In 2003, I made the decision to move to California in order to pursue my interest in screenwriting and to serve as a missionary in the spiritual slums of Hollywood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are answers to some common questions I’ve heard from friends and associates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve always enjoyed writing. I wrote\u00a0my first poem<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>at age six, and began writing short stories when I was eight. I have a bachelor of arts degree in English Literature. For my senior thesis, I wrote\u00a0poetry<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0under the supervision of poet\u00a0David Craig<\/strong><\/a>. Then in 1993, I attended a graduate-level summer program in Shakespearean literature in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Since then, I have written a number of articles as a freelance writer for\u00a0The Catholic Servant<\/em>\u00a0newspaper in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the fall of 2001, I decided to try my hand at screenwriting by attending a class at Metro State University in Minneapolis. I really enjoyed writing a number of screenplays<\/strong><\/a> for that course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly afterward, a friend returned from a conference in Florida on Christians and media. He brought me a brochure about the Act One: Writing for Hollywood<\/a><\/strong> program. I eagerly applied to the program, was accepted, and attended the month-long seminar in Chicago<\/strong><\/a> in June of 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An article<\/strong><\/a> by Barbara Nicolosi<\/strong><\/a> was helpful for me as I discerned moving out to LA. Click here to view the article<\/strong><\/a>. As it turns out, my work has been more along the lines of service to other artists, primarily through a Theology of the Body<\/a><\/strong> study group and assisting with an RCIA program<\/a><\/strong> in Hollywood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tried to answer this question in the personal statement<\/strong><\/a> that accompanied my application to Act One. Barbara Nicolosi, director of the Act One program, said it well in a prayer<\/strong><\/a> she wrote a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hmm. Sounds like a loaded question. No one gives a more penetrating analysis of the relationship between the Church and the fiction writer than Flannery O’Connor<\/a><\/strong>. Click here to see what she has to say about this topic<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My main screenplay project is a story about a young man and an aging nun<\/a><\/strong> navigating the tempest of American Catholic seminary life in the 1990s – it’s part Dead Man Walking<\/em>, part Ordinary People<\/em>. Rather than going directly to script, I’m drafting it as a novel, then deciding if it merits going to screenplay. Other writing projects include a book about friendship as it relates to the spiritual life<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From 2004 until 2009, I rented an apartment with two alumni of the Act One: Writing for Hollywood program. We lived in Valley Village, about 15 minutes north of Hollywood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My last full-time job was in the corporate headquarters for KB Home<\/a><\/strong> in Los Angeles, as a web content administrator. Prior to that, I worked as a production assistant for Family Theater Productions<\/strong><\/a>, especially with the annual Angelus Awards Student Film Festival.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Other activities included coordinating the RCIA Hollywood program<\/a><\/strong> held at Family Theater, singing in a Latin schola<\/em> on Sunday mornings at an area parish, and managing my own blog<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 2003, I made the decision to move to California in order to pursue my interest in screenwriting and to serve as a missionary in the spiritual slums of Hollywood. Here are answers to some common questions I’ve heard from friends and associates: How long have you been interested in writing? I’ve always enjoyed writing. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7559","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>How did you decide that you had a “call” to be a screenwriter in Hollywood?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>So what did it mean for you to be a missionary in Hollywood?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>So will you be writing <\/strong>“religious<\/strong>“ movies?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>What writing projects are you currently working on?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Where did you live and work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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