Cinema Verities
Even when they're writing fiction, these Hollywood insiders bring the truth to bear
Marshall Allen
September 3, 2001
Brian bird's call to live for Christ in Hollywood came while watching Fantasy Island on a hotel television in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. But this was not just any installment of Fantasy Island. Bird himself had written this episode four years earlier. It was the only script he had sold before his screenwriting career had fallen by the wayside. Randomly catching the show on the other side of the world revitalized his desire to work in the entertainment industry.
"It was a crystal moment for me," says Bird. Although he considers Fantasy Island a "lame show," seeing it in Africa helped him realize the TV shows may also have potential for the advancement of "life and faith-affirming messages."
"I fell to my knees and said, 'God, put me back in the game,'" Bird says. "I just felt that Christians had to be at the table."
God answered Bird's prayer. Now, 14 years later, he works as senior writer and co-executive producer on CBS's highest-rated drama series, Touched by an Angel. The "show about God" is seen in 200 countries every day, Bird says.
Bird is part of a small minority of Christians working in Hollywood. But he, Karen Hall—a writer for the television show Judging Amy—and Ralph Winter—a producer whose credits include X-Men and the remake of Planet of the Apes—are three Hollywood insiders who strive to integrate their faith and art without compromising the integrity of either one.
Broadcasting faith
Early in her career, while writing for shows like M*A*S*H and Moonlighting, Karen Hall was an agnostic. When she committed her life to Christ five years ago, her reputation as a Hollywood writer was solid.
Since her conversion, Hall has observed a couple of factors that stoke Hollywood's anti-Christian sentiment: the exclusivity of Christianity ...
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