'm a professional skier

and adventurer.

Typical Utah, it

was crazy yesterday,

it was full on

torrential downpours,

the roads were

flooding and now it's sunny.

*

Pro skiers like Kalen have

to continuously travel

to book gigs.

*

I was actually pursuing

a firefighting career.

I was like "Oh this is

something I could do for

the rest of my life, 401ks,

retirement, government work,"

you name it and there was

something not right.

Being stagnant like that

and being so normal

caused me to freak

out a little bit.

So I tried to find

any sort of way

to separate myself

from the masses.

This is the top.

Ah, here we are.

*

I moved to Utah and

became a ski bum,

and I completely

fell in love with it.

*

I'd say I was

about 24 years old,

actually got the title as a

sponsored skier and then I was

able to start making

a living off of it.

It can get competitive because

there's always some new young

gun, coming up in the field.

Like when I finally was able

to make a living off of this

I really just wanted

to kick up my feet

and enjoy it for a little bit.

But it was like you know you

just keep plugging away because

it could be gone just like that.

Jake grew up Mormon

in Salt Lake City

but now he's lost his faith.

My name is Jake Jones.

I go to school at

Utah Valley University.

I'm studying entrepreneurship.

I was the guy that knocked on

your door and said

"You want to learn

about Jesus?"

My family goes back to

the first settlers.

My mom and dad were

both raised in the faith.

I was really active in the

youth groups all throughout

high school and then just

like the good Mormon boy does

I went on the two year mission.

White shirts, ties,

clean cut, riding the bike,

knocking on your door.

That was me.

It wasn't until I was serving

the end of my two year mission

in Michigan where I

started to have serious doubts.

I saw problems with how

the belief structure worked.

Circular reasoning,

self-confirming doctrine.

I was definitely on a

different page than my parents.

I haven't really talked to my

parents about my lack of faith

because I guess I'm

afraid of the conversation.

If I told them everything the

worst case scenario would be

they could disown me.

You're on your own now.

We're kind of dropping off

support and they're helping

heavily, almost completely with

my college education right now.

That is a great concern because

I would have to work harder and

make sure I'm a bit more

diligent with finances.

I'm gonna tell my parents

the extent of my disbelief,

because there are some things

that are just worth

more than money.

And that's being

true to yourself.

The first Mormons

called Salt Lake City

"Kingdom of Heaven on

Earth," but this heaven

places a lot of emphasis

on earthly wealth.

It's a mash up of

church and corporate empire,

with holy holdings fuelled by

$7 billion in annual donations,

all wired directly

to Salt lake City Elders.

*

So we're in downtown right now.

The church has lots and lots

of like land holdings,

and they literally own

most of the property

around downtown Salt Lake.

Part of the Mormon doctrine

and pretty wide spread in just

Christian doctrine is tithing.

Tithing is where you give 10%

of your income to the church.

So it's like a sign of devotion,

it's required if you wanna be

considered like, fully

active and contributing,

that you pay the 10%.

I've heard estimates that

the total that the church gets

through tithing is around

$5 billion a year.

There's a lot of

wealthy Mormons.

Jake's decided he no

longer wants to be Mormon.

But by cutting ties

with the church

his parents might cut him off.

If my personal decision to leave

the faith did cause a schism

in my relationship with my

parents, the entire Utah culture

and all of these monuments

and establishments would be

a constant reminder

of that rift.

I think it does give a little

bit more reason to just

clean slate, move somewhere else

where Mormonism just

isn't as big a deal.

*

Renters in Salt Lake City

spend on average around

$761 in rent per month.

Andrea pays way less than that.

And here it all is.

It's actually my first

time living by myself,

which has been

quite the adjustment.

Before this I was living

in a house with 10 people.

The square footage

for this apartment is

298 square feet I believe.

And the rent is 393 a month.

It is considered low income

housing but I've kind of come to

love it just because it's

mine and nobody else's,

so that's pretty good.

Kenny was, is, was my best

friend and the love of my life,

and he actually shot

himself in August...

playing Russian

roulette by himself.

That was the first Valentine's

Day present he gave me.

His mom had gotten a hold of me,

she was really concerned,

so I drove over to his house,

and I found him in his

bedroom on the ground.

He had been dead for

some time by that point.

Kenny was my biggest cheerleader

with opening the shop.

It was kind of adorable

how excited he would get

at the things that I was doing.

I took a month and a half off

and everyone didn't think that

I would keep the shop open, that

I would wind up shutting it down

'cause I would have to be

working with death

on a daily basis.

And I was like, Kenny

would be pissed if he knew

I was even considering

shutting down the shop.

Knowing how much he supported

me definitely helped me wanna

make sure that it didn't fail.

And that I didn't just give up

on it and walk away from it.

Professional skier

Kalen has come to town

to make a little money.

Instead the trip is costing her.

Here we're at a KOA which

is a campgrounds of America,

it's typically not ideal.

This spot right here is about 55

a night which almost seems like

a rip off 'cause I might as

well go stay at a hotel.

And this is Frances.

That's my girl!

Driving into Salt Lake I

noticed my car had sprayed oil

pretty much everywhere.

I'm hoping that these

fixes are pretty minor.

She's a 1986 diesel Land Cruiser

and there was only about a 1,000

of this model made and

so to find parts for it

and to repair it is a

little tricky sometimes.

So I noticed that the oil filter

was getting kind of loose,

so yeah, I'm hoping

just drop her off

and you guys can take a look.

- Drop her off.

- I think it's mellow.

Mine used to do that I think

it's that diesel that vibrates

gets all crazy.

Shakes the filter out.

Alrighty.

Thanks buddy.

I'm in this weird little rental

car here and it's way too fancy.

I'm hoping Frances gets fixed

today which it totally can

if they can find the part.

If not then I guess I'll

have to stay at the campground,

it's kind of a bummer.

*

I don't know

where to go from there,

it's all I got.

I'm shopping for some screens,

some screen printing ink.

We gotta get some shirts done

hopefully make some money

to eat, to get gas, to...

Hopefully break even.

Hopefully get close

to breaking even.

But you know it's stuff you

do when you're in a band.

The screens are pretty expensive

but once you have the screens,

you can keep

printing stuff on them.

Selling each shirt for 10 bucks

a piece so we sell a hundred

we could possibly make a 1,000

bucks off of it but there's like

almost no chance that

we'll sell every shirt.

It's a pretty big if.

Yeah like it's just

not gonna happen.

It'd be nice.

89.36.

Just swipe?

I remember I bought a bunch of

tapes and cases and that came

out to be like 200, 250 almost.

And it's not bad but it's kind

of a lot when you-some months

when you look at your

wallet and you're like,

"Oh I spent more than I

should have this month."

I wrote my expenses for

the label down once and,

I don't know, I guess I didn't

like looking at the money

that like I was putting into it.

I'd rather just have the

cool product come out of it.

What's up Brad?

It's about time you got some

new screens, fucking slouch.

This is us.

Nelson Muntz, kind of

used to be in this band,

Satanic Hispanic.

Oh this is his solo

project Bill Murray.

You making any

money off the label?

Nah not too much.

- Putting it all back.

- Yeah basically.

Circulating it.

These going with you?

Yea, I'm going

to take these two.

Okay sounds great.

61.81 on that.

Give me that card, you loser.

Gotta keep the money moving.

The Salt Lake City

area supports a thriving

winter sports industry,

with skiing contributing

1.29 billion in revenue

and 20,000 jobs

to the state of Utah.

Kalen's figured out

how to turn her skiing

skills into money.

Getting out with photographers

and with my sponsors

to shoot photos.

So this is exactly

how I make my living.

We'll probably go

right to the top of that.

If you notice it's a slightly

male dominated group

that's pretty common

in this sport.

We usually have one

girl and a bunch of guys.

For a woman to actually

make a living in this field,

solely, it's very

difficult, it's very rare.

There's only a handful of us.

Oh yeah, let's do it.

Get 'er done.

*

I have companies, brands that

sponsor me and they pay me.

In exchange I'm an

ambassador for their product.

*

I have a dozen sponsors but

only four of them pay me

like an actual salary.

And then the other ones are

product which is great because

I pretty much don't have to

pay for anything that I use.

And then I can go to a lot of my

sponsors if I have a trip idea

and you know they'll pay for it.

And so you can find a lot of

ways you can kind of get things

for free which kind of makes

the salary irrelevant almost.

*

Within a year I make

40,000 from my sponsors.

I'm getting consistent

pay cheques and I can

put food on my table

and then some.

I'm terrified of the idea of

having a normal job again

so I'm gonna try to keep

this going as best I can.

Jake's done the math

of what will happen

if his parents cut him off.

My parents help me almost

completely with my tuition.

I think it's right

around 3 or 4,000.

My car is paid for but

my dad gave me the car.

I'm on the phone

plan for the family.

I'm on the health

insurance, car insurance,

dental insurance.

If my dad really wanted to

say fine do your own thing.

It would be challenging.

Jake knows he's financially

dependent on his parents,

so he's trying to make

some money of his own.

Just got an order.

I'm now working for

a new start-up company

which is like a

food delivery service.

This company has a lot of great

potential and if they're willing

to take me in then I'm willing

to work with them and push

the company to its

greatest potential.

In ten years I wanna

be financially secure.

Wealthy.

In one way or another

I'm gonna be a millionaire.

What's up?

Got your food.

So he gave me 5 stars,

so 5 out of 5 that's

what I'm talking about.

So that run took about 15-20

minutes and I made 4 dollars off

it so that would be around

12 dollars an hour

after gas, 10 dollars.

Yeah totally worth it.

*

When it's not hunting season,

business can lag for Andrea.

To make up her shortfall

she takes requests to work on

roadkill retrieved

from the highway.

We are headed to

a friend's house.

She's got a roadkill deer that

she wants gutted and defleshed

so she can keep the bones on it.

I'm not getting paid a lot for

it maybe a couple hundred bucks.

I actually like the break

from the traditional taxidermy.

Behind my passenger there's

bags and a battery and the saw,

can you grab those?

It's a big job so Andrea's

friend Alan has offered to help.

She's already been gutted

but obviously not

skinned or anything.

It's a girl?

Let's get to it then.

I'm going to finish stripping

off all of the meat on this

and then we're gonna

cut it up into pieces

so we can take it

back to the shop.

Not to eat it.

I do have a lot of people

who are just kind of like,

morbidly curious about

working with death essentially,

dead animals and animal remains.

I would not be able to afford

paying someone every time

I needed help on

the spot like this.

- Alan does not get paid.

- I just do it for fun.

Yeah it is.

Alright we're gonna

cut his head off now.

Money and I have a severe

hate hate love relationship

I would say.

I hate everything that money

does to people definitely.

But I need it to continue

doing the things I love.

But it's not something

I'll ever want in excess,

so hate hate love.

*

I started working

at Einstein Bagels

in September of last year.

I work 40 hours a week and I

make a bit above minimum wage.

It's about 3:25, public

transportation ain't up

till about 5:00,

close to 6:00-ish.

It's tough getting up sometimes.

*

Yeah I'd only had one

other job before that

I started working at Taco Bell.

And I worked there for a year

which I think is the turning

point for most fast food jobs.

Hard to keep people

there for what they pay you,

and what you have to deal with.

*

I hate the fact that I do have

to work this job to survive

but it's good for the

time being I guess.

Damn it!

Mormons leaving the

faith run the risk of being

socially shunned, getting

expelled or losing employment.

Jake's afraid to tell his

parents he no longer believes

but he's found a support

group to help him out.

- I'm Jake.

- Hi Jake.

It's important that there's a

safe place where people who've

come out of the church can

kind of know they're not crazy.

There are other

people that are like them,

and they can feel accepted.

This group started four years

ago with like three people.

Now we have about

1700 to 1800 people.

It was so hard.

I was so depressed.

And I'm isolated in

this little world.

And it's interesting

after I shared on Facebook

coming out just today.

Wait, did you say today?

Yeah, she came out

on Facebook today.

Whoa!

It's been a

really good day today.

How's your family been

doing with your exit?

That's a really

interesting question.

My parents still don't know.

It's really fear of hurting

them and our relationship.

I've heard of parents say things

like "It would be better to me

if you were dead than to

tell me that you don't believe

anymore," so the ramifications

from a financial perspective,

yeah that's all wrapped up

in that whole devastation.

Yeah I'm somewhat concerned

that my roommate finds out

or my employer.

Those prejudice is unconscious

if an employer is looking at two

different job candidates without

realizing it they're gonna

gravitate to the one who is

speaking the Mormon language.

I know it's pretty intimidating

when you haven't come out,

especially to your parents.

But hiding it is a

burden, it's tiresome.

Hearing stories is so helpful.

- Oh it is.

- So helpful.

*

Welcome to Casa di Big Foot.

It's a no bedroom house with

a small bathroom but yeah

this is it's a little 17 foot

fibreglass trailer.

This is my dining area/office.

Way down at the other end of

the trailer is the bedroom.

This is my bathroom, so

it's actually turned into

my gear closet.

I pee outside or I have

these little poop bags,

open it, suction cup it on

there and just let er rip.

I get paid to create these

stories or these adventures

and they're documented and those

will either go to magazines or

online content and

social media of course.

Especially Instagram.

I do $500 per post and that's

an exclusive product post.

But it still has

to be authentic.

I am almost at 59,000 followers.

Seems to grow about a 100 a day.

I wouldn't be

modeling if you know,

I wasn't a cute blonde girl but

I think I've managed to stay out

of that being what defines me.

What gave me my edge was

just-I'm able to create,

produce, market, do

everything on my own.

An adult couple making minimum

wage in Salt Lake City spends

over $500 a month on food

and household products.

It's the one high cost Conrad

and his girlfriend Vaenka

have to manage.

We drive out here even

though it's not the closest one.

The one by our house is just

more expensive so it's worth it

to drive out here.

We've been together

three years this February.

She has expenses like a car, car

insurance and health insurance

and a bunch of stuff.

God dammit!

They don't have

that toilet paper.

Yeah they're out of that one,

do you wanna just

get those ones?

Yeah it's fucking more

expensive this way though.

I don't have very

many bills actually.

My main expenses would be

like eating out and groceries,

just eating food in general.

I think we did pretty good.

Can we split it up

between two cards?

Sure.

Okee dokee.

If I stay there long enough and

just look at things I'll tend to

get it 'cause I come from-when

you're a kid and your parents

are like "No you

can't get that."

"Why?" "Cause you

can't afford it."

Well I have money so

I'll buy whatever I want.

The other day I ordered like

two pounds of pistachios

on the internet.

And I was like "What else can

you order on the internet?"

And apparently you can just

bulk order a bunch of candy.

So I got like two

pound bag of lemonheads,

a five pound bag

of gummy cherries.

Display thing of zowers you

know those dum dum suckers.

I got only the blue ones 'cause

that's the only flavour I like.

When I was doing it I was like

hmm is this that smart to do?

And then I realized, yes.

*

While Conrad likes to

blow some of his money.

Andrea and her friends

find a way to save theirs.

We're dumpstering

for produce right now.

Which is one of my

favourite ways to get food.

And they just throw out

everything for new good reason,

seemingly.

If one banana

goes bad in a bunch

they throw the whole bunch away.

Look at that, look at this,

look at the basil,

look at that basil.

That's stupid.

That's so stupid exciting.

It's one of those things where

it makes you sad that there's

this much food waste but like

really grateful for it because

like none of it is

bad so we get it.

I would say this is easily $400.

Yeah easily.

Since I started dumpster diving

I don't think I've paid for

produce or macaroons.

Corporate waste on three.

1, 2, 3...

Corporate waste.

Sick.

Conrad gets his pay cheque

after 80 hours of work

at a bagel shop.

So I just got paid.

So now I gotta go give my half

for rent together and then

walk down to my

landlord and pay my rent.

I got paid 464.29 that's

over a span of two weeks.

*

My share of the rent is 238.

This is collectively

what me, my brother,

my girlfriend and my

other roommate pay for rent.

*

I try to save money but it just-

like if I need it

I'll take the money.

I'd like to save up to get a van

or something but it's just a lot

of money to save right now and I

don't even have my license so.

It's just a little bit painful

to pay for the bad

house I live in.

When I look at their

house and how nice it is.

To hear some of that

diesel engine purr...

Ah.

It just makes me so happy,

it's the sound of freedom.

Kalen's truck is fixed and

she's made $500 from her

sponsors, enough to get

her back on the road,

chasing snow and

money to the north.

I never get tired

of life on the road.

I don't even think about it.

*

Keep my future on the horizon

but by no means am I

stressing about it.

Whether or not it's the

career that I had in mind,

maybe not.

But things are always

evolving and changing.

Andrea is seeking new

venues to expand her business.

Oh hello.

And if it works out

she'll be able to

start paying off her investor.

I'm getting whored up so I can

go sell some skulls tonight

at our event at Metro.

The whole ordeal of doing an

event and getting dressed up,

all of it is a necessity

that I'd rather do without.

But yet I can't afford not

to be doing that right now.

The sex sells, kids.

*

So these ones right here are 30,

these ones right here are 20,

we've got boxes and

an opossum right there.

Oh, wow!

*

To hit my goal for the night

I have to get another $530,

but there's enough people

here so I'm gonna go through

and round them all

up and be like

"Hey come up to the stand,

it's okay like look

at what we've got."

So far I haven't had any bars

request for me to give them a

cut of anything I make and I

think that a part of that

is because I do tend to bring

quite the crowd when I do these.

So they kind of get

their compensation

through drinks and what not.

So with tax it's gonna be

320.40, is that okay?

Okay thank you.

So tonight we ended with 940

which is more than my

baseline for the night.

I'm super happy with

the way the night went.

Jake spends some down time

with his friend Cody

while he figures out

how to tell his parents.

Alright homeboy.

*

When are you

telling your parents?

Ah I don't know.

Are you gonna be disowned?

Can I live with you if I do?

No.

I am writing the tell-all

letter to my parents.

I do not know what

they're gonna do.

I'm somewhat nervous.

I think it'll probably be best

if I just drive up there

and leave a copy for

each, my mom and my dad.

Because of the belief system,

they can feel like they failed.

My parents are good people but

the religion teaches that

if you're not active

in the church,

then those things

don't really matter.

I want my parents to

know they haven't failed.

*

While I know that my finances

may be affected in the future,

especially in Utah,

I'm honestly okay with that.

Jake's outcome is uncertain but

he's willing to take the risk.

Faith and

fortune brought settlers

to Salt Lake City, and

the town's love of God

and desire for money

have woven together.

Jake tells his parents

he's leaving the church.

They aren't happy,

but they'll support him

while he's still in school.

I'm not held back

by anything anymore.

There's no weight

hanging over me.

I could see myself eventually

coming back to Utah

but I've got to see the world.

New York, California,

China, wherever.

I've never had any

plans for my future.

By making it by I don't

work myself into tiredness

or nothingness.

So paying for this house

for people to come and enjoy

is definitely worth it.

*

The scene that me and my

brother kind of sparked up,

you see more people starting

their own projects and doing

what they wanna do.

*

I wouldn't say I have any sort

of retirement plans but I've

thought about what happens post

skiing or if my body were just

to really fall

apart, massive injuries.

I'd have to look outside the box

and see how I can continue my

career in other ways

beside just skiing,

and continue to pick up

sponsors who aren't just

in the ski industry.

*

I really don't think

that I would be where I am

without the support

I had from Kenny.

I want to make sure I'm always

doing the best I can so that all

of the work that he put

into me wasn't for nothing.

*

Salt Lake City is redefining

itself and these four people

are not only tapping

into the change,

they are influencing its future.

*

Just figure out what

your priorities are

what you really wanna do.

For me it's being in

the noise hardcore scene

in Salt Lake City.

Thanks everyone for coming out.