Hollywood knows there's money in Christian films

Russ Jones   (OneNewsNow.com) Tuesday, August 14, 2012

A well-known movie critic doesn't anticipate the sale of the largest Christian animated filmmaking company to result in a decline in Christian content.

DreamWorks Animation SKG has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Classic Media, owner of one of the most extensive portfolios featuring many of the best-known franchises in all of family entertainment. Classic Media, the parent company of Big Idea Entertainment and creator of VeggieTales, sold for 155 million in cash from Boomerang Media Holdings I LLC, a portfolio company of Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR.

Dr. Ted Baehr, chairman of The Christian Film & Television Commission and publisher of Movieguide, tells OneNewsNow what this deal means for VeggieTales.
"Dreamworks is not buying it just for the last couple of years; they're buying the whole VeggieTales brand," he explains. "So, they're going to buy Jonah, they're going to buy everything that's there, and most of it has a strong Christian witness to it." With well-established titles like Casper the Friendly Ghost, Where's Waldo?, Lassie, The Lone Ranger, George of the Jungle, Rocky & Bullwinkle and the VeggieTales brand, Dr. Baehr says Classic Media's properties have been a fixture in mainstream entertainment for decades.

"Hollywood always wants to produce movies that reach different audiences. They bound that to Christian brands," he offers. "Sony last year lost 5.7 billion. They thought they were going to lose 5.2 billion, so it shocked Wall Street. Cut the money-making division of Sony was Sony Affirm, which is the Christian division. So, they buy these brands, they distribute the movies because they know they make money."

In 2003, Classic Media bailed out Big Idea from bankruptcy, buying the company and retaining the name.