This Saturday, January 8, Family Movie Night returns with the broadcast of Change of Plans. Airing on the FOX network at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central, this is the fourth in a series of family-friendly made-for-TV films produced by Wal-Mart and P&G, aimed at reviving a time when families could watch TV together, without nervously fingering the remote.
Change of Plans brings us the story of a childless couple that, due to a tragic event, adopts four children from Africa, Asia, and South America. The show carries a strong, pro-adoption message, while also dealing with the issues of loss, investing in others, teamwork, self sacrifice, speaking the truth, & handling change. You can watch the movie’s trailer here.
Just like the previous shows in this series (Secrets of the Mountain, The Jensen Project, and A Walk in My Shoes) Change of Plans is free of foul language and suggestive scenes, will contain only family-friendly commercials controlled by the show’s producers and sponsors, and will be released on DVD at Wal-Mart.
The movement to promote family programming is starting to take off. When Wal-Mart and P&G first launched this effort with Secrets of the Mountain, which aired on NBC on April 16, 2010, only two companies, FedEx and Hasbro, joined the show’s creators in sponsorship. With the airing of The Jensen Project on July 16, that number jumped to seven. Those behind Family Movie Night hope that, through networking with family groups and social media, growing momentum can be leveraged and will encourage networks and programmers to create their own family-friendly programming.
Toward that end, Wal-Mart and P&G have created a new promotional website for viewers called Moms4FamilyTV.com. The site provides program updates as well as tools to encourage viewers to tell their friends about the family movie night, like trailers, Facebook and Twitter buttons, family discussion guides, and even banners and logos.
Family Movie Night and Moms4FamilyTV are also sponsoring an essay contest. Answer the question, “What has been your most life changing experience and what has it taught you,” in 300 words or less. The winner will receive a $500 scholarship, and their sponsoring organization will receive $1,000. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2011. Full contest information and entry forms can be found at http://www.moms4familytv.com/essay_contest.php.
For a taste of what Change of Plans will be like, view the trailer.