If you're among the thousands of Utahns who've scanned the movie listings this holiday season for a good all-around family flick, you've had a few to choose from.
Very few, that is.It's a situation at least one Salt Lake City-based entertainment company wants to change.
Though it's hardly a household name, Bonneville Worldwide Entertainment (BWE) has successfully navigated its first two years in business, and the company's executives hope to actually turn a profit in the coming year.
With Disney - whose animated characters for years personified the wholesome values on which many parents came to depend - now under siege by pro-family organizations and a full-scale boycott by the Baptists, BWE believes it has a chance to fill the values void. And not just because many people have disowned their mouse ears.
Disney's shift in focus toward adult films and politically correct corporate policy reflects changes in an industry that at times seems intent on producing ever-more violent and explicit programming, much of it devoid of traditional values.
Chris Harding, executive vice president and general manager for BWE, has a vision of a time when family films will be a money-making staple not only at theaters, but on television and in family video libraries.
"Our focus is to develop, acquire, produce and distribute quality entertainment for the mainstream media. Many times all of us spend a lot of time complaining about all of the bad programming," Harding said. Formation of BWE is "our way of putting our money where our mouth is. We're creating programs that provide a positive alternative for people."
The "we" of which Harding speaks consists not only of the film producers and distribution companies BWE works with, but the company's corporate ownership: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Known for their public pronouncements against movies and TV programming that focuses on sex and violence, leaders of the LDS Church have long warned their members that spiritual hazards accompany such entertainment and impact not only individuals, but society as a whole. Not surprisingly, BWE reflects that philosophy.
"We believe that much of the entertainment industry is out of touch with mainstream America," Harding said. "Many people in Hollywood refer to the states between California and New York as the `flyover states.' As we watched the industry change and saw that some of the companies who had previously been dedicated to creating family entertainment abandoning their mission in that regard, we realized there was an opening in the marketplace for a company specifically dedicated to creating positive entertainment."
How much control do church leaders have in determining what will be produced? Harding says "the church does not have or exert any direct influence or specific say as to which projects we do and how we do them or who we do them with. They've been very wonderful in trusting us to support the values of this corporation."
BWE is a division of Bonneville International Corp., which is owned by Deseret Management Corp., a holding company for commercial enterprises owned by the church, Harding said. "As a result, we constantly strive to create products that support the universal values that are in harmony with our ownership."
Finding a niche in the highly competitive world of major studio productions is nothing less than a behemoth undertaking, Harding agrees. But that didn't deter him and the other corporate executives at Bonneville, who had envisioned a commercial entertainment division for many years. "Because we were in the business for reasons that were in addition to profit, we knew we would have a focus and determination that perhaps exceeded that of a normal commercial venture."
Formed on New Year's Day two years ago, the company is hoping that 1998 will see a domestic agreement for release of its second feature-length film, "Summer of the Monkeys." Based on the best-selling book by Wilson Rawls, (author of "Where the Red Fern Grows") the film stars Michael Ontkean ("Twin Peaks"), Leslie Hope ("Talk Radio") and Wilford Brimley ("Cocoon"). A story of "life-trans-forming experiences, self-sacrifice and love," the film exemplifies the type of entertainment Harding says families want to see more of.
Yet production of feature-length films is only part of BWE's focus. The company is comprised of three divisions:
-BWE Film/Television, located in Los Angeles, works on production, acquisition and distribution of network television movies and modestly budgeted feature films. Under the banner of the Bonneville Producer's Group, this division produced - in association with the Polson Company - the 1996 made-for-television movie, "The Christmas Box," starring Maureen O'Hara and Richard Thomas. The division also co-produced and served as worldwide distributor for "CityBoy," a two-hour television movie for PBS and The Disney Channel starring James Brolin.
Co-producing such movies with "established producers who want to do quality programming "has been the key to our success" in television movies, Harding said. "In television, we are very focused on building continuing relationships with (corporate) sponsors, because sponsors allow us to have additional windows on TV in which to place a quality product. A good example is the Kraft Easter special that our company will be handling, titled "The Staircase" with Barbara Hershey. It's a movie about faith and forgiveness. Without Kraft and BWE teaming together, this movie wouldn't be on the air."
-BWE Home Media, headquartered locally, focuses on video sales and distribution as well as publishing and new media. Its product lines include the recent acquisition of the WonderWorks Family Movie series. Harding said the company "is committed to expanding a line that uplifts, inspires and educates."
-BWE Classics and BWE Music are two music labels that feature not only classical albums and sacred music including the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Classics), but adult listening featuring a diverse musical repertoire that includes folk, acoustic rock, new adult contemporary artists including Joni Bishop, Batdorf & McLean, and new age artists including composer/musician Kurt Bestor.
Each division is a "grown-up" version of product areas that Bonneville International was working with in some fashion before BWE was formed. Still, Harding sees the formation of the new company and the success it has enjoyed thus far as "phenomenal - something I'd almost call a miracle for this to happen in 24 months. We started back then with no offices, products, producers or anything. In that time, we've been able to hire some of the finest en-ter-tainment people out there who come to join us because they wanted to be involved in positive entertainment and they were attracted by the morals.
"We've formed alliances with eight of the most prolific producers in the business, and that has allowed us to begin to create a flow of quality product, not only to the domestic marketplace, but internationally. We sell these films in 80 countries around the world. Our home video division has acquired close to 100 titles of family-based product that we're distributing in every major video outlet in the country. Our music labels have accomplished broad national distribution, with Kurt Bestor No. 1 on the New Age radio charts, and the Tabernacle Choir now heard on hundreds of radio stations across the country."
Though BWE comes under the umbrella of a Fortune 500 company (Bonneville International Corp.), it is privately held, and therefore doesn't release financial statements publicly. But Harding said the company is "right on target to have our first profitable year."
And while corporate strength of Bonneville International has allowed BWE to move quickly into a highly competitive market, "in order to gain access to the entertainment marketplace, because of our ownership, we had to promise that we wouldn't do things that were specifically religious. Bonneville Communications - our sister division - has done such a great job promoting the LDS Church that the entertainment industry wanted assurances that we weren't doing the same thing," Harding said.
"We wanted to help in producing some spiritually uplifting things, but not related to one particular denomination. `The Christmas Box' is certainly spiritual, and `Summer of the Monkeys' has some aspect of that. `The Staircase' is a very spiritual story. So wherever the opportunities present themselves, we look to create stories that are full of spirit and inspiration."
It's a market niche that has surprised many in Hollywood, as TV audiences have responded in droves to programs that have a moral and inspirational message.
"We've had very nice talks with the creators of `Touched By An Angel,' and at some time in the future, if it makes sense, we may possibly join with them in some kind of production. I believe that's one of the things the country is hungry for is stories that support our spirituality."
It's a fine line to walk, Harding says - finding a "story that supports the overall spirituality people might have without negating anyone's specific beliefs." But the demand is there, despite Hollywood's aversion to what they call a "soft story" that lacks intensity and drama, Harding said.
"Strangely enough, movies that have an uplifting spiritual story seem to gain very high ratings. It's difficult to understand at times why the industry is so resistant" to such programs, Harding said.
It's a resistance that has created the values void BWE wants to help fill.