By Gretchen R. Crowe
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/24/05)

Since the birth of Act One, Inc., in 1999, 300 Hollywood writers have been trained in a faith-based environment to produce ethically upstanding works of art in the entertainment industry. With 250 applicants vying for 30 precious spots in the "Writing for Hollywood" program each year, Barbara Nicolosi, executive director, decided to tackle yet another project — this time for Hollywood executives.

"People from other disciplines in town wanted a program," Nicolosi said, explaining that after the success of the writing program, actors, producers and directors wanted guidance on how to integrate faith into their professional careers.

As a result, "Executive Program," a summer program running from June 8 to August 24 in Los Angeles, Calif., was developed to cater to both the professional and moral sides of being a Hollywood executive.

"It’s trying to combine a real knowledge of story and entertainment, and trying to foster executives who would have a different way of functioning: to bring out the best in people," Nicolosi said. "It’s designed to be a broad overview of the entire business side of the industry. The program moves through the process of a movie or TV show being created."

The curriculum will include speakers, mentoring and practical skills training. Full-time internships at a variety of Hollywood entertainment venues will also be offered.

The response for the 12-week program has been substantial, Nicolosi said. "People are intrigued by what we are trying to do."

The start of "Executive Program" has overlapped with the surfacing of concrete results from the writing program. While Nicolosi admitted that these results took longer than the projected two to three years to come about, she sounded hopeful for the near future of Hollywood writing.

"We’re starting to see studio sales for our students," she said. While Nicolosi would not give away specific titles of the shows she referred to, she did say the basic networks, FOX, CBS, NBC, were involved.

Nicolosi said secular writers miss the mark when trying to write for a morally and ethically concerned audience.

"They are trying to now write for the red states and the audience of ‘The Passion,’ but they disdain those things," she said. "It ends up being bad caricatures and nobody we know."

Before Act One’s creation, Nicolosi spent nine years contemplating the media as a nun with the Daughters of St. Paul. With a desire to focus more on evangelization than catechesis, Nicolosi decided to leave the convent and was approached by evangelicals to begin her new ministry.

"I needed a long retreat to get ready for the mission that I was going to be doing," she said.

Act One was initially funded solely by evangelical groups, but in its second year earned the support of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, despite the fact that the course is a training program and, as Nicolosi said, "not like anything else they fund."

While Act One may be a training program, it also serves as a genuine ministry.

"The tuition that we make equals about 15 percent of our budget," Nicolosi said, explaining that the majority of tutors and educators work for free.

"They do it because they think it’s vitally important that we start preparing the next generation for what they’re going to face."

Nicolosi cited "Million Dollar Baby," the recent Best Picture winner at last month’s Academy Awards, as an example of the infiltration of the culture of death into the media.

To counter that, she said, the faith-based industry must create movies showing Christian viewpoints and values.

The application deadline for "Executive Program" is April 1. Nicolosi advises not wasting any time in applying.

"Don’t sit there deciding if you’re interested — apply," she said. "It’s so competitive, you probably won’t get in. But if you do get in, take it as a sign."