The Movieguide Awards is an annual award ceremony for Christian entertainment held every year in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

and broadcast on the

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...

around the same time as the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. The awards are commonly described as "The Christian Oscars" in industry circles.

History

In 1985

Ted Baehr Millard Robert E. Theodore Baehr (born 1946) is an American media critic and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, a division of Good News Communications, Inc. He is publisher and editor-in-chief of ''Movieguide'', a website ...

of the Christian Film & Television Commission created

Movieguide Millard Robert E. Theodore Baehr (born 1946) is an American media critic and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, a division of Good News Communications, Inc. He is publisher and editor-in-chief of ''Movieguide'', a website ...

a family guide to movies and entertainment. In 1988 conversations began with

Sir John Templeton Sir John Marks Templeton (29 November 1912 – 8 July 2008) was an American-born British investor, banker, fund manager, and philanthropist. In 1954, he entered the mutual fund market and created the Templeton Growth Fund, which averaged gro ...

resulting in the ''Annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards Gala'' debuting in 1993 with funding from the

John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a philanthropic organization that reflects the ideas of its founder, John Templeton, who became wealthy via a career as a contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in religious a ...

. Since then, Movieguide’s Annual Faith & Values Awards Gala has grown into a televised event that has been hosted by such celebrities as Terry Crews,

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championshi ...

Sadie Robertson Sadie Carroway Robertson Huff (born June 11, 1997) is an American actress and businesswoman. She rose to fame on the A&E reality television show ''Duck Dynasty. S''he is a prominent Christian media personality and host of ''WHOA, That's Good P ...

Bill Engvall William Ray Engvall Jr. (born July 27, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Engvall has released a number of stand-up comedy albums through Warner Records and the defunct BNA Records. His most commercially success ...

, and

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeff ...

. In 2014, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' noted that the Movieguide Awards have become more politicized following funding from the

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

lobbyists. The trophies are shaped like teddy bears, a subtle nod to Movieguide CEO and Founder Dr. Ted Baehr.

Awards

Annually, a panel of judges decide who should receive each award. In 2019 the panel included Dr. Ted Baehr; Cindy Bond, producer of I Can Only Imagine; Cale Boyter, a film producer; DeVon Franklin, CEO of Franklin Entertainment;

Mike Medavoy Morris Mike Medavoy (born January 21, 1941) is an American film producer and business executive. He is the co-founder of Orion Pictures (1978), former chairman of TriStar Pictures, former head of production for United Artists (1974–1978), and t ...

, a film producer; Robert Norton, Group CFO for Animal Logic One; David Outten, a former disney artist; Rich Peluso, Executive Vice President of AFFIRM films; Pablo Perex De Rosso, Director in the content team of

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

; Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, the writing and production team of God's not Dead; and, Simon Swart, a 25-year studio veteran.

The Epiphany Prize

The two Epiphany Prizes for Inspiring Movies & TV are specifically for entertaining movies and television programs that are wholesome, spiritually uplifting and inspirational.

Epiphany Prize for Inspiring Movies winners

The Faith and Freedom Award

The Faith & Freedom Award for Movies & TV is awarded to entertainment that promotes positive American values. The values considered include such values such as liberty, religious freedom, freedom of speech, the right to vote, property rights, proper compassion for others, protection of the innocent, the right to due process, the right to life, the right to pursue happiness, the rule of law, democracy, the free market, ownership of private property, and many other traditional values.

Best Movies for Families

Movieguide’s editorial staff views and analyzes every major movie released that makes over $1 million and compiles the Ten Best Movies for Families. Each nominee receives a “Teddy ‘The Good News’ Bear” Family Friendly Awards for Excellence, and one is picked as the Best Movie for Families at the Annual Movieguide Awards.

Best Movies for Mature Audiences

The nominees for Best Movies for Mature Audiences are picked by the editorial staff of Movieguide, and awarded to movies made with excellence, and also contain strong moral and redemptive themes. These nominees receive the “Papa Bear” Award for Excellence, and may contain subject matter not appropriate for young children.

The Grace Award for Acting

The Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performances in Movies and Television are given to the best, most inspiring performances demonstrating God’s grace and love towards us as humans being.

The Kairos Prize

Established by Movieguide in 2005, the purpose of the Kairos Prize for Beginning and Established Screenwriters is to further the influence of moral and spiritual values within the film and television industries. Seeking to promote a spiritually uplifting, redemptive worldview, the prize was founded to inspire first-time and beginning screenwriters to produce compelling, entertaining, spiritually uplifting scripts that result in a greater increase in either man’s love or understanding of God. Each year, at least $30,000 in prizes is given out to the winning screenwriters. The 2017 film '' All Saints'', from

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acq ...

, was the first Kairos Prize Finalist to be released nationwide by a major studio.

References

External links

*
Kairos Prize

What the ratings mean
{{National Cinema Awards American film awards Awards established in 1993 1993 establishments in California Cinema of Southern California Culture of Hollywood, Los Angeles American annual television specials Annual events in Los Angeles County, California Events in Los Angeles American live television shows