The New American recently interviewed Dr. Ted Baehr (shown) at the headquarters of Movieguide and the Christian Film & Television Commission in Camarillo, California.
Dr. Baehr is founder and publisher of Movieguide and chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission (CFTVC), as well as a noted author, critic, educator, lecturer, and media pundit. He has been a featured guest on Oprah, Hannity and Colmes, CNN, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, and many other programs and platforms.
Dr. Baehr graduated summa cum laude in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College, attended Cambridge University, the University of Bordeaux & Toulouse, and the University of Munich, graduated with a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law, finished his theological studies at the Institute of Theology at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and received a Doctor of Humanities from Belhaven College. He is past president of the Episcopal Radio & Television Foundation and former director of the Television Center at the City University of New York.
“Both Movieguide and CFTVC,” says Dr. Baehr, “are dedicated to redeeming the values of the entertainment industry, according to biblical principles, by influencing industry executives and artists and by informing and educating the public about the influence of the entertainment media and about how to train their families to become media-wise, so they can choose the good and reject the bad.”
“Movieguide is more than just a magazine,” the organization’s website points out, “it’s also a two-minute TV show, a two-minute and five-minute radio show, and an Internet resource available around the world and broadcast, cablecast and satellite-cast in more than 200 countries and territories.”
Each year around Oscar time, Movieguide hosts its Annual Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry in Hollywood, where it rewards the best family-friendly movies and TV shows of the previous year, as well as the most moral and Christ-centered films for mature audiences. Also at the gala, Dr. Baehr (who travels the world talking to civic groups, churches, and synagogues speaking about Hollywood and media wisdom) presents a statistical analysis based on Movieguide reviews. His analysis consistently shows studio executives and filmmakers that family-friendly content and even Christian-friendly or conservative content can significantly increase the profitability of their movies.
“Since the Gala started in 1993,” notes Movieguide, “the number of movies with morally uplifting, biblical and/or positive Christian content has more than tripled and the number of R-rated movies in the Top 25 Movies at the Box Office has declined from about 12 per year to only two or three each year.”
A great deal of the credit for this increase in the number of family-friendly and Christian-friendly movies over the past 21 years goes to Dr. Baehr, Movieguide and the CFTVC.
The 22nd Annual Movieguide Awards Gala will take place on February 7, 2014 at the Universal Hilton in Universal City, California.
Photo: Ted Baehr
