How to Succeed in Hollywood:
Know Before You Invest
By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher
The movie industry is a very profitable business for the major studios, and their executive salaries are high. However, for independent businessmen, investing in a movie is like giving your money to a homeless person and expecting him to pay you back.
Every few days someone contacts MOVIEGUIDE® about having invested in a Christian movie and quite often their movies lose money. Others brag about raising money for Christian films, oblivious to the fact that the movie they helped finance lost money.
Although Christian movies include Hollywood blockbusters with Christian content that do well, independent Christian movies do not. A few years ago, the head of one studio reported to us that 11 out of 13 independent Christian movies lost money.
This should not happen.
First, no one should be financing Christian movies that don’t make money at the box office. One person told us, “I don’t care how much money it makes.” MOVIEGUIDE® asked why did he do it then? He said, “To reach the world with the Gospel.” We replied that the box office is a measure of how many people actually saw the movie. If it’s less than $10 million, then only about one million saw the movie in a country of 320 million people, where 127 million people go to church once every week.
If you want your movie to make money, it should be uplifting, exciting, funny, and extremely well made. The rule for most movies is that they should be in profit mode before they even open at the movie theater. There is a plethora of territories that number over 2000 venues from the theater to television to online where you can distribute and finance your movie.
Instead of going into all this in detail, please read my book HOW TO SUCCEED IN HOLLYWOOD (WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL), and, if you’re really interested, take the four-day HOW TO SUCCEED IN HOLLYWOOD workshop HTS class, so you don’t lose your wallet. Finally, for those who continue to raise money for movies that don’t succeed, you’re taking money away from valuable Christian missions and ministries and putting it into something you don’t even want to take the time to understand.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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