Film company blends literature, education with entertainment

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Michael Flaherty, president of Walden Media, is passionate about literature and he’s booking on the tag team of the oral and written word to instill a healthy respect of reading among youngsters.

The plan starts with the big screen and ends with the little, but mighty, book.

“The film is what we try to use to ignite their curiosity,” the former Boston educator said. “It’s really fun and unique.”

His latest venture “Because of Winn-Dixie,” adapted from the popular novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo, hits the theaters Feb. 18.

The story is about a lonely young girl named Opal (AnnaSophia Robb). After her father (Jeff Bridges)—a pastor and single-parent—relocates to another town to accept a pastorate, Opal prays for a new friend. Soon, she befriends a stray pooch she named Winn-Dixie (after the supermarket where they met). Opal’s escapades with Winn-Dixie eases her loneliness, repairs her strained relationship with her dad and helps to break down barriers in the small, uptight community. It’s billed as a mixing of sweetness and sorrow.

“She doesn’t have a mother and he doesn’t have a home,” AnnaSophia said of her role. “They both want somebody to love and somebody to love them. And, as a team, they begin to realize that other people just might want the same things.”

The film also stars Cicely Tyson, Dave Matthews and Eva Marie Saint. It’s directed by Wayne Wang and is his fourth film based on a well-known book or story, following “The Joy Luck Club,” “Anywhere But Here” and “Smoke” (the latter based on the short story “Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story”). His credits also include “Maid in Manhattan,” and “Chinese Box.”

“This book really touched me in a way that is difficult to describe,” Wang said. “It has humanity and a simplicity that profoundly affected me.”

Two-pronged approach
Lasting impact is the blueprint of the Walden Media vision. Formed in 2001, Walden’s foundation is a film production team backed by billionaire entrepreneur Philip Anschutz, whose mantra has been to create family friendly films.

He underwrote the Walden venture, which Flaherty co-founded with friend, Cary Granat, former president of Miramax Film’s Dimension label. With Miramax, Granat helped create the “Scream” genre of films. Granat heads the film production division from Los Angeles.

Like Flaherty, he was looking for an avenue to create films based on sound literature.

While films are the most visible aspect of the company, it represents only a portion of the work being done in the background. With each film release, Flaherty and his team, who work from Boston, develop curriculum to help teachers in the classroom.

“That will lead kids back to more books,” he said.

At the heart of what they do is to promote literacy and a passion for reading, a habit that is becoming increasingly rare, he said, citing a recent study that showed that fewer than half of all Americans read at least one book last year.

“Kids continue to be vastly underestimated,” he said.

To try to increase those numbers, Walden has pursued various projects “that have something to say about reading,” he said.

Among them is a partnership with the Girl Scouts, Campfire Girls and Girls Inc. to read books at senior centers across the country.

Telling great stories
To get to that place, Flaherty said he is dependent on the recommendations of teachers and librarians. Many of the films have a message of faith, although it’s not a prerequisite to be a Walden film.

“From our standpoint it’s wanting to tell great stories,” Flaherty said. “If faith is in the story, it will be in the film. If it’s not in the story ,we don’t try to force it.

“It has to exist in the DNA of the story. You can’t apply it on like makeup.”

Still, Walden Media won’t apologize for including themes of faith in the pictures it selects for the big screen.

“How can you tell the story of Dr. Martin Luther King without his faith?” he said.

Flaherty said that last year’s “The Passion of the Christ,” helped to fuel interest in films that depict faith and present stories of enduring hope.

“I think it was heading in that direction, but that was definitely the lightning bolt,” he said.

Flaherty said his company expects to produce up to four films this year, with even more in development.

“We’re wanting to bring literature and history to life,” he said.

Published, February 2005

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