2013 Movieguide Awards Scheduled for Feb. 15

Feb. 15, 2013 Event Honors Inspiring Movies and TV Programs

Hollywood, Calif. – Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of Movieguide®: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment, announced today that the 21st Annual Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry will be held Friday, Feb. 15, 2013 at the Universal Hilton Hotel near the heart of Hollywood.

“We are very proud and excited to enter our second decade of honoring and celebrating the Good, the True, and the Beautiful,” Dr. Baehr said. “It will be a special evening where we once again show that family-friendly movies with Christian, spiritually uplifting, biblical, patriotic, conservative, and traditional values and no foul language, sex, nudity, or graphic violence inspire viewers rather than offend them.

“They also make the most money,” he added, “as our Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry has shown time and time again.”

The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the two $100,000 Epiphany Prizes for Inspiring Movies & TV, which will honor the best movie and best television program in 2012 that “greatly increase man’s love or understanding of God.”

Another highlight will be the presentation of the $50,000 Kairos Prizes for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays by First-Time or Beginning Screenwriters, which honor the three best scripts from beginning screenwriters that “greatly increase man’s love or understanding of God.”

Both the Epiphany and the Kairos Prizes are supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

Another big award that evening will be the Grace Awards for Inspiring Performances in Movies & TV given the best performance by an actor or actress that best exemplifies “God’s grace toward us as human beings.” Also, Crystal Teddy Bears will be given to the best family movies and the best movies for mature audiences of the year, where one winner also will be declared to take the top position in each field. Finally, special awards will be given to the winners of the two Faith & Freedom Awards for Promoting Positive American Values in Movies & TV.

This year’s winners included such movies as CAPTAIN AMERICA, COURAGEOUS, SOUL SURFER, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES, HUGO, THE MUPPETS, THE ARTIST, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL.

At the Gala, Dr. Baehr will present highlights from Movieguide®’s Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry, which each year examines how well family movies and movies with Christian content did at the box office and on home video compared to other kinds of movies.

For more information about the Epiphany Prizes, please visit www.epiphanyprizes.com. For more information about the Kairos Prizes, please go to www.kairosprize.com.

The John Templeton Foundation (www.templeton.org) serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality. The Foundation supports research on subjects ranging from complexity, evolution, and infinity to creativity, forgiveness, love, and free will. It encourages civil, informed dialogue among scientists, philosophers, and theologians and between such experts and the public at large, for the purposes of definitional clarity and new insights. The Foundation's vision is derived from the late Sir John Templeton's optimism about the possibility of acquiring “new spiritual information” and from his commitment to rigorous scientific research and related scholarship. The Foundation's motto, “How little we know, how eager to learn,” exemplifies its support for open-minded inquiry and its hope for advancing human progress through breakthrough discoveries.

Dr. Baehr is chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission® (CFTVC) ministry and its family guide to movies, Movieguide® (www.movieguide.org). CFTVC and Movieguide® are an international non-profit ministry dedicated to “redeeming the values of the entertainment industry by influencing industry executives and by informing and equipping the public about the influence of the entertainment media.”

Dr. Ted Baehr to Speak in Moscow and Madrid

MOSCOW May 21-24

Dr. Ted Baehr will be speaking throughout Moscow in the last week of May as he kicks off the start of the Russian expansion of Movieguide®.

“It’s exciting to go and work with our friends in Moscow to spread Media Wisdom, “ Dr. Baehr says.  On the trip, Dr. Baehr will be speaking at three Russian Universities, as well as the Film Academy, the Television Academy and the Cinema Society. 

“The first generation to come of age after the fall of the Berlin Wall heartily embraces media, but with that comes the desperate need for discernment and Media Wisdom.  I’m honored that Movieguide(R) is playing such a pivotal role at this time in Russia’s history,” adds Baehr.

The Director of Movieguide(R) Russia, Alexey Komov echoes Dr. Baehr, “A large portion of the Russian population is concerned about the mass media’s assault on the family.”  One of the action items for the trip is the planning of the Moscow equivalent of the Hollywood Movieguide(R) Awards.  Like its American counterpart, the Awards program will honor outstanding movies that not only are exceptional in their craft but also redemptive and uplifting in their message.

MADRID May 25-27

Dr. Ted Baehr will be speaking at the World Congress of Families VI – in Madrid, Spain.

On Saturday May 26 he will chair a palen on Redeeming the Values of Entertainment for the Benefit of Families. Panelists include Juergen Haase, Norman Stone, Alex Rosal, José Javier Esparza, Fernando Larraín. Dr. Baehr, and the filmmakers on the panel, tell you what you need to know about the current state of the mass media of entertainment, how to use your faith to change the culture of the Entertainment Industry, and how to make a creative contribution by producing entertainment that builds up, encourages and equips the natural family. This panel includes: Breakthrough Scriptwriting… with Keys to Funding and Production; Everything You Want to Know About Hollywood But Are Afraid to Ask; and, How to Make Blockbuster Movies &  Entertainment.

On Sunday May 27: He will speak on The Role of the Media in the Education of Children: Indoctrination.
Dr. Baehr teaches that our greatest challenge now is the influence of the mass media of entertainment on our children and grandchildren. The media, for good and for ill, is the primary teacher of our youth. There’s hope though – children can be taught to be media-wise, and the entertainment industry can be turned to turned toward the good, the true, and the beautiful. This featured plenary enables you to teach children to be media-wise, helps you understand the wide influence of the mass media, and shows you how to redeem the industry. This talk covers: The Media's Influence on Different Stages of Development; Understanding the Mass Media; Asking the Right Questions; and, Using and Influencing the Media for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

A Victory for Faith & Values

 

Movieguide® Praises ABC/Disney for Following Its Company

Standards and Canceling ‘Bigoted’ Program ‘GCB’

 

Hollywood, Calif. – For family and child advocate Dr. Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide®:  The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment, ABC/Disney’s cancellation of its “bigoted” show “GCB,” which mocked and ridiculed Christians, was a “victory for faith and values.”

Movies for Mother’s Day: Let’s Remember Mama for a Change

By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher

There are a growing number of family movies, but many of them mostly feature the dad, such as CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, FATHER OF THE BRIDE, COLLEGE ROAD TRIP, and in too many of them, the mother is dead or missing, such as THE GAME PLAN and FINDING NEMO. In a significant number of cases, the mother is the villain, such as AMERICAN BEAUTY, SOUTH PARK, and SERIAL MOM. This is great for dads but it doesn’t help children develop a positive image of mothers.