An esteemed film actress, a major motion picture studio and the producers of a network television series produced locally are among those honored for promoting "characters and morality in entertainment."
The American Family League Inc. announced the winners of its third annual CAMIE Awards this week and gave out a dozen bronze statuettes to some of the winners in a ceremony held at Memorial House in Salt Lake City Tuesday afternoon.
Perhaps the biggest winner of the bunch was Buena Vista Entertainment Group, which was honored for producing the films "Toy Story 2" and "Remember the Titans," as well as the biographical television movies "The Miracle Worker" and "The Loretta Claiborne Story," both of which were shown on ABC's "The Wonderful World of Disney" program.
Also taking home four awards was CBS for the television series "Touched by an Angel," which is filmed in Utah, as well as the made-for-TV movies "A Season for Miracles," "The Lost Child" and "The Last Dance."
The latter film, which was also based on a true story, also received multiple awards, including an alabaster statuette for actress Maureen O'Hara, its star. O'Hara could not attend the ceremony due to a recent family tragedy, but in a letter read during the Tuesday ceremonies, she said she was "encouraged that (the) organization took the time to honor programs that strive to live the human conviction."
Other CAMIE winners included:
"7th Heaven," WB television, Outstanding Family Television.
PAX Television, Exceptional Family Programming.
The PBS television movie "Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story."
Hosting the awards ceremony were Alan Cassidy and Janet Lee, the widow of former Brigham Young University president Rex Lee; she serves as a founding board member and vice president of the CAMIE Awards Inc.
The chairman of that organization, Mapleton physician Glen C. Griffin, criticized the country's current movie and television ratings systems in his opening remarks, saying that if a particular film or program "is garbage for 8-year-olds, it's garbage for 13-year-olds, 16-year-olds, 18-year-olds . . . all of us."
"Think about it. Today's ratings systems don't make sense. What we see on the screen profoundly influences our lives. Children, and all of us, get thinking what we see is how life is supposed to be."
To be eligible for a CAMIE, a film or program must be presented with "sensitivity and without gratuitous violence, offensive use of the names of deity, salacious nudity, sexual intimacy, simulated sex or implications that sex outside of marriage is acceptable," according to Griffin
Also, films and programs that tell stories "without vulgarity and crudeness" are strongly encouraged, he said.
Though the sponsoring organization is run locally, the CAMIE Awards national advisory board includes members of many faiths across the United States, including Rabbi Daniel Lapin; Shepherd Smith, the president of the Institute of Youth Development; Marianne Jennings, professor of legal and ethical studies at Arizona State University; and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah.
For more information on the CAMIE Awards or to see the entire list of winners, go to the Web site: www.CAMIEawards.org. Or for the organization's recommendations on films currently in theaters or on video, go to the Movie Picks Web site: www.moviepicks.org.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com