Sony Guts Family-Friendly Movie Site to Appease Hollywood Directors
“It’s time for families to have the choice to watch safe and clean entertainment” Family and child advocate Dr. Ted Baehr, Founder and Publisher of Movieguide®, said today.
Movieguide® announced the start of a petition on CitizenGo to get the major Hollywood studios, including The Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Paramount Pictures to make available for rent cleaned-up versions of movies that are already edited for commercial airliners.
Sony Pictures announced earlier this month that they’d release 24 “Clean Versions” of movies that’d be available to rent on iTunes, VUDU and FandangoNOW. However, after certain filmmakers balked at the idea of their movies being edited, Sony backed down by taking off several movies, and then as of this week, shutting down the Clean Versions website altogether. “Hollywood studios know that families want clean entertainment” Dr. Ted Baehr said, “It’s unfortunate that the families have to suffer because a few select scatological filmmakers want every curse word and lewd scene included in their movie.”
Dr. Baehr continued, “We’re very disappointed that filmmakers like Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen and union organizations like the Directors Guild of America have scared studios from providing safe entertainment for the whole family.” Movieguide® is continuing its campaign to convince more studios to offer clean versions.
Author of The Culture-Wise Family and How To Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul), Dr. Baehr is chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission® (CFTVC) and its family guide to movies and entertainment, Movieguide® (www.movieguide.org).
Now in their 30th year, CFTVC and Movieguide® are the largest, longest-running international, non-profit ministry dedicated to “redeeming the values of the entertainment industry by influencing industry executives and by informing and equipping the public about the influence of the entertainment media.”
Movieguide®’s Annual Faith & Values Awards Gala honors the best, most family-friendly movies and television programs honoring God and inspiring audiences with messages of faith, hope, goodness, justice, redemption, forgiveness and true divine love. At the awards, Dr. Baehr presents highlights from Movieguide®’s Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry, a comprehensive financial analysis of the movie business showing what kinds of movies and what kinds of movie content moviegoers favor the most with their hard-earned money. {eoa}
This article originally appeared on Movieguide®. Find out what God’s doing in Hollywood!
