Feature Films for Families (FFFF) is a privately held entertainment company based in the United States. According to the company, Feature Films for Families makes films that reinforce traditional family values and morality,[1] are suitable for all ages and contain no profanity, sexuality, violence, or vulgarity. The founder of the company believes that rated R movies have a negative impact on society, and that few other alternatives are offered.
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Feature Films for Families was established in 1988 with 2 major arms of business. One part of the company was the production of family films. The other was a distribution system for both films they produced and films produced by others which they had purchased the distribution rights of. Feature Films for Families conducts business with more than 8 million families worldwide, and has grossed over 1 billion over the past 20 years. The company focuses primarily on the families nationwide with small children, which is estimated to be approximately one-fifth of the population.
Feature Films for Families was based out of Murray, Utah. It initially distributed films that were in the public domain such as It's A Wonderful Life. It then moved to buying distribution rights. The first film it produced that won an award was Season's of the Heart.[2]
Feature Films for Families has been largely staffed by Latter-day Saints members and many of the actors, directors, producers and other individuals involved in its productions have been from this religious group. Its films promote values that resonate with Latter-day Saints but do not necessarily involve characters who are identified as members of this faith. Some of its films were based on stories that originally had clearly and identifiably Latter-day Saint characters. These LDS specific characters were removed or altered to be a generalized Protestant form. This action is viewed by some within the religion as an unfortunate abandonment of cultural specificity, a view that was expressed by Richard Dutcher at a forum on Mormon Filmmaking at BYU in 2000.
Feature Films for Families has had so many Latter-day Saints working as directors, producers and in other developmental capacities such as screenplay writers and cinematographers that it is included in the Mormon Literature Database run by BYU.[3]
Feature Films for Families has produced more than twenty movies. They have been awarded at various film festivals nationwide. In 1996, the company acquired an animation studio in Hungary. Since then, more than fifteen animated films have been produced. On average two films are produced a year.
Feature Films for Families often purchases the rights to the content and production of various movies. This gains Feature Films for Families the right to remove any debatably objectionable content in the film. Since beginning to purchase rights, Feature Films for Families has amassed a collection of more than 100 films. Hoosiers is included in this collection. The company has worked with producers such as Trevor Albert and James Keach to remove the profanity from the film, Waiting for Forever.
In 1995 Feature Films for Families created the company Copyright Technologies. This company manufactures more than 3.5 million DVDs and Videos and ships approximately 70,000 units weekly.
Feature Films for Families has made several direct-to-video movies. Included are titles such as The ButterCream Gang,[4] Rigoletto,[5] The Velveteen Rabbit, Picture Perfect, and The Retrievers.
Films by Feature Films for Families have received honors at numerous film festivals, including; the Chicago International Film Festival, the Houston International Film Festival, and the International Family Film Festival. Other awards won by films include the Director’s Gold Award, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Director, and the Liv Ullman Peace Prize.
Feature Films for Families belongs to the Kids First Coalition, which is a collaboration of concerned adults. The coalition endorses and recommends media which they feel is respectable and constructive. This non-profit organization was founded in 1991 with the initial plan of teaching children critical viewing skills. The coalition is a voluntary collaboration.
In 2009, Feature Films for Families and the Dove Foundation paid $70,000 together to the Merchandising Practices Revolving Fund. Feature Films for Families had created an alliance with the Dove Foundation, a non-profit foundation which is known for its activities of rating, reviewing, and endorsing films. FFFF worked with the Dove Foundation as part of a Nationwide campaign to promote the Dove Foundation’s non-profit organization. The two companies worked together via telemarketing, but because Feature Films for Families is a for-profit corporation, this allegiance violated Missouri’s No Call law.[6]
In 2010, Verizon Wireless filed suit against Feature Films for Families after the company allegedly placed nearly 500,000 illegal automated telemarketing calls in ten days to the mobile phones on Verizon's network. The calls were recorded advertisements for the FFFF film "The Velveteen Rabbit".[7] The Justice Department, acting for the FTC, filed a complaint[8] in US District Court charging Feature Films for Families, Inc., its owner Forrest S. Baker III, and two other companies owned by Baker with "waging deceptive and illegal telemarketing campaigns pitching movies and soliciting for donations, including calls to more than 16 million phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry."[9] The complaint seeks "a court order to permanently bar the defendants from violating the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, as well as civil penalties, and disgorgement of their ill-gotten gains."[9]
In May 2011, the Justice Department, acting for the FTC, filed a complaint[10] in US District Court charging Feature Films for Families, Inc., its owner Forrest S. Baker III, and two other companies owned by Baker with "waging deceptive and illegal telemarketing campaigns pitching movies and soliciting for donations, including calls to more than 16 million phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry."[9] The complaint seeks "a court order to permanently bar the defendants from violating the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, as well as civil penalties, and disgorgement of their ill-gotten gains."[9]