Walden Media
Walden Media is a young American film production company with headquarters in Los Angeles . Another branch office that is responsible for establishing and maintaining contacts, publications and educational offers is located in Boston .
history
Walden Media was founded in 2001 by Michael Flaherty and Cary Granat . Granat was previously President of Dimension Films , a subsidiary of Miramax ; Flaherty comes from education. The company is financially supported by the billionaire Philip Anschutz .
One of Walden's first productions was the IMAX documentary Die Geister der Titanic (original: Ghosts of the Abyss) directed by Titanic director James Cameron . The first major film, The Secret of Green Lake (original: Holes), was released in 2003. It received good reviews and was also able to convince at the box office. With The Chronicles of Narnia: The King of Narnia , Walden Media took a high financial risk. But this paid off because the film became an international blockbuster and is the most successful production in the company's young history to date. However, a number of financial failures have also been accepted. With films like In 80 Days Around the World (2004) or Hoot (2006), the pure cinema revenues could not even recoup the production costs.
Productions
Selection of productions
The majority of the productions are film adaptations ; mostly from children's and young people's books that are particularly well known and widely used in the English-speaking world. Often the films are fairy tale films (e.g. Winn-Dixie - My Shaggy Friend ) or fantasy films (e.g. The Chronicles of Narnia: The King of Narnia ). Some films can be assigned to other categories, but contain elements from the areas of fairy tales or fantasy. The transitions between the individual genres are fluid in many places. The majority of the productions belong to the classic family film . But Walden also has adventure films , documentaries and biographies in its program.
If possible, you work closely with the book authors or family members or estate administrators and develop the film and the script in teamwork. Douglas Gresham, the stepson of author CS Lewis, was involved in the entire production of The King of Narnia . The author Katherine Paterson was also involved in the implementation of the bridge to Terabithia ; her son David Paterson co-wrote the film and is co-producer. This way of working is intended to ensure that the films are as close as possible to the original book and that the content is not falsified.
Production partner
Walden Media is only active in the production of films and does not have its own film distribution company . Therefore, one often works with other well-known production partners. They are generally responsible for the distribution of the films as well as for marketing and sales. Walden has contracts for individual films with several major Hollywood studios, including 20th Century Fox , New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures .
However, Walden Media produces most of his films in collaboration with Walt Disney . This is mainly due to the fact that they are often children and youth films and Disney has a great deal of experience and acceptance in this area.
Directors and actors
When casting actors, it is noticeable that people who have little or no experience in this field are often hired. In The Chronicles of Narnia: The King of Narnia, three of the four main characters had either never appeared in a feature film or only once. For AnnaSophia Robb , the role of Opal in Winn-Dixie - My Shaggy Friend was her first major feature film role, after she had only participated in two TV productions before.
The same goes for the directors of the films in some cases. You often come from the field of visual effects or have already worked as a producer or screenwriter. The major project The King of Narnia was the first real film for director Andrew Adamson . Before that, he had only directed the first two Shrek films. For Gabor Csupo , Brücke nach Terabithia was his very first directorial work.
aims
One of the goals of Walden Media is to combine classic cinema entertainment with fun learning. In order to achieve this goal, one works with schools, associations, libraries, museums and church groups and offers jointly developed teaching aids and materials for lessons and group lessons related to one's own films. Many of the books on which the films are based were used in school lessons before they were made into a film. They are particularly common in English-speaking countries. Co-founder Michael Flaherty says the following about the company's goals in an interview:
- “We want to be a voice for parents, teachers, pastors, youth leaders and other people who actively work with children and youth. We find out which stories these kids really love and read too. [...] And that's exactly what “Walden Media” wants to achieve - to bring people back to the book on which the film is based, and not just a love for this book , but to awaken literature in general. "
Another goal of the company, closely related to the first, is to convey values . One would like to have an educational effect on the target group of children and young people and convey values to them that, according to the company's founders, are important for everyone. This is also the intention of the authors of the underlying books. Often the films (and also the books) revolve around topics such as friendship , love (not in the erotic sense), courage, responsibility and forgiveness .
criticism
Because the goals of Walden Media go beyond the general goal of the entire film industry, the entertainment of the audience, the company has often been criticized in its very short history. Those responsible are often accused of value conservatism and the mostly Christian-religious background of the selected books is criticized.
The waves hit particularly high in the run-up to the release of the Lewis film The Chronicles of Narnia: The King of Narnia in December 2005. The film was mainly criticized by the German, but rarely also by the American press. Among other things, the accusation was raised that children should be indoctrinated with the presented content . The marketing strategy, which was partly aimed at a Christian target group, was also criticized. The critics accused the film of targeting “fundamentalist” or “militant” Christians.
Films (selection)
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Web links
- Homepage of Walden Media
- Walden Media in the Internet Movie Database (English)
swell
- ↑ Who we are: Self-portrayal of the company's founders ( Memento from May 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- ↑ Partnerships of Walden Media ( Memento of February 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- ↑ Kath.net interview with Michael Flaherty
- ↑ Cynthia Fuchs: THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. In: popmatters.com. December 9, 2005, accessed on October 18, 2008 : “And then the children's indoctrination seems less charming. They are warriors, drawn into killing and a general faith in militarism, into the sense that wars might solve problems, or at the least, beat them into submission. "
- ^ Rüdiger Suchsland: The Crusaders of Narnia. In: TELEPOLIS. December 9, 2005, accessed on October 19, 2008 : "Conversely, the film adaptation of 'Narnia' has long been promoted as 'desirable' by various organizations and media from the Christian fundamentalist corner."
- ↑ Elmar Krekeler: Redemption Now - "The King of Narnia". In: WELT ONLINE. December 8, 2005, accessed on October 19, 2008 : "After all, the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve among the jihadists, sorry, jadists are waging a similar slaughter as some militant Christian might wish the holy warriors of Islam to do."