So from a marketing perspective, do you see yourselves as aiming at a niche audience, or going for more of a broad-based market success?

CB: We’re aiming for broad-based market success because we’re a “family” company. I’m a Christian, Ron and Charlie are Christians, Frank is Jewish—he’s from Brooklyn—and certainly recognizes who Jesus is. So you can call him a Judeo-Christian. And Frank actually worked with Walt Disney for eight years, from 1958 to 1966, which is where we get our tie to the original Disney concept. So that’s where we’re more a family-oriented company than some out there you might consider a “Christian” company. We’re a family company promoting family values under a Judeo-Christian worldview.

I just attended an advance screening of a movie that shall remain nameless, at which it really seemed that the company was targeting itself at a niche audience even though the product itself seemed very broad-based. At the screening, they had reps from a local Christian radio station reading from a prepared statement from the studio, talking about how the project was a Christian project and promoting Christian values—and this was in a public theater, with a publicly-invited promotional audience. And that really surprised me, because it seemed that if you were really aiming at a niche audience, that’s not the kind of thing you want to be saying in a public theater.

CB: The way my partners and I look at it, we’re not going after a niche audience—we’re going after the biggest market segment in the United States that’s been ignored by Hollywood for years. We’re here to fill the void in the marketplace with a steady stream of films that the audience can trust. There have obviously been a lot of films promoted by their companies as family films—but you go to see them, and a lot times you’re offended because the films are Hollywood’s definition of “family.” And certainly not my definition of “family” or Promenade’s definition of “family.” We’re very specific about being under a Judeo-Christian worldview, and “family” takes on a lot of meaning in these faiths.

Have you been surprised this year by Disney’s slate of animated releases, with Meet the Robinsons, Ratatouille, and Enchanted, as more of a return to the classic model?

CB: Well, I’ve certainly heard that Disney is looking to return to its roots—which I think is great, because they certainly went off their brand for quite a while, when they had Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone, and Weinstein. I mean, what was that all about? So, yeah. These are great movies. The production values are amazing. They’re in the big-budget business; we’re in the independent world making movies between $5 and $20 million. And we’re very dedicated to that business model because we feel that’s a model that can keep you around for a very long time.

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