The loaded words appear early and often in articles about entrepreneur Philip Anschutz of Denver.<\/p>\n\n
The list includes \u201celusive,\u201d \u201creclusive,\u201d \u201cmysterious\u201d and many others. Most writers then note that Anschutz has not granted interviews since 1974 and the image is complete \u2014 he is a ghost worth billions of dollars.<\/p>\n\n
Nevertheless, Anschutz does have ideas and, on rare occasions, he shares them in public. Consider this statement about movies and the bottom line.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cSpeaking purely as a businessman, it is of utmost importance \u2026 to try and figure out a way to make goods and products that people actually want to buy,\u201d he said, in a speech last year. \u201cI don\u2019t think Hollywood understands this very well, because they keep making the same old movies. \u2026<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think they understand the market and the mood of a large segment of the movie-going audience today. I think that this is one of the main reasons, by the way, that people don\u2019t go to movies like they used to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This speech received little, if any, attention when it was delivered at a Hillsdale College forum. Once again, Anschutz avoided the mainstream-media radar.<\/p>\n\n
But this is changing, in part because he is backing a big-bucks entertainment project that cannot escape attention. The man Fortune once called \u201cthe billionaire next door\u201d is changing his public non-image.<\/p>\n\n
Atlantic Monthly described the old Anschutz this way: \u201cHe is worth more than $5 billion \u2014 down from $18 billion at the height of the 1990s boom, when Qwest Communications, which he founded, was one of the highest of the high-flying tech stocks. He is a devout Presbyterian and a staunch Republican who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to right-leaning candidates. \u2026 He owns oil fields, railroad lines, the country\u2019s finest collection of western art, a network of farms and cattle ranches, five Major League Soccer franchises, Regal Entertainment (the country\u2019s largest chain of movie theaters), and two daily newspapers \u2014 the revived San Francisco Examiner and the newly launched D.C. tabloid of the same name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Now the Anschutz story has a new lead. His Walden Media studio is working with Walt Disney Pictures to create a franchise that could catch \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d or \u201cStar Wars.\u201d The goal is to film all seven books of the 20th Century\u2019s most beloved work of Christian fiction \u2014 \u201cThe Chronicles of Narnia\u201d by C.S. Lewis. The $150 million production of \u201cThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe\u201d arrives on Dec. 9.<\/p>\n\n
The scandal of an evangelical mogul has mainstream Hollywood whispering a nasty word that begins with the letter \u201cp.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
It isn\u2019t \u201cprofits.\u201d It\u2019s \u201cproselytizing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
After all, the studio\u2019s mission statement \u2014 yes, a movie studio with a \u201cmission statement\u201d \u2014 declares: \u201cWalden Media believes that quality entertainment is inherently educational. We believe that \u2026 we can recapture young imaginations, rekindle curiosity and demonstrate the rewards of knowledge and virtue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Eyebrows are up in power pews as well as corporate boardrooms, especially after two years of passionate debate about faith and film.<\/p>\n\n
As evangelical activist Charles Colson said: \u201cIf you happened to stumble across a devout Christian in Hollywood, you\u2019d likely assume he was one of two things: He must be Mel Gibson, or he must be lost.\u201d On the other side, Jack Shafer of Slate.com said bluntly: \u201cNobody dumps millions of dollars into the movie and exhibition business \u2014 or newspapers \u2014 to uplift the masses. There\u2019s got to be an angle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Anschutz has heard the curses and hosannas. But he told the Hillsdale forum that the edgy Hollywood elites will, ultimately, respect someone who brings his own money to the table and succeeds.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cMy reasons for getting into the entertainment business weren\u2019t entirely selfless. Hollywood as an industry can at times be insular and doesn\u2019t at times understand the market very well,\u201d he said. \u201cI saw an opportunity in that fact. Also, because of digital production and digital distribution, I believe the film industry is going to be partially restructured in the coming years \u2014 another opportunity. \u2026<\/p>\n\n
\u201cMy friends think I\u2019m a candidate for a lobotomy and my competitors think I\u2019m naive or stupid or both. But you know what? I don\u2019t care. If we can make some movies that have a positive effect on people\u2019s lives and on our culture, that\u2019s enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The loaded words appear early and often in articles about entrepreneur Philip Anschutz of Denver. The list includes \u201celusive,\u201d \u201creclusive,\u201d \u201cmysterious\u201d and many others. Most writers then note that Anschutz has not granted interviews since 1974 and the image is complete \u2014 he is a ghost worth billions of dollars. Nevertheless, Anschutz does have ideas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[63,431,1542,583],"class_list":["post-1336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anschutz","tag-hollywood","tag-movies","tag-narnia"],"yoast_head":"\n