My mission is to redeem the values of the media while educating audiences on how to be media-wise consumers in selecting entertainment, so that together we can build a more civilized culture of faith and values for the benefit of the future generations – our children and grandchildren.
I am the Chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission® ministry, a division of Good News Communications, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to redeeming the values of the mass media of entertainment according to biblical principles by influencing entertainment industry leaders and by informing and equipping the general public about the media’s impact on audiences, especially children and teenagers. He also serves as the Publisher of MOVIEGUIDEâ: A Family Guide to Entertainment (aka www.movieguide.org) and writes a syndicated column for 29 publications nationwide. Ted’s MOVIEGUIDEâ radio and television programs are syndicated nationally and internationally.
Utilizing decades of proven research on the impact of media on both children and adults, I have been featured on shows such as Oprah, Hannity & Colmes, CNN, ABC, Fox News, AMC specials, Entertainment Tonight, and The 700 Club. My opinions are featured in major newspapers and magazines throughout the United States, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, L.A. Times, Washington Post, Hollywood Reporter, and U.S. News and World Report.
I lecture, teach and preach throughout the world. I have lectured at the European Parliament, Parliament of the U.K., the Parliament of Norway, the Parliament of the Philippines, taught at the Bombay Communication Institute, and lectured at Oxford, Dartmouth College, University of Virginia, Yale University, U.C. Berkeley, and U.C.L.A. In 2005, I 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.
My books include The Amazing Grace of Freedom (New Leaf), The Culture-Wise Family (Regal), Narnia Beckons (Broadman & Holman), So You Want to Be in Pictures? (Broadman & Holman), Frodo & Harry: Understanding Visual Media and Its Impact on Our Lives (Crossway), What Can We Watch Tonight? (Zondervan), Faith in God and Gen
erals (Broadman & Holman), The Media-Wise Family (Chariot Victor), Getting the Word Out (Harper and Row), The Christian Family Guide to Movies and Video (Wolgemuth and Hyatt), Hollywood’s Reel of Fortune: A Winning Strategy to Redeem the Entertainment Industry (Coral Ridge Ministries), and Television and Reality (ERTVF). He is also a contributing author to Religion and Prime Time Television (Praeger), The Family at the Center of Human Development (Office on Women: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines), Advocacy Groups and the Entertainment Industry (Praeger), Proud To Be an American (Contrary Creek), Coleridge in Memoriam: A Poetry Anthology to Samuel Taylor Coleridge (John H. Morgan), and God Stories (Starburst Publishers).
I am past president of the ERTVF, which won an Emmy Award for Best Animated Special. That special, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe,” aired on CBS during his tenure and was watched by more than 37 million viewers. I was nominated for another Emmy Award for the PBS Series “Perspectives: War and Peace,” in which he served as the executive producer, creative director, and host.
I have received the Eagle Award by Western National Religious Broadcasters for positive impact on the secular entertainment industry; the Educational Policy Conference Award for unyielding dedication, perseverance, wisdom, and leadership in standing for truthfulness in Hollywood and for my work to restore a moral, intelligent and equipped family; five Angel Awards from Excellence in Media; a Chicago Intercom Silver Plaque; the prestigious Wilbur Award; three awards from the Southern California Motion Picture Council; the President’s Award from ICVA/ICCM; the coveted Religious Heritage of America Faith and Freedom Award; the Covenant Award from the Radio Television Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; the Hollywood Anti-Pornography Coalition Award; and, finally, the Knights of Columbus Gold Plaque, “in recognition of continued high standards and commitment to attaining wholesome family values.” In 1982, I received international recognition for my work as Executive Producer of “The Power” exhibit at the World’s Fair, which was a combined effort of 15 denominations working together.
Presently, I serve on the board or board of advisors of more than 20 organizations, including the National Religious Broadcasters, the American Theater of Actors, and the Theological Summit Conference. I am an active member of the CNP, National Press Club, and the United Seniors Association.
I was ordained a Bishop in the Independent Christian Churches International in 1985. He was also ordained in the International Ministerial Fellowship in 2007.
I was born in 1946, the son of Theodore Baehr (whose stage name was Robert “Tex” Allen) and Evelyn Peirce, both of whom were successful stage, screen, and television actors. Growing up in New York, I followed in his parents’ footsteps, performing in commercials, movies, television, and stage.
After studying abroad at the University of Munich, Germany; Cambridge University, England; Bordeaux and Toulouse Universities in France, the Film Program at Columbia University’s School of the Arts and Northwestern University: Weinberg College Of Arts & Sciences: Department of English: Graduate Program, I graduated with high distinction in Comparative Literature and as a Rufus Choate Scholar from Dartmouth College. I then received his Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law, where I served as the editor of the NYU Law School newspaper.
It wasn’t until 1975 that my life turned. While I was financing independent movies for Canon Films, a friend suggested that I read the Bible, which changed my perspective both professionally and personally.
I decided to attend seminary at the Institute of Theology at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and received his Doctor of Humanities from Belhaven University. I then accepted a position as the Director of the Television Center at the City University of New York and started the Good News Communications ministry. I also established the Episcopal Communicate Workshops.
During my tenure at the CUNY, I worked closely with academia, researching the impact of the media in education.
I was elected President of the Episcopal Radio & Television Foundation in 1979 and began conceptualizing the Christian Film & Television Commission®.
My previous research into the influence of the mass media of entertainment became a primary topic for his talk on Television & Reality at the April 9, 1981 Conference on Culture and Communication convened by Dr. Stewart Hoover at Temple University, where I received national recognition.
In 1983, while serving on the Communications Board of the National Council of Churches and the National Religious Broadcasters, I met George Heimrich. Heimrich was director of the Protestant Film Office in the 1950s and 1960s. Inspired by George Heimrich, I began contacting prominent members of the film industry, and in 1986, formed the Christian Film & Television Commission® ministry. I did research on the PFO’s activities and wrote on a book on the subject. Heimrich donated his Protestant Film Office files to the Christian Film & Television Commission® ministry, where they still reside.
Since then, the Christian Film & Television Commission® has served as a liaison, working with studio executives in understanding the needs and concerns of the general public for wholesome, family entertainment with faith and values.
In 1985, noting a need to help advise parents and all those concerned about morality in movies – I am a husband and father of four children – I began publishing MOVIEGUIDE(r), which reviews almost all movies from a Biblical perspective. MOVIEGUIDE(r) (aka www.movieguide.org) is a reliable guide to moviegoers in helping them choose the good and reject the bad. MOVIEGUIDE’s accurate content ratings note not only sex, violence and profanity, but also worldview and other important criteria.
From the detailed information that MOVIEGUIDE(r) is unique in gathering, I prepare my Report to the Entertainment Industry each year, an insightful box office analysis of the vast moral American audience. Information on negative and positive content, biblical or anti-biblical themes, sexual content, violent content, and over twenty other indicators are carefully tabulated and compared with box office receipts over several years. Based on this empirical data, I have been able to prove to Hollywood executives that America’s public pre
fers wholesome, moral movies, and that it would benefit these executives to support the production of more worthwhile movies.
Along with the yearly Report to the Entertainment Industry, I select the ten best family friendly and the ten best morally edifying mature audience films each year and awards the producers, directors, writers, and distribution companies associated with these movies. I also presents the coveted $100,000 Epiphany Prizes for Most Inspiring Movie and Most Inspiring Television Program and the $50,000 Kairos Prize to the best new writers of redemptive scripts. These cash prizes are for entertainment that greatly increases people’s love or understanding of God.
By updating a guideline once known as the Motion Picture and Television Production Code, the Christian Film & Television Commission® has secured support and signatures from more than one million people.
I have served on many prestigious boards, including ABC Learn, American Theater of Actors, Campus Renewal Ministries, Celebrate Life, Christian Conciliation Service, Church Council Steering Committee, Coalition on Revival, Council for National Policy, Dorsey Theatre, Educating Everyone, Fasting & Prayer, Habitat for Humanity, Mastering Life, Memory Dynamics, Mission America, National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, National Council of Churches Communications Board, National Broadcast Day of Prayer, National Religious Broadcasters, National Think Tank, N.C.N., Nehemiah Institute, Religious Heritage of America, Theological Summit Conference, Trinity Concepts, Trivision Communications School, Truelight Ministries, and United Seniors Association.
Now armed with more than fifty years of statistical information and twenty years of research and support from leaders in the entertainment industry, I am doing more than watching the world change – I am using the media to redeem the media.