Movieguide's Ted Baehr gave "perhaps the most valuable presentation of the day" at Variety's Purpose: The Family Entertainment & Faith-Based Summit, media strategy consultant Catherine Clinch wrote for The Huffington Post.
Variety's annual Purpose Summit was held July 29 in Beverly Hills, featuring media and content companies, artists and performers discussing the state of faith-based entertainment and its future.
Baehr is founder and publisher of Movieguide, which reviews movies from a Christian perspective and aims to influence industry executives and artists to adhere to biblical principles. He is the author of numerous books, including "Amazing Grace of Freedom," "The Culture-Wise Family," "Narnia Beckons," and "So You Want To Be In Pictures?"
"Movieguide’s research shows that films with a very strong moral content and a Christian worldview averaged $241.3 million at the box office last year, while films with strong negative content and an atheist worldview averaged $54.6 million at the box office. Clearly, there is a quantifiable advantage to be found in appealing to this audience," Clinch wrote.
Baehr pointed out that 132 million Americans attend church almost weekly compared with 26 million Americans who attend movies at the same rate. He also predicted that films about modern Christian life are expected to see increased box office success, while "swords and sandals" movies seem to have hit a saturation point, Clinch reported.
“Contemporary Christian projects are more en vogue right now," Paradigm agent Michael Van Dyck said at the summit, according to Variety.
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