The President of Walden Media

This is a couple of days late, but better late than never. I was really excited about this Tuesday because speaking at the forum was Micheal Flaherty, president and co-founder of Walden Media! The film company has made some great movies, and here are some of my favorites:





















The Chronicles of Narnia series
Journey to the Center of the EarthThe Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
These are just a few of the movies Walden Media made that I liked. I really enjoyed seeing the founder come to BYU to speak to us. I thought his talk was really helpful. Micheal said that he's been reading books when he was young, and when he got his first library card, his mom told him "As long as you have that card, you will always have a friend." That sounds like something people who love books should know.
He also spoke about something that made me think. Originally Micheal said that he wanted to be a lawyer, but none of the law schools would accept him. He was a little disappointed and wondered what he's going to do with his life now. I'm kind of in the same boat because I couldn't get the grade I needed to continue with my goal. I'm just going to have to try again at a later time.
One thing I thought was really cool was that he started Walden Media as a way to share stories that make you think "how would I react in this situation?" He got some of his old college friends, and some of his old roommates together and told them he wanted to start a company. He got a book on starting a business (which I think was Business Starting for Dummies). Once he had the finances and was ready to start, he asked his mom what stories she thought he should turn into movies. She sent him a reading list that had books like Charlotte's Web, Bridge to Terabithia, and The Chronicles of Narnia.
At the end of the forum, during the Question and Answer session, I asked him this question: Have there been any stories or books you wanted to make into a movie, but haven't been able to get the green light for? His answer was yes. He wanted to do movies on Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln, but hasn't been able to yet. One of the stories Micheal wanted to do a movie of was Ferdinand the Bull, but that's gone to another studio. I hope that someday he'll be able to do those projects.
At the end of the Questions and Answers session, I went up to him and introduced myself. I gave him a copy of my book and he said he looks forward to reading it. I also gave him a list of books that I thought would make good films, and he liked some of the ideas. I hope some of them will be made into films by Walden Media. One thing is for certain: We can expect Walden Media to bring great stories to the big screen.