Walden Media

Walden Media, LLC. is an American children's film investor and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original screenplays.

The corporate headquarters of Walden Media are located in Los Angeles, California, and the Education, Outreach, Interactive and Publishing office is in Boston, Massachusetts.

Company history
Walden Media was founded in 2001 by Michael Flaherty and Cary Granat. Granat was president of Miramax's Dimension Films division, and Flaherty came from the world of education. Flaherty was called an “entrepreneur in education” by The Boston Globe for his work with innovative programs meant to help underprivileged students gain access to quality education. The two were housemates at Tufts University before following different paths and then reuniting to form Walden Media as a movie, television, publishing and Internet enterprise whose goal is to teach and entertain kids. The company is owned by the Christian conservative Philip Anschutz, who has said he expects their movies "to be entertaining, but also to be life affirming and to carry a moral message."

The company's notable releases include Holes in 2003, Because of Winn-Dixie for Twentieth Century Fox in 2005, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005 by Walt Disney Pictures, How to Eat Fried Worms and Charlotte's Web in 2006, Bridge to Terabithia, in 2008, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian released by Disney and Walden Media in 2008, and their latest film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by Fox and Walden Media in 2010. All of these films are adaptations of popular children's books.

On August 8, 2006, Walden Media announced a joint venture with 20th Century Fox called FoxWalden. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising were the first films released under the venture. Previously announced films at other studios will remain in place.

On August 1, 2013, the Anschutz Film Group, which includes Walden Media and Bristol Bay Productions, announced that it will cease to exist as a production company and will focus on co-financing films made by third-parties.

Education program
Walden Media is unique among film production companies in that it works with teachers, museums, and national organizations to develop supplemental educational programs and materials associated with its films and the original events and/or novels that inspire the films.

Walden Media offers in-class teaching tools like educational guides and teacher kits and sponsors seminars and forums for teachers to discuss their craft and to trade ideas on using media in the classroom. Directors, writers, and stars of the productions participate in these events.

In 2006, Walden Media sponsored the "Break the World Reading Record with Charlotte’s Web". At noon on Wednesday, December 13, 547,826 readers in 2,451 locations, 50 states and 28 countries read an excerpt from Charlotte’s Web, breaking the world record of 155,528 students from 737 schools in the United Kingdom who read William Wordsworth’s poem, "Daffodils" in 2004.

Criticism
After the release of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, rumors flew that Walden Media was a means for fulfilling Anschutz's Christian agenda:

''We've never had a conversation about religion with him. Period,'' says David Weil, chief executive officer for the Anschutz Film Group. ''We all come from different religious backgrounds here. We all believe in a family values approach to positive messages—but religious orientation doesn't factor into it.'"''

In July and August 2007, Walden Media came under fire from fans of The Dark Is Rising book series for liberties the company is purported to have taken with the plot in its forthcoming movie of the same title. As one critic noted:

"During filming in Bucharest, Romania there was a joke on The Dark Is Rising set that only three things have been changed from the original 1973 novel: the nationality of lead character Will Stanton, changed from English to American; his age changed from 11 to 13; and everything else that happens in the story. A solo quest by an 11-year-old is no longer solo; family values have been deemed out of date—the happy, loving Stanton family rewritten dysfunctional; a series of five books bereft of a single love interest has been re-imagined with the lead character chasing the fairer sex, pleading in the trailer 'I can't save the world! I don't even know how to talk to a girl!' Angered, disgusted fans are reporting little interest in their hero’s new, most ordinary of plights."

Etymology and logo
The company is named after Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Its logo is a rock skipping across a pond.