Will This Help Hollywood in the Time of a Falling Box Office?
By Ted Baehr, Publisher
Every crisis seems unprecedented to those who suddenly experience it, whether it was the 1929 crash that my father and mother survived, or SARS about which friends in Singapore made a movie because their friends died, or Ebola, or the 2008 recession. These events have often impacted the entertainment industry.
With the 1929 stock market crash, Hollywood box office cratered, while church attendance increased. Jack Warner, one of the famous Warner Brothers, who, by the way, gave my father his acting name, Robert Allen or Bob “Tex” Allen, saw that churches were flourishing and called in church leaders to help Hollywood reach that big audience. This friendly state of affairs prospered Hollywood until the churches shut down their film offices in the 1960s. The Coen Brothers made a very funny take on this friendship, in the movie HAIL, CAESAR!.
Today, the theatrical side of the movie industry is facing many of the same problems that the studios did during the Great Depression. Since the 1960s, Hollywood has been making movies that reach small segments of the audience, such as Asian or African-American audiences, many of whom go to church. Hollywood has also been reaching out to very tiny groups by producing movies that too often alienate the huge family and faith-based audience.
After inheriting one of the two big Hollywood liaison church film office’s files, MOVIEGUIDE® for years has been helping Hollywood with movies such as THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, JESUS OF NAZARETH and many others. Often, producers will come to us and ask, “Will you look at our script? How can we reach the biggest audience?”
Why?
Because we have spent nearly 30 years doing a detailed analysis of the movie box office, as reported in our famous Report to the Entertainment Industry, by applying 150 criteria from aesthetics to psychology to philosophy to ethics, to help tune up these scripts. Recently, our thorough reviews have noted an increasing amount of Hollywood content that would alienate the 125 million people who go to church every week and thus not help increase last year’s tiny number of 25 million people or so who go to movies each week.
So, MOVIEGUIDE® is always available to help Hollywood reach that gigantic audience by applying our economic analysis to tune up Hollywood’s scripts and the productions.
Jack Warner ushered in the Golden Age of Hollywood by setting up the studios liaison with the church film offices. We are here to do the same.
For more information, please contact MOVIEGUIDE® at info@movieguide.org.
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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