Posted on 03/20/2003 2:55:02 PM PST by Simi Valley Tom
SPIDER-MAN, DOC, THE DISTRICT, and WE WERE SOLDIERS Are Also Among the Winners at 11th Annual MOVIEGUIDE(R) Faith & Values Awards Gala
By Dan Wooding and Tom Snyder
BEVERLY HILLS, CA (ANS) - “Good guys finish first and the cream rises to the top,” Dr. Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission(tm) ministry, told a star-studded audience at the 11th Annual MOVIEGUIDE(R) Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry ceremony, held Tuesday evening March 18 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
This was certainly borne out when Pierce Brosnan took home two major awards as Brosnan’s movie EVELYN won the $25,000 Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Movie of 2002 and Brosnan received the Grace Award for Most Inspiring Movie Acting in 2002 for his role in that movie about a Christian father trying to get back his children from the government.
“I’m very honored,” Brosnan said upon receiving the awards. “This film is very close to my heart. It’s about love, faith, family, and courage.”
“I’m very proud and grateful,” added EVELYN’s director, Bruce Beresford, who also directed the Oscar-winning DRIVING MISS DAISY. “Pierce fought hard to get this film made. He was very passionate about it.”
The filmmakers said they will donate their prize money to Unicef Island, which helps needy children.
PAX-TV’s DOC won the $25,000 Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Television Program of 2002, for an episode called “Nobody,” and Sean Patrick Thomas of CBS-TV’s THE DISTRICT won the Grace Award for Most Inspiring Television Acting in 2002 for his role in an episode called “Faith.”
Thomas was thoroughly, and pleasantly, amazed about winning the Grace Award for television acting, evewn though he beat out Craig T. Nelson, the talented star of THE DISTRICT, who was also nominated for his performance.
“It’s nice to be reminded that somebody’s watching and that people notice what you’re doing,” Thomas said.
Producer Joan Johnson of DOC said, “We just want to thank God the Father who created us, the Son who saves us, and the Holy Spirit who makes us all one.”
SPIDER-MAN was named the Best Family Film of 2002, and WE WERE SOLDIERS starring Mel Gibson was named the Best Film for Mature Audiences of 2002.
Producer Stan Lee, the creative genius behind the original SPIDER-MAN and many other Marvel Comics, said, “In all the stories I did for Marvel Comics, I tried to make them clean enough and understandable enough for young children, and hopefully intelligent enough and exciting enough for older readers.”
The MOVIEGUIDE(R) judges apparently agreed.
Finally, the Best Documentary Award was given to the PBS broadcast of THE MAGIC NEVER ENDS: THE LIFE AND WORK OF C. S. LEWIS, and special awards were given to Olave Snelling, the Christian Broadcasting Council (CBC) of the United Kingdom and Phillip Anschutz and Bob Beltz of the Anschutz Corporation and Regal Cinemas for their work in helping to redeem the values of the entertainment industry.
Snelling gave the invocation prayer to start the Awards Gala off right and, after quoting the passage from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes about “to every thing a season,” said that she is glad that Great Britain and the United States remain the closest of allies.
“We need one another,” she added, while pleading to help her organization, the CBC, make sure that Britain’s Christian heritage will not disappear, but will grow strong.
“C. S. Lewis saw life in epic proportions,” said Chip Duncan, director, writer and producer of THE MAGIC NEVER ENDS. “Our actions make a difference. Our values make a difference.”
“More people came to the movies than ever in 2002,” Anschutz said after accepting his special award, “but in the Top 20 Grossing Movies, there wasn’t a single R-rated film. I think America gets it. They want to see better films.”
The Epiphany Prize is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation. The Awards Gala is sponsored by the Christian Film & Television Commission(tm) and its flagship entity, MOVIEGUIDE(R), a family guide to movies and entertainment.
STUDY SHOWS MOVIEGOERS WANT MOVIES WITH MORAL, CHRISTIAN VALUES
At the Awards Gala, Dr. Baehr told the crowd of elegantly-dressed studio executives, filmmakers and stars that moviegoers want movies with moral, Christian values.
Everyone attending the Gala received Dr. Baehr’s Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry, which includes an extensive financial study of the major movies released theatrically the past four years in the United States. Every year, the Report analyzes the content of the top 285 movies at the box office.
The Report shows that movies with “very strong Christian values, biblical principles, Godly virtues, and traditional moral values” do best at the box office.
For example, movies with very strong moral and Christian values and worldviews not only made the most money by far on average in 2002, they’ve also been making the most money ever since the Commission began comparing worldviews several years ago, as the following worldview charts clearly demonstrate.
2002 Worldviews Compared
Movies with very strong Christian worldview $50,337,117 Movies with very strong moral/biblical worldview $77,369,520 Movies with very strong non-Christian worldview $15,919,505
2001 Worldviews Compared
Movies with very strong Christian worldview $43,593,518 Movies with very strong moral/biblical worldview $43,381,510 Movies with very strong non-Christian worldview $23,422,536
2000 Worldviews Compared
Movies with very strong Christian worldview $42,882,055 Movies with very strong moral/biblical worldview $33,583,665 Movies with very strong non-Christian worldview $13,410,608
“Moviegoers prefer movies reflecting the moral, spiritual values and standards of the Bible and Christianity,” Dr. Baehr asserts. “They do much better at the box office than those which don’t.”
Dr. Baehr also noted, “People say that sex and nudity always sell, but over the years, our Annual Report has shown that movies with no sex or nudity do much better on average than movies with sex and nudity.
“Our charts on Sexual Content and Nudity show that movies with no sex and no sexual nudity in 2002 earned about two to three times as much money at the box office than movies with implied sex, depicted sex, excessive sexual content, some sexual nudity, and excessive sexual nudity.”
For example, the Annual Report’s charts and tables on sexual content in 2002 movies shows that movies with no sex made $44.3 million on average at the box office, nearly three times as much as movies with excessive or graphic sex, which averaged only $17.7 million in 2002.
“Movies with very strong moral and Christian content also earn far more money on average than movies with excessive or graphic sex and nudity,” Dr Baehr said, referring to the above tables.
He added, “Movies released in 2001, 2000 and 1999 showed pretty much the same results as the movies in 2002 did.”
For instance, statistics from the 2003 Annual Report show that movies with no sexual content released in 2001 earned about $47 million on average, nearly twice as much as movies with implied sex, and more than three times as much as movies with depicted sex or extremely graphic sex. Also, movies in 2000 with no sex averaged $33.8 million at the box office, more than twice as much as movies with excessive or strong sexual content. Movies in 1999 with excessive sexual content earned only $14.3 million on average, while movies with no sexual content in 1999 averaged $37.9 million.”
In an interview before the event started, Dr. Baehr gave his assessment of Hollywood at this time, which gets such a bad rap from its many critics.
“There is so much good in Hollywood and so many good movies like LILO AND STICH, JONAH, JOSHUA, SPIDER-MAN, movies that affirm life and movies that have the Lord’s Prayer in it. There are movies that are beautiful like EVELYN, movies with heart. Those are the good movies last year that did better at the box office. The fact of the matter is, the movies we honor tonight are made by people who are concerned about the true, the good and the beautiful. We encourage them because of this.”
When asked if he was tempted to call off the event because of the threat of war with Iraq, he said, “No, because as Francis of Assisi one said, ‘If the world’s going to end tomorrow, plant a tree.’ So we are planting a tree here tonight because we are doing the work that God has called us to do. That work is going to go on in the midst of all of these trials and tribulations. Certainly, each one of the souls here tonight is eternal and the question is, Where are they going to spend eternity?”
LEE GREENWOOD’S “HEAVY HEART”
One of the highlights of the evening was the performance by singer, Lee Greenwood, of his hit, “God Bless the USA.”
Greenwood co-hosted the show with comedienne Louise DuArt, who had the crowd in stitches with her hilarious, spot-on impersonations of George Burns, Katherine Hepburn, Cher, and Joan Rivers.
Before the show, Greenwood said in an interview, “My heart is a little heavy for all the troops out in the desert sucking sand while we are in this beautiful hotel. On the other hand, I think the right attitude is to let them know that we support this movement and we’re going to take a dictator out who has been suppressing and killing his people. With that in mind, we are here to celebrate America’s resolve to have entertainment that is morally conscious.”
When asked when he wrote his famous song in 1983, if he ever thought it would have such repercussions, he said, “‘God Bless the USA’ is certainly an anthem for me and I don’t know if it was a dream to have this length of term, but I am very happy to sing it whenever I can.”
STAN LEE ON FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
Stan Lee, the creator of SPIDER-MAN and THE HULK and many other MARVEL comics, said that he was “excited” to be at the MOVIEGUIDE(R) Awards.
When asked by Peter Wooding, senior news editor for UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station, what he thought about the event that promotes faith and values, he replied, “I think it is excellent, standing for things that you can bring your family to see. It’s not embarrassing. It’s good clean entertainment. I’ve always tried for that kind of thing myself. In all the stories I did for Marvel Comics, I tried to make them clean enough and understandable enough for young children, and hopefully intelligent enough and exciting enough for older readers. But, I always thought of my things as family entertainment. So I feel very much at home here.”
PAT BOONE ON HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN FILMS AND TELEVISION
Pat Boone, who was one of the presenters at the MOVIEGUIDE(R) awards ceremony, explained how this event showed to Hollywood how to make money in films and television.
“On the way over here tonight, I heard an actual recording of a shocking statement by a representative of Iraq with whom we are on the eve of war. He was saying that, while Iraq was building a civilization, America was acting like ‘depraved animals,’” Boone said Boone.
“Guess where he got that idea? For 20 years in movies and television, we have been sending the worst possible image of America that anyone could imagine. Our top stars can’t wait to take their clothes off; they always portray people that can’t wait to jump into bed within 30 minutes of meeting each other. There are never any consequences and so the rest of the world thinks that’s who we are.
“Normally, we usually hand out awards to the movies that break the most taboos, but here at the MOVIEGUIDE(R) Awards, we are actually giving accolades and commendations to films and television that present the kind of America we used to present and the America we still aspire to be. These executives show up because they love to get awards and, if they realize that somebody is noticing when they do something worthy, then they will most likely be prone to do more of that kind of film. Dr. Baehr’s statistics show that, if you want to make money in a movie or television show, if you aim it at the family, you’ve got a much better chance statistically of actually making a profit.”
For more information about MOVIEGUIDE(R), its Annual Awards Gala in Hollywood to encourage filmmakers around the world, Dr. Baehr’s MEDIA-WISE FAMILY speaking engagements and seminars, and/or the work of the Christian Film and Television Commission, please call (800) 899-6684, or write to P.O. Box 190010, Atlanta, GA 31119, USA.
Parent’s Note: If you want to train your own family to be media-wise, call 1-800-899-6684 in North America, to order the, book, video or audio version of THE MEDIA-WISE FAMILY, Dr. Ted Baehr’s latest teaching guide. Also, MOVIEGUIDE(R) now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many articles and reviews that can help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers. MOVIEGUIDE(R) also regularly broadcasts several international TV and radio programs hosted by Dr. Baehr.
It's about time someone realized that in Hollyweird.
thaaaats riiiight..... And they are voting with their wallets
Sadly, It seems not. Pierce personally asked Bill Clinton to take a part in the next Bond film, and it's been reported that Clinton accepted.
I have always enjoyed the Bond films, but I will be sitting the next one out.
I just wish Brosnan would amrry his girlfriend that he has at least one child with.
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