Statistics That Make a Case for Family Entertainment

Dove Foundation's 2005 ROI Study*
The Dove Foundation has released a new study which shows that G-rated films are 11 times more profitable than their R-rated counterparts! For the study, click the link above.  If you would also like a complete list of the films used in the study, that information is available by clicking here.

* The chart on Page 8 labeled 3b may be hard to read in the study.  An image of the chart can be downloaded here → ROIstudy83b.jpg

March 17, 2006: 2:38 PM EST
After Mel... how Hollywood gets religion
Savvy film marketers connect mainstream Hollywood to church audiences.
by Christian Zappone, CNNMoney.com staff writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Combining two of America's greatest passions -- marketing and religion -- niche firms in Hollywood are discovering that selling films to audiences of faith pays.

Even before Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ," companies such as Motive Marketing and Grace Hill Media were helping put studios in touch with audiences seeking a moral message. (more...)
 

February 13, 2006
Hollywood Shows Good Taste, $$$ Flow
By the LA Times
In order to gain a PG rating for the new Pink Panther movie, starring Steve Martin, Sony movie chief Amy Pascal ordered numerous cuts in the film, including references to oral sex and erectile dysfunction, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Monday). She also approved an additional $5 million to reshoot certain scenes and reedit others. In an interview with the Times, Sony distribution chief Jeff Blake gave the changes credit for the unexpected victory at the weekend box office. "We were hoping for the widest possible audience, and the PG really gave us an advantage," he said. Director Shawn Levy conceded the point, saying that until the cuts were effected, the film was "not clearly for families and it was not clearly for an adult audience.... The tinkering that Sony requested of me made the movie so much better."

February, 2006
Family book about entertainment gives helpful strategies in raising G-Rated kids
By Edwin L. Carpenter
A survival guide of sorts has just been released with the memorable title, “Raising a G-Rated Family in an X-Rated World.” The authors are a husband and wife team named Brent and Phelecia Hatch, who also co-created the well known “Hug Card.” (more...)

December, 2005
Effect of viewing smoking in movies on adolescent smoking initiation: a cohort study.
By The Department of Pediatrics, Norris Cotton Cancer center, Dartmouth Medical School

BACKGROUND: Exposure to smoking in movies has been linked with adolescent smoking initiation in cross-sectional studies. We undertook a prospective study to ascertain whether exposure to smoking in movies predicts smoking initiation. (more...)

December, 2005
Exposure to Movie Smoking: Its Relation to Smoking Initiation among US Adolescents
By The American Academy of Pediatrics

Objective. Regional studies have linked exposure to movie smoking with adolescent smoking. We examined this association in a representative US sample. (more...)

October 2, 2005
PDQuotient / Maybe sex doesn't sell
By THE PLAIN DEALER

  • Zero -- Number of the 25 biggest-grossing films of 2004 that contained sexually oriented nudity.
  • 4 -- Number of the 25 biggest-grossing films of 2004 that were rated R.
  • $20.9 billion -- Amount the six major Hollywood studios took in on home-video sales in 2004
  • $5 billion -- Amount of those sales that came from Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.
  • $79.0 million -- Average profit of a G-rated movie from 1989 to 2003.
  • $6.9 million -- Average profit of an R-rated movie from 1989 to 2003.
  • More than 700 -- Number of different DVD titles available from CleanFlicks.com, a service that removes "profanity, nudity, graphic violence and sexual content" from movies.
  • $19.49 -- Price of a studio-released DVD copy of "The Incredibles" on Amazon.com.
  • $29.99 -- Price of an edited DVD copy of "The Incredibles" on CleanFlicks.com.
  • 2 -- Estimated number of cup sizes that Disney digitally reduced from Lindsay Lohan's on-film bosom before it released "Herbie: Fully Loaded."

Sources: The Pere Partnership, Slate Magazine, Times of London, Time, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, United Press International, PSV Ratings, Dove Foundation, CleanFlicks.com, Amazon.com.

March 15, 2005
Family films outdrew R-rated movies in '04
By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — For the first time in two decades, PG-rated films outperformed R-rated films in theaters, even though Hollywood cranks out many more movies aimed at adults. Last year, PG-rated films took in $2.3 billion in U.S. ticket sales, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. R-rated movies, which require that anyone younger than 17 be accompanied by an adult, accounted for $2.1 billion.

July 14, 2004
Study Finds “Ratings Creep”
Boston, MA— Violence, sex, and profanity increased significantly in movies between 1992 and 2003 according to a study by researchers from the Kids Risk Project at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The study appears July 13 in Medscape General Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal (available free at www.medscape.com/viewarticle/480900).

April 6, 2001
 FCC Sets the Standard for Offensive Content on TV and Radio
On Friday, April 6, 2001, the Federal Communications Commission announced new indecency guidelines for radio and television broadcasters.  In 1994, a court ruled that the FCC needed to clarify its longtime standards of offensive content, but until Friday, it had not done so. (more)

April 25, 2001
What Kids Watch Can Make them Aggressive
Sometimes, reality and fantasy are not so different.  Two recent studies found that children's behavior is influenced by what they watch on TV or in the movies and by the violent video games they play, reports this story from New Jersey's Bergen County Record. (more)

September 11, 2000
FTC Releases Report on the Marketing of Violent Entertainment to Children
Study Finds Companies in Motion Picture, Music Recording and Electronic Game Industries Routinely Target Children Under 17; Retailers Make "Little Effort" to Restrict Access to Violent Material.  Commission Calls for Additional Industry Steps to Improve Existing Rating Systems. (more...)

July 26, 2000

Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children
Congressional Public Health Summit

We, the undersigned, represent the public health community. As with any community. there exists a diversity of viewpoints - but with many matters, there is also consensus. Although a wide variety of viewpoints on the import and impact of entertainment violence on children may exist outside the public health community, within it, there is a strong consensus on many of the effects on children's health, well-being and development. (more)

 

May 23, 2000

"G" rating does not mean violence-free - by Amy Norton

NEW YORK,  (Reuters Health) - The "G" in G-rated movies does not necessarily mean "good for kids," according to a Harvard study of six decades' worth of animated films. (more)

Dove Foundation's 1999 ROI Study
The Dove Foundation has commissioned a comprehensive ten-year study focusing on the profitability of films based on their MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) rating. This revealing 35 page report - complete with color charts and graphs - is available as a downloadable file in PDF format read by Acrobat reader 3.0 or higher.