In the Hollywood culture wars, Barbara Nicolosi is an army of one, a former nun turned screenwriter who constantly urges angry believers to love the artists who so frequently mock them.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cHow many of you have complained \u2014 or been enraged even \u2014 in the last month by something you have seen on television or in a movie theater?\u201d, she asked a recent audience in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n
Hundreds of hands went up.<\/p>\n\n
Nicolosi gently pounced: \u201cNow, how many of you, when you saw that something on the screen that offended you, paused and said a prayer for the filmmakers or producers behind that production?\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Two or three hands were raised \u2014 slowly.<\/p>\n\n
This is part of the problem, she said. The entertainment industry needs diversity. It needs new talent, viewpoints, passion and stories. But a creative sea change will not occur until churches grasp Hollywood\u2019s importance in American and global culture and \u2014 yes \u2014 even begin praying about it.<\/p>\n\n
Most of the time, Nicolosi speaks to flocks of Evangelicals on behalf of a national educational project she leads called Act One: Writing for Hollywood. But on this day she was facing members of Legatus, a network of Catholic CEOs and philanthropists.<\/p>\n\n
This allowed Nicolosi to do something she said she had long wanted to do, but lacked the right forum. Bowing her head, she asked the Catholics gathered before her to focus on the Hollywood community and then join her as she said: \u201cHail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Nicolosi plays a unique role, but she is not alone. She is part of a growing nondenominational effort to convince schools and ministries to get serious about creating real entertainment for real audiences, instead of cranking out Christian products that preach to the choir. Her passion for this cause began while working at Paulist Productions with the late Father Ellwood \u201cBud\u201d Kieser, who was best known for making the movie \u201cRomero\u201d and years of \u201cInsight\u201d television programs.<\/p>\n\n
Someone had to read the large stacks of scripts offered by Christians convinced that God had inspired their work. That sad person was Nicolosi. All but a few of these efforts, she said, dryly, were \u201cbadly written, banal, on the nose, pedantic schlock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
For some reason, most of Hollywood\u2019s critics think that because movies are easy to watch, they must be easy to make. Thus, tiny squads of true believers \u2014 with no experience and little training \u2014 keep attempting Mission Impossible.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe think we\u2019re going to raise $5 million and make a movie about St. John Chrysostom and suddenly people are going to fall down on their knees all over the world and Jesus will float down from heaven on a cloud,\u201d said Nicolosi.<\/p>\n\n
This isn\u2019t how Hollywood works. It is a town that is fiercely committed to excellence and its high-stakes projects require teamwork and compromise by almost everyone involved, she said. It is a town fueled by unbelievable amounts of pressure, power, paranoia and agonizing moral choices.<\/p>\n\n