Contains Years of Wisdom and Insight

If you have ever had the yearning to become a Christian screenwriter or actor or producer or director, then you will take years off wasting your time with this book. Dr. Ted Baehr, the Founder and Publisher of Movieguide, has written a comprehensive guide. As he writes in the introduction, "It is a critical time for people of faith to communicate through the mass media of the entertainment industry...This book intends to help you to do just what Jesus commanded: herald His good news in movies and television, the marketplace of entertainment." (Page xxviii)

Dr. Baehr breaks the contents into two main sections: Foundations and Step-by-Step. Each section is loaded with practical yet detailed information into the business. While the author has years of experience, he has reached out to 30 diverse Hollywood experts with stellar credentials. He interweaves these contributors throughout the book and it strengthens the message and impact of the contents.

While this book is loaded with practical information, I want to give one detailed example as a taste of the contents from the chapter, "If It's Not On the Page...":

"Remember that the average movie takes nine years from start to finish. The Passion of the Christ took ten years. Evita took twenty-three years. Batman took seventeen years. There are several reasons why it takes so long. First, there are 300,000 scripts submitted every year to the Writers guild of America and many more are written that are never submitted, aside from the flood of novels every year, but less than three hundred movies open in theaters every year. Thus, most scripts never make it into production. Second, Hollywood movies cost over $104 million to produce and distribute in 2010, and it takes a long, long time to get all the elements together so that some distributor or investor will want to put up this kind of money. Third, most people take years to get the script right. The Los Angeles Times interviewed a woman who was trying to twenty years to sell her script. She said that in all those years she had not had the time to take a scriptwriting course or read a book on scriptwriting. The Los Angeles Times and all of us should be perplexed: What was she doing all that time that she could not take a moment to learn her chosen craft?" (Page 150 to 151)

Before you follow the beckoning siren of Hollywood, you need the detailed information in How to Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul) A FieldGuide for Christian Screenwriters, Actors, Producers, Directors, and more...

Are You Listening To The Music?

Occasionally in these entries about the writing life, I write about a recent movie. For weeks, my wife and I have watched the trailer in the theaters of August Rush. From the first time we saw it, this movie looked like one we wanted to make sure and see. The tag line for the movie says, "The Music Is Everywhere. All You Have To Do Is Listen." In a word, this movie delivers on the promise and is well-worth adding to your movie plans.

Last Saturday night, we caught a "sneak preview" of August Rush and every seat in the theater was filled. For almost two hours, we were held spellbound with this moving story. Two musicians meet and spend a night together (which is tastefully portrayed). Lyla is pregnant and goes into labor. Her controlling father implies the baby died but actually he forged her signature on the adoption papers. Eleven years later when the father goes into the hospital and is dying, he tells his daughter that her son is alive. It sets her on a search for her son. Three strands of human experience are woven into a rich storytelling experience.

Evan Taylor searches for himself and his parents. In many ways I saw the story parallel to the parable Jesus told about The Prodigal Son--yet in modern day circumstances and situations. I was fascinated with the experience of Evan and his genius talent with music. For any film like August Rush, powerful screenwriting is the foundation and this movie has such power. Original music is woven into the storytelling and combined with solid acting. It's a film that I will want to see several times in the days ahead.