Writer and producer Barbara Nicolosi talks about what it’s like to be a Catholic in Hollywood.
While admitting that most people who work in Hollywood just keep to themselves and don’t talk about controversial issues for fear of losing their job, about ten percent of the people in Tinseltown can be categorized as hostile toward the Church. When it comes to talking to these people about the Faith, Barbara has found that you can’t talk about hot button issues until you talk to them about their experiences of God and their spiritual journey.
In having that discussion, Barbara often finds that those who are hostile toward the Church can discover that God is patient, beautiful, clever, powerful, and maybe even worth getting to know more. Barbara says we can’t explain the Church’s teaching on abortion, for example, until a person understands the Church’s belief on what life is.
So being Catholic in Hollywood actually isn’t much different than being Catholic in the rest of our antithetical post-Christian society.
When talking to someone about the Faith, just remember that it starts with their relationship with God. Whether it’s the Church teaching on Mary, the pope, abortion, homosexuality, or whatever, if something is keeping them away, first reminding them of their relationship with God is what will help bring them back.
Meet Barbara Nicolosi
Barbara Nicolosi is the Founder and Chair Emeritus of Act One, Inc. – a nonprofit program to train and mentor Christians for careers as Hollywood writers and executives – as well as an Associate Professor at Azusa Pacific University and a member of the Writers Guild of America-West.
She has written screenplays for production companies in and beyond Hollywood and her most recent book, Notes to Screenwriters, was published in January 2015.
