Distinguished Senior Fellow for the Study of Culture, Media, and Mass Entertainment

Ted Baehr is Founder and Publisher of Movieguide® (aka www.movieguide.org) and Chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission®, as well as a noted critic, educator, lecturer, media pundit, and an attorney. His stated mission is to redeem the values of the media while educating audiences on how to use discernment in selecting their entertainment.

He has written numerous books, including Amazing Grace of Freedom, The Culture-Wise Family, Narnia Beckons, So You Want To Be In Pictures, Frodo & Harry: Understanding Visual Media and Its Impact on Our Lives, What Can We Watch Tonight?, Faith in God and Generals, The Media-Wise Family, Getting the Word Out, The Christian Family Guide to Movies & Video Vol. I & II.

Dr. Baehr graduated summa cum laude in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College, attended Cambridge University, the University of Bordeaux & Toulouse, the University of Munich, Northwestern University: Weinberg College Of Arts & Sciences: Department of English: Graduate Program, and the Film Program at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, graduated with a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law, finished his theological studies at the Institute of Theology at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and received a Doctor of Humanities from Belhaven University.

He was president of the organization that produced The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe for CBS-TV in 1980, boasting 37 million viewers and winning an Emmy Award. Baehr also has produced hundreds of programs for PBS television. Ted has been a featured guest on Oprah, Hannity and Colmes, CNN, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC, and Entertainment Tonight.

He is Chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission®, a non-profit organization dedicated to redeeming the values of the mass media of entertainment by influencing the entertainment industry and by informing and equipping the general public of the impact that the mass media has on its audiences.  The CFTVC is the only active liaison between studio executives and the general public for issues of family entertainment and faith.

Dr. Baehr is publisher of Movieguide®: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment. www.movieguide.org offers in-depth analyses of current movies from a biblical perspective. Not only are issues of violence, sex and profanity directly addressed, Movieguide® digs deeply into the moral statements and worldviews of the movies, videos and television programs it reviews.www.movieguide.org offers movie reviews, feature articles, video reviews, news, blogs, books, tapes, and family-friendly movie merchandise. He also writes a syndicated column for publications nationwide. Movieguide®’s offices are located in Camarillo, Calif. just north of Los Angeles and in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Armed with over 40 years of research on the media and culture, Dr. Baehr’s lectures have taken him to speak at the European Parliament, the House of Lords of the Parliament of the U.K., the Parliament of Norway, the Bombay Communication Institute, Yale University, Dartmouth College, the University of Virginia, and U.C.L.A. Baehr makes himself available to address hundreds of churches and civic groups each year.

In 2005, he was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Christian Institute for the Study of Media, a new area of graduate academic studies currently being advanced under the auspices of the Center for the Arts, Religion and Education (CARE), an affiliated Center of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California. He has also preached throughout the world. CTFVC sponsors the Annual Movieguide® Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry, which includes two $100,000 Epiphany Prizes for the Most Inspiring Movie and Most Inspiring TV Program as well as the $50,000 Kairos Prize Contest for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays by Beginning Screenwriters.  These cash awards are sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation to honor movies, television programs and scripts that “greatly increase man’s love or understanding of God.”

Dr. Baehr’s work has been featured in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, The L.A. Times, The Washington Post, Hollywood Reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and U.S. News and World Report.

He was born in 1946, the son of Robert Allen and Evelyn Peirce, both successful stage, screen and television actors.  Ted is married and has four children.

 

“He who controls the media controls the culture” – Ted Baehr.