12 August 2010 // 07:58 am // Comments Closed
Question: Why Are You In Hollywood?
All right, enough out of us. We’ve heard from a number of you over the last year, so we know that a few of you are absolutely brilliant (and the rest of you are just really, really smart). We know you’ve had your own experiences in Hollywood and the arts & entertainment industry, so we want to pose questions now and then to get your take on things for the benefit of the rest of the Hollywood Connect community.
This month’s question... Well, okay, there's two of them: Why did you decide to become a creative professional? And how does a person know when he or she is called to Hollywood?
Let’s hear what you’ve got to say. Post your answer below, and in your answers, be sure to exercise those four things that are too often missing in online discussions: insight, wit, brevity and kindness.
- Published in:
- Life in Los Angeles,
- Creativity & Art
August 12, 2010 // 05:07 pm // #
I knew I wanted to write when God called me to the writing profession at 16 years old. In fact, when I began writing my poems I always felt his Holy Presence next to me. I began publishing poems in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Later, I began writing articles while in college at the encouragement of a professor. I was a journalist in NYC, and became a Literary Guild author while living in San Francisco. In Dallas, I joined the Dallas Screenwriters Association because there were no chapters of my journalism association and I wanted to be connected to other writers. I fell in love with writing screenplays. Twelve years later, I knew God was calling me to Los Angeles. I pray the Jabez prayer everyday. I know without a doubt that God has called me here. He led me to a Christian mentor through the UCLA Professional Screenwriting Program. He led me to another Christian mentor at ABC television. And, He led me to a Christian agent who likes my work. I believe God closes doors we are not to go through, and opens doors we are supposed to walk through. I’ve even closed doors myself on assignments that I thought were not of God, or going in the wrong direction. It was painful, but I feel God is opening the right doors now. Patience is heart wrenching, but we all need to wait on the Lord as Psalm 27:14 says: “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
August 12, 2010 // 05:12 pm // #
I feel that I was called to be a light in the entertainment industry. Whenever I am on set I feel the best, knowing that I am fulfilling my purpose. Invariably I will get asked the question, “What is it about you?” Then there’s an open door to introduce them to my best friend, Jesus. My husband once said that, “You know that you’re doing what you were called to do when someone says, ‘I want what you have.’” I had that happen on set where a young lady was facing difficulties in her life and a few friends and myself just prayed for her right there (in the holding area) after we told her that she could have what we had - freely. I am in a smaller market which I think is preparation for a larger market, such as Hollywood. But I think that as important as a relationship with Jesus is to surround oneself with “truth speakers,” or those who will keep you accountable. I love what I do and I am grateful to God that He has allowed me the opportunity to be an ambassador.
August 12, 2010 // 05:49 pm // #
I made the choice to follow what God put into me. My brother is a fine artist and has always been able to draw, even as a kid. God put that in him. He now does this professionally (and gives God the credit, btw.)
I can’t even draw a stick man, but I’ve always been able to take decent enough photos and tell at least semi-interesting and entertaining stories. God put that in me. All I did was recognize that and choose to utilize the gifts He’d placed in me. That involves honing the skills that will manifest that gift (as my brother did in Art School). But it began with an examination of what was already there—what God gifted me with—and trying to exploit that for Him.
That’s the “Why”.
Knowing the call to Hollywood?
I felt a very specific call to come to Hollywood, a very strong and unmistakably clear impression from the Lord. I initially was going to be a pastor and went to college for that, realizing later that I could use the creative gifts God gave me to serve Him more effectively than simply from the pulpit. I changed majors, and later, did just about all I could do back home in Shreveport, LA, working in TV news, docs, specials and commercials.
It was time to go, and if I was going to maximize God’s call on my life, I needed to be here to do it. When God says “Go”, you better!
My counsel: Work inside your giftings. And be wise, but don’t be afraid.
August 12, 2010 // 08:02 pm // #
I was genuinely hurt by the lies this town has produced. We live in narcissistic, greedy, crude times, and it’s only getting worse. How can people be heroes, if they don’t even know what the term means? How will people know truth if they haven’t even heard or seen it? We’re called to be light, but you can’t be light, unless you’re in the dark places.
How do you know if you should be here? I moved to Los Angeles a little over a year ago. This city isn’t particularly friendly. I miss my family and friends back home, and my workplace isn’t the easiest place to go to every morning. But I get up every morning, and endure.
So few people get what they want in this town. Ask yourself: Are you willing to risk the loneliness, career suicide and general artistic suffering if some of your dream came true? What if none of your dream came true, but you knew in some small way you had made a difference. Would you still endure? If the answer is yes, then you’re probably called here.
August 12, 2010 // 08:24 pm // #
It is war, Matt.
You’ve probably heard it said that Washington, D.C. is the seat of power in the U.S., but Hollywood is the seat of influence.
What is created in this town spreads throughout the earth, influencing the minds of billions with the worldview of the creators.
This is why I believe that Satan is working more intensely and furiously in Hollywood than any other place on earth. Control Hollywood and you can control the world.
If you come to Hollywood as a believer and aren’t prepared for war, you may be eaten alive. (You may be eaten alive anyway.)
GIves new and personal meaning to the term, “Dying to self.” doesn’t it?
P.S. Don’t expect to immune from occasional “friendly fire” from Christians in this business as well. It’s a reality of the kind of war Satan wages against us.
Thankfully, our God is the King of all creation, our Leader and Commander. And if He calls us to a task, He will provide everything necessary for us to accomplish it. Count on that!
August 12, 2010 // 10:45 pm // #
I became a professional actor because it was the one dream I dared not follow and the one I could not let go without having pursued. I felt as though, as I was torn, God gave me a choice: write or act. I’d already tried writing. For 15 years. Little publishing success, for various reasons, but some skill gained. I could not, though, face sitting in a rocking chair when I’m 80 years old wondering what would have happened if I’d dared to follow this Hollywood film acting dream.
As to how you know: you pray, and then you listen, and then you hear what God’s saying to you. I remember hearing Kenneth Copeland say how Oral Roberts gave him this word:
1. Find out the will of God.
2. Once you know the will of God, confer with man no longer.
3. Get it done at any cost.
I have doubted whether this call is really of God or of myself, but the nagging feeling is that the only reason I doubt it is because I’m not worthy of it. Worth is not a factor. I wasn’t worthy to be saved, but I am saved anyway. I trust that, as I follow this call, God will correct me when needed. Mine is to listen and obey that correction.
August 12, 2010 // 11:31 pm // #
I tried lots of other things besides screenwriting and film production and continually failed. This seems to be about all that I can do competently so if I fail at this, I’m in serious trouble. But miraculously, the opportunities keep presenting themselves.
August 13, 2010 // 05:36 am // #
Hmmm…a creative professional. Can’t say that I am. Bi-vocational: perhaps one day. Fledgling Newbie is more like it. No matter the status, I think the question is still the same since everyone starts out with some kind of vision they can’t ignore. I think the Lord places within us a picture of what what we can do if we yield to His creative influence, and let it flow through us.
As for knowing when one is called to Hollywood, personally I think that would have to be the Spirit of God leading in a way that is unmistakable… billboards with your name on them! Seeing your name in lights! Kidding. Hollywood is not a place that I would be drawn to on my own but if the Lord were leading me there I’d be there in a New York minute, just as I’d head to Africa or Zimbabwe or London if He led. Recently I wanted to move to London and felt like He was leading and it turned out I was wrong. We have to be so flexible with Him, and not take ourselves too seriously.
August 13, 2010 // 07:03 am // #
Why did you decide to become a creative professional?
I had a lonely childhood. I didn’t feel much love from my blood family. It created my sensitivity. I seldome wrote poems around me. I had written about 120 poems in my life. Whenever I felt a wind, I would write about wind. When I finally met my Father, Jesus Christ, God, I found a purpose of myself. I have an unique eye. I can see things that others can not see. I have ideas that others can not think of. If God has given me these gifts, I have to use it glorify my Father.
How does a person know when he or she is called to Hollywood?
For me, I don’t need to be in Hollywood. I can create outside of Hollywood. But if I have to answer that question, the life is journey. If I learn from struggles and continue to shape myself from experiences. I feel that I am called to be in Hollywood.
YongHwan
August 13, 2010 // 09:07 am // #
Looking back on my life at 45 yrs of age, I now see that the Lord was preparing me for Hollywood. When I was a kid he gave me boldness to meet big people in HW through my drawings. Then I was starstruck, now I am Godstruck. I lived in West Los Angeles for a year, 93-94 and didn’t like it much. I thought I would love living there. I told the Lord I didn’t like it anymore, dirty, unholy, all of that. Then He surprised me in ‘97 by bursting through with writing. I began a script and carried a Burden for the lost celebrities in HW. He called me to Hollywood.
I’m still writing, or rather, He’s writing through me, because I’m not that clever! When the time is right, I will move back to Hollywood. My passion is to fan into flame the ember of the church there and the hidden embers that God is blowing on in the lost. He has promised a fire that will burn through Hollywood and out to the nation. I am ready! He is coming!!!!
August 13, 2010 // 01:43 pm // #
In college as I prayed about what to do after graduation, it became very clear that I would be working in the 3M’s: Music, Marketing & Ministry to Youth. I was passionate about those areas and could not imagine just working at the typical Silicon Valley jobs that most of my peers took after graduation. I am probably the only graduate from San Jose State to receive their Alpha Al Sirat Award as the male student from the School of Business who then temped for the next six months. My first job about a year later was with a music label in SoCal. After eight years doing that, God slightly changed the 3M’s to Media, Marketing and Ministry (with particular passion for youth. That’s what I am doing now through my ventures:
FrontGate Media - #1 faith & family values pop-culture media group in Christendom
http://www.FrontGateMedia.com
My Broken Palace - hope & healing for teens & young adults
http://www.MyBrokenPalace.com
Extra Mile Merch - creating client revenue thru apparel design & development
http://www.ExtraMileMerch.com
Creator Worship - online teaching & training for worship leaders
http://www.CreatorWorship.com
Mobile Giving - reach more, raise more through text-based giving
http://www.frontgatemedia.com/mobilegive
Splatter.com - Fashion, Faith & Art
http://www.Splatter.com
Working within my gifting at tasks God has planned gives me the max opportunity to really excel at and enjoy my work.
August 13, 2010 // 01:48 pm // #
Ooops, forgot question #2… For me, there was a period 6-7 years ago that I prayed asking God where I could serve more. Two areas became clear: film/tv and comic book audience. I didn’t have much involvement with either one at the time, but I sought out others who were active in those worlds. Within two years, I had gained a better understanding of those worlds, and then began serving on Advisory Boards for the Biola Media Conference and for the Christian Comic Arts Society, which I am still doing today.
Biola Media Conference
http://www.biolamedia.com
Christian Comic Arts Society
http://www.christiancomicarts.com
August 16, 2010 // 12:00 pm // #
I am in Hollywood because my dream brought me here several years ago. The reason I am staying in Hollywood is because The Lord changed me in Hollywood, Making my darkness turn into to light. Now my dream is to let God use the “dream” he gave me to have a huge impact in Hollywood by sharing my story and bringing hope to the hopeless. Wanting it for his purpose may take longer, and cause you to want to give up sometimes. I know I have wanted God to move it a long a lot faster growing weary or questioning in the wait. But then I ask and remind myself “are you doing this for you? or him? if its for him you need to be patient and let him prepare you and protect you, So that when the time comes we wont fall and forget who got us there and compleate the call and purpose he has for us. I Read this today,“A person with a changed heart seeks praise from God not people. Romasn 2:29 I encourage everyone to not give up on what you feel God has called you to do, including myself.
August 16, 2010 // 03:50 pm // #
The burden of my heart is to pray and to believe that God will move in the hearts of the entertainment industry.
My heart breaks as I read the depth of lonliness and devestation that is so prevalent. The drugs, the sex, and the alcohol are all sought because the God answer hasn’t been revealed in the lives of the wounded ones yet.
I pray every morning for healing, for protection from addiction, for protection from suicide for these ones who are dear to my heart.
I long to reach out to the broken ones through writing God’s words of hope.
August 18, 2010 // 10:25 am // #
All my life I have enjoyed writing and directing. It was my passion. Being practical, and living around other very practical people, I never pursued this passion as any more than a hobby. I also sang - another passion in my life - but again, it was a hobby, and though a made a little money at it, it was still pretty much a hobby. When I couldn’t wrte, direct or sing I threw myself into landscaping as a creative outlet.
But five years ago, I was at a very low place in my life and as I prayed for direction, God reminded me about a play I had started and never finished. “Okay,” I thought, “Something to kill the time until something real comes along”. So I finished the play. Happy, I went back to the Lord and said, “Okay, what’s next.” He reminded me about an idea I had for a story, and I immediately objected because that couldn’t be written as a play; it would have to be a screen play. God’s response was, “So.” It was at the moment that I knew he was calling me to Hollywood. As ridiculous as it sounded then, I went with it. I studyed screenwriting, got lots of prayer, and in 2009 I had the chance to relocate to LA (it was a God thing for sure) I just completed a film appreticeship program and am working on my second short film. But more than that—much more than that—I’m here for the people. I love these people. God moved me 3,000 miles to love the people of Hollywood. And he is faithful.
August 23, 2010 // 05:47 pm // #
I have been thinking on this question for over a week and I keep coming to the same conclusion. I am here to help. Whether through the characters I portray or the stories I write. In whatever capacity God leads me to, He has ultimately brought me here to help others, to love them and to be an example of His love.
I’m not sure how well I’m doing. I’ve had more than my share of selfish moments, but my heart desires to love, more than to be loved and that is why I feel I’m here and I pray for the strength, creativity, insight and understanding to to be that example of Gods love in a way that will bring as many others as possible to know God’s love for them.
August 24, 2010 // 09:44 am // #
Here is the bottom line: It was the movies, video games and books that influenced me. Also, I had my mom’s encouragement. From what I have observed, a mom and dad are traditionally the examples that a child has to follow, but my dad was a source of pain, anger and resentment in my life. (He made a better playmate than an actual parent, mind you.) I always understood who Jesus truly was, but there were several contributing factors that made me want every creative person in the entertainment world to be a Christian.
1) After seeing The Lord of the Rings, I was deeply moved by it’s message of hope, courage and determination. I was going through very difficult times with my dad when The Return of the King came out, and it gave me hope in some of my darkest hours. 2) I have been rather captivated with animated characters, from Disney/Dreamworks films to the Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Country Series. I love the portrayal of sweet and innocent animals on screen. I admire it and I consider it a Godly trait, whether people realize it or not. (Upon a recent viewing of The Lion King Trilogy, I realized how special the characters Timon and Pumbaa are to me.) There was just a moment a number of years back when I realized how much it all meant to me, and how thankful I was that such characters exist, and how God gives such a wonderful talent to creative people. Upon many occasions I have found myself literally pleadinding (nigh on begging) God to reveal his truth to the people tahat have made such a difference in my life, I have found only a handful of people who understand how I feel, but I have made a vow to God to be as kind, loving, generous, and as unpredjudiced as possible to entertainers wherever I may find them. Our beloved entertainment world must be united under the the banner of Christianity. That is my ultimate goal in life.