- Utah filmmaker John Lyde's "Seeking Persephone" hit No. 1 on Amazon.
- The Regency romance, crowdfunded and filmed in Utah and England, defied doubts.
- Lyde's passion project showcases Utah talent, highlighting heartfelt storytelling's enduring audience appeal.
It's not every day a Utah filmmaker takes on a Regency romance (think Jane Austen), crowdfunds the whole thing, films part of it in England, part of it in Utah and then watches it climb to No. 1 on Amazon.
But that's exactly what Utah filmmaker John Lyde did with "Seeking Persephone."
The period romance, based on the book by Utah author Sarah M. Eden, recently hit the top spot on Amazon's purchase chart, a surprising and impressive feat for an independent project that, at one point, some distributors openly doubted should even exist.
"We were told, 'If you're making it, you guys are idiots for making a Regency romance,'" Lyde said with a laugh.
Turns out, maybe not.
For Lyde, who grew up in Orem and has lived in Lehi for the last 20 years, "Seeking Persephone" wasn't just another project. It was a passion play years in the making. A passion project rooted in Utah relationships, Utah resourcefulness and a belief that there was still a hungry audience for old-fashioned, heartfelt storytelling.
And now, with the project finding an audience far beyond the Beehive State, that gamble is paying off.
A Utah filmmaker with English countryside dreams
If you know Lyde's work, "Seeking Persephone" may not be the project you'd first expect from him.
He's built a career by doing a little bit of everything: editing, cinematography, directing, low-budget filmmaking and collaborating with some of Utah's busiest production houses.
"I think the only way I've been able to make it is by doing a wide variety of jobs," Lyde said. "The early 2000s was mostly editing. I'd still make short films with my buddies for fun. But it was lots of editing for different companies. … And then there'd been more people where I was doing more director of photography work and still making my own low-budget stuff."
That kind of versatility is part of what has allowed Lyde to build a career in Utah, a place that may not be Hollywood, but still has a vibrant and surprisingly durable film scene.
"There's definitely a film scene here," he said. "I've been fortunate to meet the right people here in Utah to stay busy enough to pay the bills."
Still, a Regency romance wasn't exactly the obvious next step.
But Lyde has long loved period pieces, especially Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice," which he called one of his favorite films. Years ago, while working with Covenant Communications, he first came across Eden's books and tried to adapt one of them. That version never got off the ground, but the idea never really left him.
Then he read "Seeking Persephone."
Unlike some of Eden's other books, this one offered something a little more practical for an independent filmmaker. There were fewer lavish social events and more intimate settings, something Lyde immediately recognized as a production advantage.
"I realized it was a much easier one to get started because there's far less balls and banquets and big events," he said. "A lot of it takes place at a singular castle."
So, he emailed Eden.
"Do you remember me?" he asked. "I have an idea."
Crowdfunding castles, gowns and a dream
Making a period piece is hard enough. Making one without studio money is something else entirely.
From the start, Lyde knew this would require creativity, especially when it came to the budget. Costumes, locations, sets and music all had to look the part, because if one piece didn't work, the whole illusion could fall apart.
The first step was crowdfunding.
I've been fortunate to meet the right people here in Utah to stay busy enough to pay the bills.
–Director John Lyde
Lyde and the team launched a Kickstarter campaign in October 2023, hoping Eden's fan base and romance audiences would rally around the project. They did.
The campaign raised just over $200,000.
About half of that money went toward building four key sets in Utah, including bedrooms and a book room that Lyde couldn't find in England but knew he needed to tell the story the way he envisioned it. The other half helped launch production, which filmed for six days in Utah in February 2024, and then spent the next several months raising the remaining funds needed to finish the project overseas.
It eventually came together, and in February 2025, Lyde and a lean crew headed to England for a 12-day shoot.
That overseas production moved quickly, very quickly.
"We basically went through, as I looked at the script, and said, 'OK, we need a castle, we need a house, we need a place for them to get married,'" Lyde said.
And the way they found some of those locations sounds like something out of a movie itself.
Looking through the Northern England Film Commission's website, Lyde saw a photo of a house that might work but couldn't get anyone to respond. So, when he traveled there with Eden and their spouses, they simply knocked on the owners' door.
It worked.
The homeowners were kind, welcoming, and, as it turned out, excited by the idea of seeing their home in a film. From there, one location led to another. A nearby palace became another major setting, and a castle they spotted almost by accident from the side of the road ended up being exactly what they needed.
"Off the main road, there was that castle," Lyde said. "We went and looked around, and it was just perfect."
Utah built the bones of the project
Even though much of "Seeking Persephone" was filmed in England, the Utah fingerprint is all over the production.
The crew itself was largely Utah-based. The people building sets were also pulling double duty in key crew roles. The same gaffer, first AC and sound guy helping create the world in Utah were part of the small team that traveled overseas to help capture it.
And because the production had so little margin for error, Lyde had to know exactly what he wanted before the cameras rolled.
"When I read a script, I already see it in my head," he said. "In order to shoot that quickly, I have to have everything pretty planned." That planning paid off. The finished project doesn't feel cobbled together or compromised. It feels polished, elegant, and, perhaps, most importantly, expensive, even though it wasn't.
That illusion matters in a genre like this. Viewers want to be swept away by the costumes, locations, music and romance. If the seams show too much, the magic disappears.
But the magic holds.
Music, emotion and getting it right
Lyde said one of the most important elements to nail was the score.
His father instilled in him a love of film soundtracks, and for this project, he teamed again with longtime composer James Schafer. The two had worked together before, but "Seeking Persephone" gave them a rare opportunity: a project where they could let the music breathe and not have anyone telling them to pull back or push harder.
"With this one, I basically said, 'James, you know what I like, I know what you like, do whatever you want,'" Lyde said.
The score was recorded with a live orchestra in Bulgaria, and Lyde said when he first heard the music, he got emotional.
"I was like, OK, here's years and years of work, and I think it's going to work, because this music just … awesome."
It does work. And so does the larger vision.
Why audiences are connecting
A big part of "Seeking Persephone's" appeal may simply be that audiences still love this genre.
Lyde compared the appeal of Regency romances to the way some viewers respond to Westerns.
"I think it has the same mysticism of what a Western is for a man," he said. "The costumes, the music, the style, the way that the films are done; it's something that I enjoy watching quite a bit."
And like many Westerns, these romances aren't necessarily about surprise. You often know where the story is heading. The joy is in the journey, the chemistry, the characters, and the atmosphere.
As Lyde put it, "You know the ending, you know what it's gonna be, but you're still yearning for it to happen."
That yearning seems to be connecting in a big way. Lyde said one of the biggest thrills has been hearing viewers compare the project to "Pride and Prejudice," not just because that film inspired him, but because it confirms they landed somewhere emotionally real.
He's also been moved by messages from families who have watched the series together.
"Mothers reaching out to me and saying, 'I took all my teenage girls and my friends to watch this together, and there was nothing in the content that made me nervous,'" Lyde said.
For him, that was always part of the goal: to create something multigenerational, something beautiful, and something families could enjoy together.
What's next?
While "Seeking Persephone" began as a feature and was later divided into four episodes, Lyde and Eden always had bigger ambitions.
There are more books in the series, and now there are plans to continue.
Eden has already started adapting the next story, and this time it's being written from the beginning as episodic television.
Lyde said they're hoping to use the success of the first installment to help secure the funding they need for the next one.
And that's not all. Another Eden adaptation from Lyde, a Western called "The Sheriffs of Savage Wells," is also set to hit Amazon soon.
Not bad for a filmmaker working out of Lehi.
A Utah success story with global style
There's something especially fun about "Seeking Persephone's" rise because it feels so unexpected.
This isn't a giant studio release. It's not an IP-driven franchise. It's not built around explosions or superheroes or whatever else Hollywood keeps insisting we all want.
It's a heartfelt Regency romance made by a Utah filmmaker, based on a Utah author's work, with Utah sets, Utah crew and Utah hustle behind it.
And now it's sitting at No. 1 on Amazon.
That's not just a win for Lyde. It's a reminder that good stories can still find an audience, even the ones some people say shouldn't be made in the first place.
