Danielle Bisutti
Actress and singer/songwriter Danielle Bisutti has quickly made a name for herself in the entertainment business with her free spirit, determination, talent, dazzling beauty, and passion for her multiple crafts. Her wide range of television and film roles accented with her musical theatre background makes her one of the most diverse actresses in the industry, and she has the resume to prove it. Danielle has appeared on over fifteen television series including TNT’s Raising the Bar, Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place, CBS’s Without a Trace, CBS’s Cold Case, CBS’s Two and a Half Men, FOX’s The OC, and ABC’s Boston Legal, to name a few. However, she may be best known for her starring role as the uptight yet lovable fashion diva Amanda Cantwell on the award-winning #1 Nickelodeon series, True Jackson VP. Her role on the series made Danielle not only one of the top actresses on television, but an international fashion icon as her character dresses to the nines in exclusive designs.
Relocating to Los Angeles, California, Danielle’s decision to start a career in the entertainment industry came genetically through the two halves that created her, her mother Diana and her father Richard. Her mother came from a family rooted in the entertainment business and her father was a decoration lead man on movie sets and television series for twenty years. Therefore, Danielle was no stranger to being on sets as the seeds for her future career were unknowingly planted early. By the age of five Danielle’s mother found her daughter playing a Carole King melody on the piano and by fifth grade Danielle was writing her own compositions. She was musically inspired by artists her parents exposed her to at an early age: Carole King, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin, sounds that would shape the music she would create in the years to come.
In high school, Danielle explored as many opportunities as possible to hone in on her passion for the entertainment business. She immersed herself in theatre, choir, dance, speech/debate, and even played volleyball and basketball. She went on to attend California State University Fullerton where she received a B.A. in Acting and Musical Theatre. While attending CSUF, she was nominated several times for “best actress” in the Irene Ryan Competition and took runner up at The Lincoln Center Theatre in NYC.
Michael Butler, the original Broadway producer of Hair in 1968, fell in love with Danielle’s talent when he saw her performing the role of Sheila in a California production of Hair. Butler took Danielle and the cast to Chicago to perform at the Democratic National Convention where they shared the stage with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bonnie Rait, and Jackson Browne, to name a few. The Hair tribe had a five-week run at the New Athenaeum Theatre in the heart of Chicago where Danielle’s vocal performance was compared to a “cool-alto styling of a young Rickie Lee Jones.” Danielle shone on the stage and thrived on the thrill of performing in front of a live audience. She went on to land other theatre credits including Reno Sweeny in Anything Goes, Maggie in Boy’s Life, Yelena in Uncle Vanya, Victoria/Jane in Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8:30, Fastranda in Pippin, and Ophelia in Hamlet.
Although musical theatre and performing on stage were some of Danielle’s biggest passions in life, she also had the desire to work in television and film, reverting back to the time throughout her childhood spent on set with her father. Danielle has excelled in TV and in feature films as well. Her credits include her debut leading role in Tropix, Venice Underground (Eric Mabius), The Neighbor (Matthew Modine), a featured role in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Get Smart (Steve Carell), and in January 2010 starred as Heather Stroud, the leading female role in Coram Deo Studio’s feature film debut No Greater Love distributed by Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment.
Danielle’s talent is just taking flight as her career blossoms with every day that passes. Catch her starring on True Jackson VP on Nickelodeon Saturdays at 8 PM/7c.
~*~
David Boyer Interview with
Danielle Bisutti
I've heard so much about L.A., but I have never had the chance to visit. Is it really a great venue for an aspiring actress? I've heard some really frightening stories about it.
DB: Yes, I believe it's the best venue for actors who want to have a career in television and film. Obviously, New York City is the place to be for theater, but a handful of fantastic TV shows shoot there as well. Los Angeles has a sort of duality to it; earthly enlightened and land of smoke and mirrors. When you have stars in your eyes it's seemingly hard to decipher between genuine sincerity and pretense. In fact, when you look up the word insincerity in a thesaurus one of the synonyms listed is "going Hollywood." Ouch. Doesn't change the fact that some of the most creative and intelligent minds gravitate toward L.A. to turn their dreams into realities, but not everyone gets the big break they need to make it happen. I always believe that like attracts like. If you are a kind and good person you will find your "people" regardless of where you are living. It certainly does help to have family close by and I just happen to be one of the "rare" lucky people who was born in Los Angeles and stuck it out. It's not that hard to cope here; I mean, it's got the best climate on the planet, and the ocean—glorious. Now the traffic at any given moment on any given day is a whole other conversation.
You attribute your free spirit to your parents. Is that bad or good? [laughs]
DB: I'm not sure if I do attribute my free spirit to my parents. [laughs] My mom has a childlike, creative wonder to her and my dad's free spirit shows up by way of being able to instantly make friends wherever he goes, but growing up in suburban Simi Valley, I always felt a little bit like I was from another planet, a sort of black sheep in a family that never really got into trouble. I had about ten imaginary friends with me at all times and a talking unicorn-Pegasus named Perscilla. But maybe most little girls had the same experiences I did. My parents certainly didn't squelch my creativity or fairy-like qualities, but I didn't quite fit into the cookie cutter mold laid out for me. I am, unequivocally, an old soul.
In all seriousness, though, I'd love to hear about your former all-girl band, The Boy Crazy’s. How did audiences react to nice little Christian girls wearing skimpy skirts?
DB: Sadly, The Boy Crazy’s never performed. We'd just meet and sings songs we had written and talk about boys. But what else were we to do at twelve years old?
I still bet it was cute. I've spoken to a lot of Christians within the TV and film industries who have told me their strong faith in God was a key element in their success. Would you say it was for you?
DB: Absolutely. The only thing keeping me going is my faith that God has set out a very specific plan for me, and that I'm meant to express the gifts he has given me. It certainly takes a whole lot of pressure off of the things over which I have absolutely no control. Surrender, I believe, is the word.
How exactly would you describe your musical style?
DB: Emotional, jazz-infused, intimate singer/song writer, piano-based music with a heartbeat. Sometimes. Most of the time I write from the perspective of the actress who can play any role, so my genre isn't really defined, which is great on the one hand because it's truthful expression without limitation, but on the other it can make the listener a little confused about which music store section to search for me, although music stores are antiquated these days. I suppose they can find me on iTunes under Danielle Bisutti.
You have been in some of my favorite TV shows, Cold Case and Without a Trace. What is your favorite genre to work within?
DB: A lot of actors are signing on for horror films these days. I love working on hour-long dramas such as Cold Case and Without a Trace, however I do enjoy having a little levity in my work. Shows like Boston Legal, The O.C. and Raising the Bar were a lot of fun because they are dramas with a healthy sense of humor. Just like life. True Jackson V.P. is a four-camera sitcom that is an absolute joy to work on because the writing is so good. There is always a great joke to deliver. But this format can be more of a challenge than the others because when the joke falls flat, all you hear are crickets. So I've learned you just get back up, dust yourself off, ask for help, and try again. Again, just like life. Oh yeah, and remember to have fun.
What type of role did you have in Cold Case?
DB: I played Mrs. Valentine in the flashback portion of the show. She was a typical Stepford wife during the 1950s that let go of her dreams of a career to be a housewife and create a loving home to raise a family. She first appears cold and calloused when she suggests to her nephew’s girlfriend to secure a future for herself “before the bloom is off the rose” or she'll end up a penniless old maid. The pain she holds inside is magnified by keeping up appearances while knowing full well that her husband is having an affair with one of his checkout girls. Because she has given up on her dreams as a young girl, she tries to do the same for any young lady who thinks she can live the life she's always dreamt about. Mrs. Valentine falls victim to the vicious cycle she learned from her mother. Her character takes a vulnerable turn when she reveals the truth of her past and her knowledge of her husband's indecencies to her nephew Bingo. She then encourages him to go for his dreams and never let anyone stop him from getting what he wants. It was a joy to bring her to life.
How about your theatre work? Are stage productions quite a bit different than film work?
DB: I got my start in the theatre and it will always be my first love. However, I choose to stay out here in L.A. because ultimately my "big picture" goals are to be a feature film actress and eventually a filmmaker (pun intended.) And of course, my dreams of being on Broadway, whether it be in a musical or a straight play, are still a very visceral daily desire. It's only a matter of time.
Would you be willing to make a commitment if you were offered a leading role in a TV series? I think you'd make a great leading lady.
DB: Heck, yeah! Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'd love to be the leading lady, however ensemble cast and supporting roles can be just as rewarding with a little less pressure. In my next venture I picture myself moving into the world of one-hour television programming, perhaps for HBO or FOX or ABC or CBS or NBC or TNT or USA—so on and so forth.
What's coming up in the near future for Danielle?
DB: We are currently shooting fourteen more episodes of Nickelodeon's True Jackson V.P. on the Paramount lot, which has been such a dream come true. My faith-based film No Greater Love is continuing to sell off the shelves and receive tremendous support from the Christian churches. And I am about to go into the music studio to record a cover song album entitled, "The Four Corners of My Heart." I'm doing a piano and vocal cover of Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love", Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire", Patti Griffin's "Let Him Fly" and the Rescue's "Take My Heart with You." It's a very personal expression that I need to release. I will be using a painting inspired by a certain event in my life as the CD cover artwork. It's the first time I will be showing the world the aspect of my painting. It will be available online wherever digital downloads are sold.
Any last words of faith or inspiration for your fans?
DB: There is no one else like you. You were made the way you were with a very specific purpose in place. Never let anyone tell you that you need to be more like “so and so” to “make it big.” Take care of your heart, mind, body, and soul by surrounding yourself with people who love you, support you, and truly have your best interests in mind. Make sure you find your joy in aspects of your life other than just striving for an acting or music career. Live a life that's well rounded. There is a natural progression in all of our lives as we mature as human beings, especially those of us who are artists. It's not always linear, it can go way up and then come crashing down. You've got to see the so-called failures as mere stepping stones and learning opportunities leading you down the right path. Never give up. If you want it badly enough, giving up is not an option. And at the end of the day, God is the one who is ultimately in control. Take solace in the fact that it's all falling into place perfectly. Exhale.
Relocating to Los Angeles, California, Danielle’s decision to start a career in the entertainment industry came genetically through the two halves that created her, her mother Diana and her father Richard. Her mother came from a family rooted in the entertainment business and her father was a decoration lead man on movie sets and television series for twenty years. Therefore, Danielle was no stranger to being on sets as the seeds for her future career were unknowingly planted early. By the age of five Danielle’s mother found her daughter playing a Carole King melody on the piano and by fifth grade Danielle was writing her own compositions. She was musically inspired by artists her parents exposed her to at an early age: Carole King, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin, sounds that would shape the music she would create in the years to come.
In high school, Danielle explored as many opportunities as possible to hone in on her passion for the entertainment business. She immersed herself in theatre, choir, dance, speech/debate, and even played volleyball and basketball. She went on to attend California State University Fullerton where she received a B.A. in Acting and Musical Theatre. While attending CSUF, she was nominated several times for “best actress” in the Irene Ryan Competition and took runner up at The Lincoln Center Theatre in NYC.
Michael Butler, the original Broadway producer of Hair in 1968, fell in love with Danielle’s talent when he saw her performing the role of Sheila in a California production of Hair. Butler took Danielle and the cast to Chicago to perform at the Democratic National Convention where they shared the stage with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bonnie Rait, and Jackson Browne, to name a few. The Hair tribe had a five-week run at the New Athenaeum Theatre in the heart of Chicago where Danielle’s vocal performance was compared to a “cool-alto styling of a young Rickie Lee Jones.” Danielle shone on the stage and thrived on the thrill of performing in front of a live audience. She went on to land other theatre credits including Reno Sweeny in Anything Goes, Maggie in Boy’s Life, Yelena in Uncle Vanya, Victoria/Jane in Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8:30, Fastranda in Pippin, and Ophelia in Hamlet.
Although musical theatre and performing on stage were some of Danielle’s biggest passions in life, she also had the desire to work in television and film, reverting back to the time throughout her childhood spent on set with her father. Danielle has excelled in TV and in feature films as well. Her credits include her debut leading role in Tropix, Venice Underground (Eric Mabius), The Neighbor (Matthew Modine), a featured role in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Get Smart (Steve Carell), and in January 2010 starred as Heather Stroud, the leading female role in Coram Deo Studio’s feature film debut No Greater Love distributed by Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment.
Danielle’s talent is just taking flight as her career blossoms with every day that passes. Catch her starring on True Jackson VP on Nickelodeon Saturdays at 8 PM/7c.
~*~
David Boyer Interview with
Danielle Bisutti
I've heard so much about L.A., but I have never had the chance to visit. Is it really a great venue for an aspiring actress? I've heard some really frightening stories about it.
DB: Yes, I believe it's the best venue for actors who want to have a career in television and film. Obviously, New York City is the place to be for theater, but a handful of fantastic TV shows shoot there as well. Los Angeles has a sort of duality to it; earthly enlightened and land of smoke and mirrors. When you have stars in your eyes it's seemingly hard to decipher between genuine sincerity and pretense. In fact, when you look up the word insincerity in a thesaurus one of the synonyms listed is "going Hollywood." Ouch. Doesn't change the fact that some of the most creative and intelligent minds gravitate toward L.A. to turn their dreams into realities, but not everyone gets the big break they need to make it happen. I always believe that like attracts like. If you are a kind and good person you will find your "people" regardless of where you are living. It certainly does help to have family close by and I just happen to be one of the "rare" lucky people who was born in Los Angeles and stuck it out. It's not that hard to cope here; I mean, it's got the best climate on the planet, and the ocean—glorious. Now the traffic at any given moment on any given day is a whole other conversation.
You attribute your free spirit to your parents. Is that bad or good? [laughs]
DB: I'm not sure if I do attribute my free spirit to my parents. [laughs] My mom has a childlike, creative wonder to her and my dad's free spirit shows up by way of being able to instantly make friends wherever he goes, but growing up in suburban Simi Valley, I always felt a little bit like I was from another planet, a sort of black sheep in a family that never really got into trouble. I had about ten imaginary friends with me at all times and a talking unicorn-Pegasus named Perscilla. But maybe most little girls had the same experiences I did. My parents certainly didn't squelch my creativity or fairy-like qualities, but I didn't quite fit into the cookie cutter mold laid out for me. I am, unequivocally, an old soul.
In all seriousness, though, I'd love to hear about your former all-girl band, The Boy Crazy’s. How did audiences react to nice little Christian girls wearing skimpy skirts?
DB: Sadly, The Boy Crazy’s never performed. We'd just meet and sings songs we had written and talk about boys. But what else were we to do at twelve years old?
I still bet it was cute. I've spoken to a lot of Christians within the TV and film industries who have told me their strong faith in God was a key element in their success. Would you say it was for you?
DB: Absolutely. The only thing keeping me going is my faith that God has set out a very specific plan for me, and that I'm meant to express the gifts he has given me. It certainly takes a whole lot of pressure off of the things over which I have absolutely no control. Surrender, I believe, is the word.
How exactly would you describe your musical style?
DB: Emotional, jazz-infused, intimate singer/song writer, piano-based music with a heartbeat. Sometimes. Most of the time I write from the perspective of the actress who can play any role, so my genre isn't really defined, which is great on the one hand because it's truthful expression without limitation, but on the other it can make the listener a little confused about which music store section to search for me, although music stores are antiquated these days. I suppose they can find me on iTunes under Danielle Bisutti.
You have been in some of my favorite TV shows, Cold Case and Without a Trace. What is your favorite genre to work within?
DB: A lot of actors are signing on for horror films these days. I love working on hour-long dramas such as Cold Case and Without a Trace, however I do enjoy having a little levity in my work. Shows like Boston Legal, The O.C. and Raising the Bar were a lot of fun because they are dramas with a healthy sense of humor. Just like life. True Jackson V.P. is a four-camera sitcom that is an absolute joy to work on because the writing is so good. There is always a great joke to deliver. But this format can be more of a challenge than the others because when the joke falls flat, all you hear are crickets. So I've learned you just get back up, dust yourself off, ask for help, and try again. Again, just like life. Oh yeah, and remember to have fun.
What type of role did you have in Cold Case?
DB: I played Mrs. Valentine in the flashback portion of the show. She was a typical Stepford wife during the 1950s that let go of her dreams of a career to be a housewife and create a loving home to raise a family. She first appears cold and calloused when she suggests to her nephew’s girlfriend to secure a future for herself “before the bloom is off the rose” or she'll end up a penniless old maid. The pain she holds inside is magnified by keeping up appearances while knowing full well that her husband is having an affair with one of his checkout girls. Because she has given up on her dreams as a young girl, she tries to do the same for any young lady who thinks she can live the life she's always dreamt about. Mrs. Valentine falls victim to the vicious cycle she learned from her mother. Her character takes a vulnerable turn when she reveals the truth of her past and her knowledge of her husband's indecencies to her nephew Bingo. She then encourages him to go for his dreams and never let anyone stop him from getting what he wants. It was a joy to bring her to life.
How about your theatre work? Are stage productions quite a bit different than film work?
DB: I got my start in the theatre and it will always be my first love. However, I choose to stay out here in L.A. because ultimately my "big picture" goals are to be a feature film actress and eventually a filmmaker (pun intended.) And of course, my dreams of being on Broadway, whether it be in a musical or a straight play, are still a very visceral daily desire. It's only a matter of time.
Would you be willing to make a commitment if you were offered a leading role in a TV series? I think you'd make a great leading lady.
DB: Heck, yeah! Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'd love to be the leading lady, however ensemble cast and supporting roles can be just as rewarding with a little less pressure. In my next venture I picture myself moving into the world of one-hour television programming, perhaps for HBO or FOX or ABC or CBS or NBC or TNT or USA—so on and so forth.
What's coming up in the near future for Danielle?
DB: We are currently shooting fourteen more episodes of Nickelodeon's True Jackson V.P. on the Paramount lot, which has been such a dream come true. My faith-based film No Greater Love is continuing to sell off the shelves and receive tremendous support from the Christian churches. And I am about to go into the music studio to record a cover song album entitled, "The Four Corners of My Heart." I'm doing a piano and vocal cover of Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love", Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire", Patti Griffin's "Let Him Fly" and the Rescue's "Take My Heart with You." It's a very personal expression that I need to release. I will be using a painting inspired by a certain event in my life as the CD cover artwork. It's the first time I will be showing the world the aspect of my painting. It will be available online wherever digital downloads are sold.
Any last words of faith or inspiration for your fans?
DB: There is no one else like you. You were made the way you were with a very specific purpose in place. Never let anyone tell you that you need to be more like “so and so” to “make it big.” Take care of your heart, mind, body, and soul by surrounding yourself with people who love you, support you, and truly have your best interests in mind. Make sure you find your joy in aspects of your life other than just striving for an acting or music career. Live a life that's well rounded. There is a natural progression in all of our lives as we mature as human beings, especially those of us who are artists. It's not always linear, it can go way up and then come crashing down. You've got to see the so-called failures as mere stepping stones and learning opportunities leading you down the right path. Never give up. If you want it badly enough, giving up is not an option. And at the end of the day, God is the one who is ultimately in control. Take solace in the fact that it's all falling into place perfectly. Exhale.
John Cosper
John Cosper is a playwright, screenwriter, and film and stage director from southern Indiana. He is the founder of Righteous Insanity, a drama and film ministry providing resources and writing services to churches and ministries around the world.
John got into drama ministry as a freshman in college as a volunteer church youth leader. He founded Righteous Insanity in 1994, and in 1995 he had his first sketch published by the National Drama Service. He also won the 1997 Christians in Theatre Arts Dramatic Sketch Writing contest and was runner-up in the one-act play competition.
John spent seven years leading drama at his church before moving to Youth for Christ in 2000. A year later he started the Righteous Insanity touring company, a ministry that spent four years traveling the US and Canada performing and teaching drama. John has also taught drama at Barret Traditional Middle School and St. Rita's Catholic School in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as Christian Academy of Indiana in New Albany, Indiana.
In 2002 John shot his first short film, and in 2004 he followed up with Fluffy, the first of a trilogy of horror/sci-fi parodies. He has since written and directed close to 100 shorts for Righteous Insanity and other ministries. His first feature film production, Wingman, is scheduled to begin shooting in April of 2010.
David Boyer Interview with
John Cosper
What would you say have been your biggest hurdles to overcome as a writer? Screenwriting was what turned out to be a real challenge for me.
JC: The one thing screenwriting books and classes pound into you more than anything else is formatting. Screenwriting is a meticulous and demanding style as far as how your page is aligned, and the big scare story you always hear is, "If a reader opens to page one and sees your margins are off, they're going to decide you're an amateur and toss it out." I don't know how true that is, but there's some validity to it, and I think it's worth the investment of a good screenwriting program that allows you not to worry over such things.
That said, I've been using a template in Word for the better part of a decade that I cannibalized from another writer I once worked with. It's not perfect, but as I'm dealing with smaller, indie production groups and not Paramount Pictures, it does the job for me.
As far as the style of writing, the biggest challenge for me was learning to follow the screenwriter's edict: show, don't tell. Having written for the stage so many years—primarily as a sketch writer—I was used to dialogue-heavy scripts. My first attempts at screenwriting were very dialogue heavy, and it's taken me a while to learn to write in the more visual style.
That's not to say you can't make a dialogue-heavy film. Christopher Guest's movies are very verbal, and Woody Allen's films are mostly verbal (though if you go back, he had as much physical comedy in his early work as he did verbal). But generally speaking, a producer or director wants a script that lets them visualize—not just hear—your story. Film is a visual art, and the more you learn to write visually, the better.
As a filmmaker, what is your personal opinion of all the ”subgenres” in film? Now we have noir/horror, sci-fi/thriller, romance/horror (vampires) and even “horror/suspense.” Maybe it's just me, but I begin to tire of genres that, fused together, make no sense whatsoever, and depend on bad dialogue, graphic violence, sex, nudity, and offensive language to create revenue, and more often than not, succeed in doing so.
JC: Funny you should ask this question, as I produced a series of horror/sci-fi parodies and am working on a comic book/mockumentary. Hybrid genres certainly seem to be the order of the day. There are so many movies made every year, and so many films already made and established, it's hard to give the audience something new. I think that's why you see so many crossovers between genres and story types that previously would have been separated. People want to see something new, but as Solomon said a few millennia before the rise of Hollywood, there is nothing new under the sun. Thus it becomes the challenge for screenwriters to give us something old in a new way, hence all the hybrids you see.
I don't have a problem with crossovers if they're clever and well done. I have a bigger issue with people rewriting the rules of genres, characters, and archetypes in ways that do not make sense. You can't make a movie about men who wear ten gallon hats and spurs and call them Vikings. So why are we writing books and making movies about Goth kids that sparkle in the sunlight and call themselves vampires? Drives me nuts!
I'd also agree that the bad stories, dialogue, and unnecessary gore and nudity are trends we can do without. Screenwriting books and classes are very much to blame for their proliferation; many of the books I've read hype up the direct-to-video horror film market, which leads people to believe that some blood and flesh will give them a shortcut to money. Enough of them keep making money that the cycle continues to be perpetuated. These movies will never stand the test of time, and most are quickly forgotten. But as long as audiences keep going for it, I don't think that will change.
That's the real rub, the audience. Sometimes they see something they like at the right moment in time, and the worst script in the world becomes a bit hit. This isn't just the domain of small films either. Titanic was a terrible script, overly-long with only one dynamic character in the bunch, one who really isn't that likeable to everyone. But when you add beautiful stars and groundbreaking effects, it's got just enough to put it over the top.
If Titanic is the worst script ever, Top Gun has to be second worst. But while the dialogue is painful to hear over and over, the music, the cinematography, and the best dogfights ever put to film make it a classic.
I think that goes back to the nature of film as a visual form. The right star, good camera work, music, emotion, editing, you can cover a world of sins in your script. But that's no excuse for not working, studying, and honing your craft. Most of us won't ever have the luxuries Hollywood producers have, so our scripts had better be good.
Then we have all of the lame “remakes” of classic films, too, which are more often than not complete messes in comparison with the originals. Yet the filmmakers say they are using their own “personal vision” to pay homage to the film in question. What is the worst remake you've seen?
JC: I love the original version of The House on Haunted Hill. It's a ghoulish, campy horror film filled with as much mystery as goofiness. The movie is vague about whether the house is actually haunted with an ending that leaves you wondering whether the tales about ghosts are real. The remake is an abomination that leaves nothing to the imagination, a bloody, effects-heavy slasher-fest that kills everything the original has going for, right down to Geoffrey Rush's painful Vincent Price impression.
Another disappointment was The Day the Earth Stood Still. The original stands as one of the top five greatest science fiction stories of all time with a timeless message and a powerful Christ allegory at the film's backbone. The remake gives us a great reinvention of the ship and Gort, the killer robot, but the revised theme—a pro-environmental message—cripples the story. It feels forced from the outset, and the end of the movie leaves me thinking, this could have been so much more if they'd kept the original theme.
As a former writer of horror fiction and screenplays, I have come across the subject of demons more than once, and to be honest, it gave me the creeps. To me, the subject—or practice of—demonology is a dangerous thing to be playing around with. As a Christian, do you believe in demons?
JC: I do. I believe there is a spiritual realm we can't see and that spiritual warfare is happening all around us. I'm not as focused on it as some believers are. I'm a Southern Baptist at the core and while we acknowledge angels and demons we just don't dwell on them.
For that reason, I'm not as uncomfortable with the subject matter as some. (My father, for instance, won't even watch Hellboy.) The main reason I don't write about demons is that it's just overdone—in horror and in Christian films. This goes back to what I said earlier about giving audiences something they've never seen before. If it were up to me I'd ban Christian producers from making any more movies involving spiritual warfare, the rapture, the book of Revelation, the prodigal son story, and "disease of the week" stories. Unfortunately, this is all the people with the money to invest in Christian films seem to want.
You tend to pen sci-fi as well as “inspirational” fiction. Define the latter please.
JC: That's the million dollar question, isn't it? I like how you phrase it, though, "inspirational" and not "Christian." I definitely subscribe to the "only people can be Christian" logic. But fiction that challenges you in a way that can lead you closer to Christ can definitely be categorized as inspirational fiction.
I don't think this is limited to material produced by Christians, and that's where the ambiguity comes in. I mentioned The Day the Earth Stood Still as a Christ allegory. Such a film could be used to direct people to Christ, just as many youth groups have used films like The Matrix to point to Jesus. It's all a matter of how it's presented.
I'd love to see Christian moviegoers better educated on things such as story and theme, knowledge that would allow them to glean truth from any genre film. Movies in themselves cannot save people. But thinking, caring Christians can use them as a tool to open the door. Once you understand how to recognize the Christ story, which is essentially the “hero's journey” that Joseph Campbell argued is present in every culture around the world, you can use that to direct anyone to Christ. Science fiction's a great place to find it too. Even bad movies like Flash Gordon and Mom and Dad Save the World are built on the “hero's journey.”
As a professional writer of stage, screen and page, what certain character stands out as the most difficult to transfer to screen?
JC: Jesus! As a general rule, I avoid writing Jesus into scripts at all costs. The reason? Who am I to put words into the mouth of the Son of God? Any time you see Jesus in one of my scripts (other than a few early skits), it's in one of two forms. Either he's saying words you can look up and find in scripture or it's a portrayal of the Jesus that we, as Christians, project to the world. In other words, I try to reflect the Jesus we show the world by our hypocrisy and selfishness.
I wrote a skit about a girl going on a mission trip. One of her friends chided her for her decision as she was going to miss the "last lock-in of their high school careers" to go and serve. The first girl then asked her friend if Jesus would have chosen a lock-in over a mission trip. To make the point, the scene then shifts to Jesus and the disciples yucking it up, playing limbo and youth group games on the night of the last supper. Some folks would call that sacrilege, and out of context, I'd agree. But again, the point was to show Christians the absurdity of their thinking, not to mock Christ.
What was writing dramas for your church like? Were they for church plays?
JC: I still write for churches. At the moment, I'm working on a short film for a sermon series, a VBS drama series, and a children's church camp complete with curriculum. Much as I love screenwriting, sketch writing for churches is home base for me. It's where my gift is strongest, and it's where my passion lies. I've written probably 1100-1200 sketches over the past sixteen years along with 50-60 plays, all of them intended for use in ministry.
This sort of writing is challenging because there's always an agenda, a message, a purpose. The biggest part of the challenge is not coming off as preachy. You have to tell a story that will lead the audience to draw the conclusion you want rather than having a character come out and state it. This gives the audience ownership in the lesson taught and it makes it harder for them to dismiss it. If you tell them, "Don't have sex outside marriage," they'll say, "Yes, but—" and rationalize your message away. Give them a story that leads them to the same conclusion, it's harder for them to argue it away.
I don't write "slice of life" as much as most church writers. It's boring and it's been done. I like satire, and I like coming up with parables, stories that don't appear to be about what you're discussing on the surface. I wrote a script about relationships called, "A Little Skit about Jack and Diane." Diane is a car—owned by Jack—that is much-beloved until she starts to fall apart. Jack begins to neglect her, and as she deteriorates, the neglect turns into abuse. The story of a man and his car stood in for a story about treating your girlfriend or wife with respect.
The Fluffy movies are all allegories about the wages of sin. Years ago, I read a book about the correlation between the horror genre and the sin nature of man called Monsters from the Id. The author proposed that the horror genre was directly linked to the sexual revolution that came out of the Enlightenment. On the surface, mankind liberated himself from the Bible and traditional morality, but as he did, the subconscious rose to remind us that, like it or not, we were doing something horribly wrong. The author examined the lives of Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker, both of whom paid dire consequences for the “enlightened” lifestyle they lived. Out of these experiences, the author concluded, Frankenstein and Dracula were born. He then traced the evolution of horror from them to the modern day horror film culture up to the scream movies where Jaime Kennedy voiced what was long known to be true: If you have sex in a horror movie, you're going to die.
Out of this came Fluffy, the story of a cute and fuzzy alien from outer space with a taste for human flesh. Fluffy is brought to Earth by Dex Tucker, a married scientist with a wandering eye when it comes to the ladies. Dex brings Fluffy (sin) into his home, and the home of his mistress. In the end, Fluffy kills his family, his mistress, and Dex before escaping into the wild. A cute and fuzzy alien thus becomes the parable about how sin—specifically sexual sin—destroys the lives of the sinner and those around him.
F2: Fluffy Strikes Back rehashes the same story in a campier way. The symbolism of Fluffy is made a little more overt through campy humor and situations. A scene at the vet with Fluffy features dialogue that could be a doctor and a patient diagnosed with VD.
The Last Temptation of Fluffy expands on the themes with scientists trying to create a "safe Fluffy" that "anyone can enjoy whenever they want." It also deals with the issue of fidelity in marriage as the main heroine is revealed to have a strained marital relationship with the man responsible for the safe-Fluffy project. Only when they come back together are they able to defeat Fluffy.
Substitute the word "sin" for "Fluffy" and the message becomes clear. These movies get away with it though because of the absurdity of the dialogue and the campy humor. The first two have made audiences laugh at horror film fests, not bastions of Christian film, mind you, and the third will make its festival premiere shortly.
What has been your biggest hurdle as far as writing Christian-themed material?
JC: Avoiding the sermonette. Some Christian writers are known for it. We've all done it. You have to remember you're a storyteller, not a preacher, and let your story—actions—speak for you. If you go back and find a character preaching, cut the whole speech and make them act instead. Or make the character they preach to do the acting. Trust your audience to get it.
A great model to follow is the parables of Jesus. Not a single one of them ever mentioned God, and only in private did Jesus ever explain anything. I always tell people that explanation is the preacher’s job. You get out there, introduce the problem, and engage the audience. Then let the preacher bring in the Word of God and finish it off.
Any last words of faith or inspiration?
JC: Keep your priorities straight, focus on your strengths, and persevere.
Life has changed dramatically for me since I shot Fluffy in 2004. I've gone from a single guy living alone (or with the occasional roommate) with no social life and all the time in the world to married with children and two jobs. About the only thing that hasn't changed is that I am still writing—that and I still don't have a social life. The bulk of the film production I've done happened right before and after getting married. Film production is a demanding and time-consuming endeavor, especially for the director. I loved being on set, loved the work, and loved the camaraderie on set. But I hated the time away from my family, especially once the first kid arrived.
After F2: Fluffy Strikes Back, I gave up directing. I did a marathon film shoot (three shorts in one night) six months later, but I haven't done much with live actors myself since. These days when I need actors I look for cameramen and directors to go out and bring me back what I want. It means I have all the chores and challenges of producing but I don't have to sacrifice time with the family.
The Last Temptation of Fluffy was shot in four different states by six different cameramen over a period of nearly six months. In many ways it was a bigger challenge than F2—a two-day film shoot—but well worth the sacrifice. I currently have three other films in process under different directors.
I've also begun working with puppets, a production method that again allows me maximum time with the kids and wife. Puppets don't have lives or schedules and they don't need to be fed. They're also a lot of fun.
I could probably be a lot further along in pursuing a career as a filmmaker if I hadn't made these sacrifices but I have never regretted putting my family first. Film opportunities will come and go but my kids will only be this age once. I've not only enjoyed my time with them, I've sensed that God has blessed my writing and film endeavors as a result.
Focusing on priorities has also helped me concentrate on what I do best: writing. My desire to put family first led to a lot of self-examination. Everything I do I evaluate and ask if it fits my personal and professional goals. I have refocused on writing for ministry. I have changed the way I market myself to churches and to production companies. It's allowed me to focus more on my writing strengths and to find more opportunities for writing.
Back in high school I played trombone in marching band. I was good and I could have gone to college on a music scholarship. I haven't touched my trombone in years. It wasn't my passion and it fell by the wayside. I don't regret it because music would have meant sacrificing time elsewhere and I am very happy with the direction I chose. A commercial I hear on the radio all the time says you don't become a master doing a thousand things; you become a master by doing a few things a thousand times. Focusing on writing will reap greater rewards than continuing to spread my gifts across different area.
Finally, persevere. Years ago I got to meet Richard and Roger Sherman, the Disney songwriters responsible for “Supercalifragilisticexpialidosious,” “The Bear Necessities,” and “It's a Small World.” A friend and I went to a meet and greet with them, and when my friend asked for advice for "wannabes," they simply said, "Persevere." It stuck with me, and I think it's the greatest challenge to anyone who wants to be creative.
I keep a news article in my files I printed off years ago. It's a one paragraph blurb about a man named Carlo Little, a food vendor who worked at Wembley Stadium. The article said Mr. Little would be selling hot dogs that weekend before the Rolling Stones concert. It then said thirty years prior to that date Mr. Little quit as the Stones' drummer weeks before the band got signed.
Without passing judgment on Mr. Little—who might be quite happy he chose the road he did—I kept that note as a reminder to never give up, never quit. I won't sacrifice family, but I won't give up either. If I miss one opportunity, another will come up, and I refuse to believe our good God would make me miss "the big one" because I wanted to play football with my kids.
Current/Recent Productions
Bots
A short sci-fi comedy directed by stand-up comic Marty Pollio. John loves sci-fi, and he loves comedy. This is one of a few short sci-fi films he hopes to produce in the near future. If you’ve ever been in an Internet chat room and discovered the guy or girl you thought you were chatting with was a computer program—a “bot”—this will give you a laugh. It’s been nearly finished for six months; one scene remains to be shot.
The Sensitive Christian Man
A series of short films for men's ministries featuring the Righteous Insanity puppets.
This was designed as a drama series for regular guys—the kind that don’t read books—something humorous to get them thinking and talking about issues relevant to guys. John could never get actors together to shoot this so the puppets stepped in.
The Last Temptation of Fluffy
Third and last in a series of shorts that have delighted audiences at horror-fests across the Midwest. Another script titled Fluffy 1947 was turned into a short story and posted on the website. The DVD will have all three films, bloopers, deleted scenes, and a few surprises. Cult icon Len Cella, the creator, director, and star of the Moron Movies, is a member of the cast.
Turn the Page
A humorous look at the "spiritual gift" of turning the pages of music for the church piano player. This one’s been in the works for four years. One scene’s in the can; two are left to be filmed with actors and directors in two Florida locations.
Wingman
A feature film mockumentary about an unemployed super hero sidekick trying to find a new career. This started as a web video series that slowly blossomed into something more. Jon Vanderford of Louisville-based Fredicus Productions will direct it. It’s their first feature film project. (John declined to put the Righteous Insanity banner on it, preferring not to expand that label to features, part of re-focusing on ministry and who he is.) Actors and crew are begging to come on board. People have fallen in love with this little story, and John is thrilled to see it come to life.
Other Writings
Martian Queen
Recently released science fiction novel about a video gamer that ends up on Mars and becomes a hero. This story is a throwback to the “sword and planet” science fiction of John Carter, Gullivar Jones, and other long-forgotten heroes of the sci-fi subgenre. Like Gullivar, this story deals with a society that has chosen leisure over work, one that has forgotten what love and sacrifice mean. To Stewart John Jones, the place seems to be a paradise, but events take a turn that forces him to take action. It is lots of fun for those that are really into the fantasy and sci-fi genres.
Cave World
John has been at this novel for two years. It’s aimed at a younger reading audience and tells the tale of a boy science fiction writer that finds himself transported into the world he created. It has lots of parallels to the Bible as the young boy struggles to help the people he created—even those that do not want his help.
Credits/Awards
“Tolerance”—Winner, best sci-fi/horror film at Cine-Fest, Louisville, KY. (Written by John Cosper and Herschel Zahnd III, based on the short story by John Cosper.)
"Tatooine TV"—Best Writer of an Audio Parody 2007 (co-winner with Jeff Roney)—StarWarsFanWorks.com
"ALIENS"—1998 CITA One Act Play Writing Contest Finalist
"Wicked Ruler"—1997 Christians in Theatre Arts Sketch Writing Contest Winner
Film, Video, and Television
Wingman--Feature Film (Righteous Insanity/Fredicus Productions)
The Last Temptation of Fluffy (Righteous Insanity Films)
Bots (Righteous Insanity/Marty Pollio Production)
Tolerance (Renegade Art Productions)
F2: Fluffy Strikes Back (Righteous Insanity Films)
Super Simple Science Stuff (Uplifting Entertainment)
Puppet Parade (Uplifting Entertainment)
Professor Bounce's Kid Fit (Uplifting Entertainment)
An Annoying Little Sin (Daystar Television)
The Ubergeek Bible (Short film series adopted by Wycliffe Bible Translators as theme for their IT recruiting department)
Holy Shorts (Righteous Insanity Films)
Fluffy (Righteous Insanity Films)
God Told Me to Break Up With You (Righteous Insanity Films)
The Adventures of Incredigirl and the Spork (Top Secret Productions)
Law & Order: College Unit (Simplified Entertainment)
Vidigreet.com (Contributing writer)
Chik-Fil-A Second Mile Service Training
Southeast Christian Church Building U DVD Devotions
Kindred Healthcare Compliance Video
Tatooine TV (RoneyZone Productions)
Stage Productions
Elevator Plays 1-3 (Specific Gravity Ensemble—contributing writer)
Kidway Christmas (Southeast Christian Church)
DaVinci Code 2: Electric Boogaloo (OAS Productions)
Journey to Bethlehem (Southeast Christian Church)
Published Works
Throwing Eggs in the Shower: Embracing and Enjoying the Single Life—Non-fiction published by Righteous Insanity, 2008
Tolerance: Aliens, Vamps, and Other Lousy Dinner Guests—Collection of short stories published by Righteous Insanity, 2008
Full Menu Available—Collection of skits, Lillenas Publishing, 2007
Scripts for All Seasons--Five skits, Lillenas Publishing, 2007
Left Overs: A Left Behind Parody—Novel published by Righteous Insanity, 2007
Spring 2007 Programming Book--Thirteen scripts, Standard Publishing, 2007
Trading Places VBS Program—Five skits, Standard Publishing 2006
Spring 2006 Programming Book—Nine skits, Standard Publishing, 2006
Christmas 2006 Programming Book--Eight scripts, Standard Publishing, 2006
The Shell Collector—Novel published by Righteous Insanity, 2005
Ideas: Crowd Breakers and Mixers 2—Contributing writer, Youth Specialties, 2003
Drama Ministry for the Dramatically Challenged—How-to book, Hawes Publishing, 2003
Ideas: Drama Skits and Sketches 3--Three skits, Youth Specialties, 2001
Ideas: Games 3—Contributing writer, Youth Specialties, 2001
Righteous Acts—Sixteen skits, Standard Publishing, 2000
Ideas: Drama Skits and Sketches 2—Twelve skits, Youth Specialties, 1999
ArtsMinistry--"God in a Box" Spring 1997
National Drama Service, Lifeway Publishing—Contributing script writer (Sixteen skits, 1996-2002)
Follow Me—Concordia Publishing Winter 1999
I Have Something to Tell You—Concordia Publishing Winter 2000
Drama Ministry, Belden Street Music Company—Contributing script writer (Over 130 skits, 2001-2009)
“Med 814”—published in untitled Comic Book Magazine, 2005
Spring 2007 Programming Book—Thirteen scripts published by Standard Publishing.
"Going Too Far"—Published in Encounter magazine by Standard Publishing.
"Jan Crouch’s Eyes" (Song parody)--The Wittenburg Door, Sept/Oct 2006
"I Can Only Imagine (Mark II)" (Song parody)--The Wittenburg Door, Sept
John got into drama ministry as a freshman in college as a volunteer church youth leader. He founded Righteous Insanity in 1994, and in 1995 he had his first sketch published by the National Drama Service. He also won the 1997 Christians in Theatre Arts Dramatic Sketch Writing contest and was runner-up in the one-act play competition.
John spent seven years leading drama at his church before moving to Youth for Christ in 2000. A year later he started the Righteous Insanity touring company, a ministry that spent four years traveling the US and Canada performing and teaching drama. John has also taught drama at Barret Traditional Middle School and St. Rita's Catholic School in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as Christian Academy of Indiana in New Albany, Indiana.
In 2002 John shot his first short film, and in 2004 he followed up with Fluffy, the first of a trilogy of horror/sci-fi parodies. He has since written and directed close to 100 shorts for Righteous Insanity and other ministries. His first feature film production, Wingman, is scheduled to begin shooting in April of 2010.
David Boyer Interview with
John Cosper
What would you say have been your biggest hurdles to overcome as a writer? Screenwriting was what turned out to be a real challenge for me.
JC: The one thing screenwriting books and classes pound into you more than anything else is formatting. Screenwriting is a meticulous and demanding style as far as how your page is aligned, and the big scare story you always hear is, "If a reader opens to page one and sees your margins are off, they're going to decide you're an amateur and toss it out." I don't know how true that is, but there's some validity to it, and I think it's worth the investment of a good screenwriting program that allows you not to worry over such things.
That said, I've been using a template in Word for the better part of a decade that I cannibalized from another writer I once worked with. It's not perfect, but as I'm dealing with smaller, indie production groups and not Paramount Pictures, it does the job for me.
As far as the style of writing, the biggest challenge for me was learning to follow the screenwriter's edict: show, don't tell. Having written for the stage so many years—primarily as a sketch writer—I was used to dialogue-heavy scripts. My first attempts at screenwriting were very dialogue heavy, and it's taken me a while to learn to write in the more visual style.
That's not to say you can't make a dialogue-heavy film. Christopher Guest's movies are very verbal, and Woody Allen's films are mostly verbal (though if you go back, he had as much physical comedy in his early work as he did verbal). But generally speaking, a producer or director wants a script that lets them visualize—not just hear—your story. Film is a visual art, and the more you learn to write visually, the better.
As a filmmaker, what is your personal opinion of all the ”subgenres” in film? Now we have noir/horror, sci-fi/thriller, romance/horror (vampires) and even “horror/suspense.” Maybe it's just me, but I begin to tire of genres that, fused together, make no sense whatsoever, and depend on bad dialogue, graphic violence, sex, nudity, and offensive language to create revenue, and more often than not, succeed in doing so.
JC: Funny you should ask this question, as I produced a series of horror/sci-fi parodies and am working on a comic book/mockumentary. Hybrid genres certainly seem to be the order of the day. There are so many movies made every year, and so many films already made and established, it's hard to give the audience something new. I think that's why you see so many crossovers between genres and story types that previously would have been separated. People want to see something new, but as Solomon said a few millennia before the rise of Hollywood, there is nothing new under the sun. Thus it becomes the challenge for screenwriters to give us something old in a new way, hence all the hybrids you see.
I don't have a problem with crossovers if they're clever and well done. I have a bigger issue with people rewriting the rules of genres, characters, and archetypes in ways that do not make sense. You can't make a movie about men who wear ten gallon hats and spurs and call them Vikings. So why are we writing books and making movies about Goth kids that sparkle in the sunlight and call themselves vampires? Drives me nuts!
I'd also agree that the bad stories, dialogue, and unnecessary gore and nudity are trends we can do without. Screenwriting books and classes are very much to blame for their proliferation; many of the books I've read hype up the direct-to-video horror film market, which leads people to believe that some blood and flesh will give them a shortcut to money. Enough of them keep making money that the cycle continues to be perpetuated. These movies will never stand the test of time, and most are quickly forgotten. But as long as audiences keep going for it, I don't think that will change.
That's the real rub, the audience. Sometimes they see something they like at the right moment in time, and the worst script in the world becomes a bit hit. This isn't just the domain of small films either. Titanic was a terrible script, overly-long with only one dynamic character in the bunch, one who really isn't that likeable to everyone. But when you add beautiful stars and groundbreaking effects, it's got just enough to put it over the top.
If Titanic is the worst script ever, Top Gun has to be second worst. But while the dialogue is painful to hear over and over, the music, the cinematography, and the best dogfights ever put to film make it a classic.
I think that goes back to the nature of film as a visual form. The right star, good camera work, music, emotion, editing, you can cover a world of sins in your script. But that's no excuse for not working, studying, and honing your craft. Most of us won't ever have the luxuries Hollywood producers have, so our scripts had better be good.
Then we have all of the lame “remakes” of classic films, too, which are more often than not complete messes in comparison with the originals. Yet the filmmakers say they are using their own “personal vision” to pay homage to the film in question. What is the worst remake you've seen?
JC: I love the original version of The House on Haunted Hill. It's a ghoulish, campy horror film filled with as much mystery as goofiness. The movie is vague about whether the house is actually haunted with an ending that leaves you wondering whether the tales about ghosts are real. The remake is an abomination that leaves nothing to the imagination, a bloody, effects-heavy slasher-fest that kills everything the original has going for, right down to Geoffrey Rush's painful Vincent Price impression.
Another disappointment was The Day the Earth Stood Still. The original stands as one of the top five greatest science fiction stories of all time with a timeless message and a powerful Christ allegory at the film's backbone. The remake gives us a great reinvention of the ship and Gort, the killer robot, but the revised theme—a pro-environmental message—cripples the story. It feels forced from the outset, and the end of the movie leaves me thinking, this could have been so much more if they'd kept the original theme.
As a former writer of horror fiction and screenplays, I have come across the subject of demons more than once, and to be honest, it gave me the creeps. To me, the subject—or practice of—demonology is a dangerous thing to be playing around with. As a Christian, do you believe in demons?
JC: I do. I believe there is a spiritual realm we can't see and that spiritual warfare is happening all around us. I'm not as focused on it as some believers are. I'm a Southern Baptist at the core and while we acknowledge angels and demons we just don't dwell on them.
For that reason, I'm not as uncomfortable with the subject matter as some. (My father, for instance, won't even watch Hellboy.) The main reason I don't write about demons is that it's just overdone—in horror and in Christian films. This goes back to what I said earlier about giving audiences something they've never seen before. If it were up to me I'd ban Christian producers from making any more movies involving spiritual warfare, the rapture, the book of Revelation, the prodigal son story, and "disease of the week" stories. Unfortunately, this is all the people with the money to invest in Christian films seem to want.
You tend to pen sci-fi as well as “inspirational” fiction. Define the latter please.
JC: That's the million dollar question, isn't it? I like how you phrase it, though, "inspirational" and not "Christian." I definitely subscribe to the "only people can be Christian" logic. But fiction that challenges you in a way that can lead you closer to Christ can definitely be categorized as inspirational fiction.
I don't think this is limited to material produced by Christians, and that's where the ambiguity comes in. I mentioned The Day the Earth Stood Still as a Christ allegory. Such a film could be used to direct people to Christ, just as many youth groups have used films like The Matrix to point to Jesus. It's all a matter of how it's presented.
I'd love to see Christian moviegoers better educated on things such as story and theme, knowledge that would allow them to glean truth from any genre film. Movies in themselves cannot save people. But thinking, caring Christians can use them as a tool to open the door. Once you understand how to recognize the Christ story, which is essentially the “hero's journey” that Joseph Campbell argued is present in every culture around the world, you can use that to direct anyone to Christ. Science fiction's a great place to find it too. Even bad movies like Flash Gordon and Mom and Dad Save the World are built on the “hero's journey.”
As a professional writer of stage, screen and page, what certain character stands out as the most difficult to transfer to screen?
JC: Jesus! As a general rule, I avoid writing Jesus into scripts at all costs. The reason? Who am I to put words into the mouth of the Son of God? Any time you see Jesus in one of my scripts (other than a few early skits), it's in one of two forms. Either he's saying words you can look up and find in scripture or it's a portrayal of the Jesus that we, as Christians, project to the world. In other words, I try to reflect the Jesus we show the world by our hypocrisy and selfishness.
I wrote a skit about a girl going on a mission trip. One of her friends chided her for her decision as she was going to miss the "last lock-in of their high school careers" to go and serve. The first girl then asked her friend if Jesus would have chosen a lock-in over a mission trip. To make the point, the scene then shifts to Jesus and the disciples yucking it up, playing limbo and youth group games on the night of the last supper. Some folks would call that sacrilege, and out of context, I'd agree. But again, the point was to show Christians the absurdity of their thinking, not to mock Christ.
What was writing dramas for your church like? Were they for church plays?
JC: I still write for churches. At the moment, I'm working on a short film for a sermon series, a VBS drama series, and a children's church camp complete with curriculum. Much as I love screenwriting, sketch writing for churches is home base for me. It's where my gift is strongest, and it's where my passion lies. I've written probably 1100-1200 sketches over the past sixteen years along with 50-60 plays, all of them intended for use in ministry.
This sort of writing is challenging because there's always an agenda, a message, a purpose. The biggest part of the challenge is not coming off as preachy. You have to tell a story that will lead the audience to draw the conclusion you want rather than having a character come out and state it. This gives the audience ownership in the lesson taught and it makes it harder for them to dismiss it. If you tell them, "Don't have sex outside marriage," they'll say, "Yes, but—" and rationalize your message away. Give them a story that leads them to the same conclusion, it's harder for them to argue it away.
I don't write "slice of life" as much as most church writers. It's boring and it's been done. I like satire, and I like coming up with parables, stories that don't appear to be about what you're discussing on the surface. I wrote a script about relationships called, "A Little Skit about Jack and Diane." Diane is a car—owned by Jack—that is much-beloved until she starts to fall apart. Jack begins to neglect her, and as she deteriorates, the neglect turns into abuse. The story of a man and his car stood in for a story about treating your girlfriend or wife with respect.
The Fluffy movies are all allegories about the wages of sin. Years ago, I read a book about the correlation between the horror genre and the sin nature of man called Monsters from the Id. The author proposed that the horror genre was directly linked to the sexual revolution that came out of the Enlightenment. On the surface, mankind liberated himself from the Bible and traditional morality, but as he did, the subconscious rose to remind us that, like it or not, we were doing something horribly wrong. The author examined the lives of Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker, both of whom paid dire consequences for the “enlightened” lifestyle they lived. Out of these experiences, the author concluded, Frankenstein and Dracula were born. He then traced the evolution of horror from them to the modern day horror film culture up to the scream movies where Jaime Kennedy voiced what was long known to be true: If you have sex in a horror movie, you're going to die.
Out of this came Fluffy, the story of a cute and fuzzy alien from outer space with a taste for human flesh. Fluffy is brought to Earth by Dex Tucker, a married scientist with a wandering eye when it comes to the ladies. Dex brings Fluffy (sin) into his home, and the home of his mistress. In the end, Fluffy kills his family, his mistress, and Dex before escaping into the wild. A cute and fuzzy alien thus becomes the parable about how sin—specifically sexual sin—destroys the lives of the sinner and those around him.
F2: Fluffy Strikes Back rehashes the same story in a campier way. The symbolism of Fluffy is made a little more overt through campy humor and situations. A scene at the vet with Fluffy features dialogue that could be a doctor and a patient diagnosed with VD.
The Last Temptation of Fluffy expands on the themes with scientists trying to create a "safe Fluffy" that "anyone can enjoy whenever they want." It also deals with the issue of fidelity in marriage as the main heroine is revealed to have a strained marital relationship with the man responsible for the safe-Fluffy project. Only when they come back together are they able to defeat Fluffy.
Substitute the word "sin" for "Fluffy" and the message becomes clear. These movies get away with it though because of the absurdity of the dialogue and the campy humor. The first two have made audiences laugh at horror film fests, not bastions of Christian film, mind you, and the third will make its festival premiere shortly.
What has been your biggest hurdle as far as writing Christian-themed material?
JC: Avoiding the sermonette. Some Christian writers are known for it. We've all done it. You have to remember you're a storyteller, not a preacher, and let your story—actions—speak for you. If you go back and find a character preaching, cut the whole speech and make them act instead. Or make the character they preach to do the acting. Trust your audience to get it.
A great model to follow is the parables of Jesus. Not a single one of them ever mentioned God, and only in private did Jesus ever explain anything. I always tell people that explanation is the preacher’s job. You get out there, introduce the problem, and engage the audience. Then let the preacher bring in the Word of God and finish it off.
Any last words of faith or inspiration?
JC: Keep your priorities straight, focus on your strengths, and persevere.
Life has changed dramatically for me since I shot Fluffy in 2004. I've gone from a single guy living alone (or with the occasional roommate) with no social life and all the time in the world to married with children and two jobs. About the only thing that hasn't changed is that I am still writing—that and I still don't have a social life. The bulk of the film production I've done happened right before and after getting married. Film production is a demanding and time-consuming endeavor, especially for the director. I loved being on set, loved the work, and loved the camaraderie on set. But I hated the time away from my family, especially once the first kid arrived.
After F2: Fluffy Strikes Back, I gave up directing. I did a marathon film shoot (three shorts in one night) six months later, but I haven't done much with live actors myself since. These days when I need actors I look for cameramen and directors to go out and bring me back what I want. It means I have all the chores and challenges of producing but I don't have to sacrifice time with the family.
The Last Temptation of Fluffy was shot in four different states by six different cameramen over a period of nearly six months. In many ways it was a bigger challenge than F2—a two-day film shoot—but well worth the sacrifice. I currently have three other films in process under different directors.
I've also begun working with puppets, a production method that again allows me maximum time with the kids and wife. Puppets don't have lives or schedules and they don't need to be fed. They're also a lot of fun.
I could probably be a lot further along in pursuing a career as a filmmaker if I hadn't made these sacrifices but I have never regretted putting my family first. Film opportunities will come and go but my kids will only be this age once. I've not only enjoyed my time with them, I've sensed that God has blessed my writing and film endeavors as a result.
Focusing on priorities has also helped me concentrate on what I do best: writing. My desire to put family first led to a lot of self-examination. Everything I do I evaluate and ask if it fits my personal and professional goals. I have refocused on writing for ministry. I have changed the way I market myself to churches and to production companies. It's allowed me to focus more on my writing strengths and to find more opportunities for writing.
Back in high school I played trombone in marching band. I was good and I could have gone to college on a music scholarship. I haven't touched my trombone in years. It wasn't my passion and it fell by the wayside. I don't regret it because music would have meant sacrificing time elsewhere and I am very happy with the direction I chose. A commercial I hear on the radio all the time says you don't become a master doing a thousand things; you become a master by doing a few things a thousand times. Focusing on writing will reap greater rewards than continuing to spread my gifts across different area.
Finally, persevere. Years ago I got to meet Richard and Roger Sherman, the Disney songwriters responsible for “Supercalifragilisticexpialidosious,” “The Bear Necessities,” and “It's a Small World.” A friend and I went to a meet and greet with them, and when my friend asked for advice for "wannabes," they simply said, "Persevere." It stuck with me, and I think it's the greatest challenge to anyone who wants to be creative.
I keep a news article in my files I printed off years ago. It's a one paragraph blurb about a man named Carlo Little, a food vendor who worked at Wembley Stadium. The article said Mr. Little would be selling hot dogs that weekend before the Rolling Stones concert. It then said thirty years prior to that date Mr. Little quit as the Stones' drummer weeks before the band got signed.
Without passing judgment on Mr. Little—who might be quite happy he chose the road he did—I kept that note as a reminder to never give up, never quit. I won't sacrifice family, but I won't give up either. If I miss one opportunity, another will come up, and I refuse to believe our good God would make me miss "the big one" because I wanted to play football with my kids.
Current/Recent Productions
Bots
A short sci-fi comedy directed by stand-up comic Marty Pollio. John loves sci-fi, and he loves comedy. This is one of a few short sci-fi films he hopes to produce in the near future. If you’ve ever been in an Internet chat room and discovered the guy or girl you thought you were chatting with was a computer program—a “bot”—this will give you a laugh. It’s been nearly finished for six months; one scene remains to be shot.
The Sensitive Christian Man
A series of short films for men's ministries featuring the Righteous Insanity puppets.
This was designed as a drama series for regular guys—the kind that don’t read books—something humorous to get them thinking and talking about issues relevant to guys. John could never get actors together to shoot this so the puppets stepped in.
The Last Temptation of Fluffy
Third and last in a series of shorts that have delighted audiences at horror-fests across the Midwest. Another script titled Fluffy 1947 was turned into a short story and posted on the website. The DVD will have all three films, bloopers, deleted scenes, and a few surprises. Cult icon Len Cella, the creator, director, and star of the Moron Movies, is a member of the cast.
Turn the Page
A humorous look at the "spiritual gift" of turning the pages of music for the church piano player. This one’s been in the works for four years. One scene’s in the can; two are left to be filmed with actors and directors in two Florida locations.
Wingman
A feature film mockumentary about an unemployed super hero sidekick trying to find a new career. This started as a web video series that slowly blossomed into something more. Jon Vanderford of Louisville-based Fredicus Productions will direct it. It’s their first feature film project. (John declined to put the Righteous Insanity banner on it, preferring not to expand that label to features, part of re-focusing on ministry and who he is.) Actors and crew are begging to come on board. People have fallen in love with this little story, and John is thrilled to see it come to life.
Other Writings
Martian Queen
Recently released science fiction novel about a video gamer that ends up on Mars and becomes a hero. This story is a throwback to the “sword and planet” science fiction of John Carter, Gullivar Jones, and other long-forgotten heroes of the sci-fi subgenre. Like Gullivar, this story deals with a society that has chosen leisure over work, one that has forgotten what love and sacrifice mean. To Stewart John Jones, the place seems to be a paradise, but events take a turn that forces him to take action. It is lots of fun for those that are really into the fantasy and sci-fi genres.
Cave World
John has been at this novel for two years. It’s aimed at a younger reading audience and tells the tale of a boy science fiction writer that finds himself transported into the world he created. It has lots of parallels to the Bible as the young boy struggles to help the people he created—even those that do not want his help.
Credits/Awards
“Tolerance”—Winner, best sci-fi/horror film at Cine-Fest, Louisville, KY. (Written by John Cosper and Herschel Zahnd III, based on the short story by John Cosper.)
"Tatooine TV"—Best Writer of an Audio Parody 2007 (co-winner with Jeff Roney)—StarWarsFanWorks.com
"ALIENS"—1998 CITA One Act Play Writing Contest Finalist
"Wicked Ruler"—1997 Christians in Theatre Arts Sketch Writing Contest Winner
Film, Video, and Television
Wingman--Feature Film (Righteous Insanity/Fredicus Productions)
The Last Temptation of Fluffy (Righteous Insanity Films)
Bots (Righteous Insanity/Marty Pollio Production)
Tolerance (Renegade Art Productions)
F2: Fluffy Strikes Back (Righteous Insanity Films)
Super Simple Science Stuff (Uplifting Entertainment)
Puppet Parade (Uplifting Entertainment)
Professor Bounce's Kid Fit (Uplifting Entertainment)
An Annoying Little Sin (Daystar Television)
The Ubergeek Bible (Short film series adopted by Wycliffe Bible Translators as theme for their IT recruiting department)
Holy Shorts (Righteous Insanity Films)
Fluffy (Righteous Insanity Films)
God Told Me to Break Up With You (Righteous Insanity Films)
The Adventures of Incredigirl and the Spork (Top Secret Productions)
Law & Order: College Unit (Simplified Entertainment)
Vidigreet.com (Contributing writer)
Chik-Fil-A Second Mile Service Training
Southeast Christian Church Building U DVD Devotions
Kindred Healthcare Compliance Video
Tatooine TV (RoneyZone Productions)
Stage Productions
Elevator Plays 1-3 (Specific Gravity Ensemble—contributing writer)
Kidway Christmas (Southeast Christian Church)
DaVinci Code 2: Electric Boogaloo (OAS Productions)
Journey to Bethlehem (Southeast Christian Church)
Published Works
Throwing Eggs in the Shower: Embracing and Enjoying the Single Life—Non-fiction published by Righteous Insanity, 2008
Tolerance: Aliens, Vamps, and Other Lousy Dinner Guests—Collection of short stories published by Righteous Insanity, 2008
Full Menu Available—Collection of skits, Lillenas Publishing, 2007
Scripts for All Seasons--Five skits, Lillenas Publishing, 2007
Left Overs: A Left Behind Parody—Novel published by Righteous Insanity, 2007
Spring 2007 Programming Book--Thirteen scripts, Standard Publishing, 2007
Trading Places VBS Program—Five skits, Standard Publishing 2006
Spring 2006 Programming Book—Nine skits, Standard Publishing, 2006
Christmas 2006 Programming Book--Eight scripts, Standard Publishing, 2006
The Shell Collector—Novel published by Righteous Insanity, 2005
Ideas: Crowd Breakers and Mixers 2—Contributing writer, Youth Specialties, 2003
Drama Ministry for the Dramatically Challenged—How-to book, Hawes Publishing, 2003
Ideas: Drama Skits and Sketches 3--Three skits, Youth Specialties, 2001
Ideas: Games 3—Contributing writer, Youth Specialties, 2001
Righteous Acts—Sixteen skits, Standard Publishing, 2000
Ideas: Drama Skits and Sketches 2—Twelve skits, Youth Specialties, 1999
ArtsMinistry--"God in a Box" Spring 1997
National Drama Service, Lifeway Publishing—Contributing script writer (Sixteen skits, 1996-2002)
Follow Me—Concordia Publishing Winter 1999
I Have Something to Tell You—Concordia Publishing Winter 2000
Drama Ministry, Belden Street Music Company—Contributing script writer (Over 130 skits, 2001-2009)
“Med 814”—published in untitled Comic Book Magazine, 2005
Spring 2007 Programming Book—Thirteen scripts published by Standard Publishing.
"Going Too Far"—Published in Encounter magazine by Standard Publishing.
"Jan Crouch’s Eyes" (Song parody)--The Wittenburg Door, Sept/Oct 2006
"I Can Only Imagine (Mark II)" (Song parody)--The Wittenburg Door, Sept
Richard Rossi
Aimee Semple McPherson is as provocative as it is touching and explores the human side of one of America's towering spiritual icons. You'll find a sensitive script, ample acting, and a story that portrays the Pentecostal woman who, like the rest of us, lived in a skin of real flesh...If you can believe that Christian legends still wear a skin that longs to be touched, THIS MOVIE IS A MUST-SEE!"
--Charisma Magazine, Ed Donnally
~*~
Richard Rossi is an Academy Award-considered filmmaker, actor, and musician. His feature film, Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story was voted the number one spot on the IGFA list of the “100 Greatest Guerrilla Films of All Time” and is available through Netflix, Blockbuster, and Amazon. Recent acting roles for Richard include: the husband of the female faith-healer in the above-mentioned Sister Aimee (finalist for best feature in Milan) and an A-list director in the Hollywood tale, Live Fast, Die Young, which led the Laemmle in receipts. Richard's next role is the scout who discovers Roberto Clemente in a baseball bio-pic. Richard teaches guitar privately and at Los Angeles Valley College. His first novel, a coming-of-age story entitled, Stick Man, will be released worldwide in 2010 (published by Savant Books.) He and his wife of twenty-five years, Sherrie, recently founded Eternal Grace, a Christian community of actors, artists, writers, and musicians in Hollywood.
~*~
David Boyer Interview with
Richard Rossi
[email protected]
http://www.myspace.com/clementemovie
http://www.aimeesemplemcphersonmovie.com
As a filmmaker, how many hours of practice would you recommend to an aspiring filmmaker before attempting to produce a really well-crafted film?
RR: It’s important to get started making art without worrying about the result. We learn to write by writing; we learn to act by acting; we learn to make films by making films. We must take care of the quantity and let God take care of the quality. In other words, make movies, keep doing it, and your craft will grow.
What specific factors differentiate Christian films from the average theatre release?
RR: The term “Christian film” is used in church circles to describe movies made by evangelical Christians. In my opinion, the term “Christian film” does not guarantee the quality of the film’s artistry or message. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” Dividing everything into a dichotomy of sacred and secular is common in the thinking of some religious people. I prefer to look for God’s hand and message throughout the earth and I often find films that show faith in a powerful way, some made by evangelical Christians, but more often in some that are not called “Christian films.” One example of this off the top of my head is one of my favorite films, On the Waterfront, a movie starring Brando that has one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard delivered by Karl Malden (the priest character) which results in a transformation in Brando’s character. The message that Jesus wants us to love others and stand up for the weak and oppressed comes through very clearly.
The Bible stories show the full gamut of human nature. David is called a man after God’s own heart. His victories of faith are detailed and his psalms of worship are there for us to see his intimate relationship with God. David’s flaws and faults are also there, like the problems with Bathsheba and Uriah. I think films have a unique opportunity to show this multi-layered aspect of humans who are fallen, yet created in the image of God, a mixture of light and shadow. In Sister Aimee, I didn’t shrink back from showing that she stumbled and bumbled along the way, that she was married three times, had a morals trial in court, and died under rumors of suicide. Yet she was an amazing church-planting evangelist, and the denomination she founded (The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel) now numbers 32,000 congregations worldwide. Her fruit has remained. The best films show both sides of the duality of people, like Robert Duvall’s The Apostle. He captures accurately the feel of the Pentecostal preacher and his world and the mix of emotions he experiences, praise and lust, eroticism and religion, love and violence, and ultimately redemption and eternal grace.
The Apostle character is not at all one-dimensional as some evangelical movies tend to do when they portray the Christian as wholly good and godly. Too often Christian films suffer from what I call the “white hat and black hat approach,” like an old B-Western with the good guys in white hats and the bad guys in black hats. The Christians are seen as perfect people ready to be “raptured” and the non-Christians are evil, self-centered people God is ready to judge in fiery wrath. If we’re honest, we know the world isn’t like that. The dualistic framework of dividing humanity into a binary of two camps—the born-again believers who are shining and shimmering, being conformed to Christ, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, and on the other side, the wicked, liberal unbelievers who are nasty, immoral, fleshly, wicked people—does not correspond to the reality of how things really are, that unbelievers are often nicer people. Whether their niceness stems from nature, nurture, or the light from Jesus that lights everyone who comes into the world created in God’s image, I don’t know. I value a core principle that everyone is made in the image of God and looking for the light and shadows in my characters rather than discounting and dividing people anymore. I don’t believe in the simplistic dualism of guys in the white hats and in the black hats, and this is why I reject other tenets of fundamentalist films, like their conspiratorial view of the world.
Do you think that trying to wear too many hats can hurt the overall quality of the film?
RR: Multi-tasking is reality for the guerrilla filmmaker. In an ideal world, we would like to have millions of dollars to hire award-winning artists in all levels of production, but it’s better to make art with what God puts in our hand than to not create at all. In the story of Moses, God asked him, “What is in thy hand?” and Moses replied, “A rod.” God told Moses, “It shall be the rod of God.” For the low-budget auteur, the rod may be the camcorder in his hand and by financial necessity he may have to ask God to inspire his creativity through the palette of his meager equipment and team. Film is a collaborative effort and I think everyone who is involved influences the final outcome of the film, but I would caution filmmakers not to draw back from making movies because you don’t have a lot of people and resources. Get help and input from as many people as you can, but sometimes the reality is the filmmaker finds he has to rely on himself in many capacities and leave the outcome to God. Make a movie with what you have. Don’t wait for an elusive millionaire to show up and fund you or a big studio system to green-light you. Green-light yourself.
Tell me, what first prompted your interest in becoming a filmmaker? An actor? Any early influences?
RR: The years I spent in the anti-art wilderness of Falwellian fundamentalism (I attended Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University where I earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in pastoral and biblical studies), isolated me from a lot of the wonderful moviemaking out there. On the positive side, they did show some classic films on campus (edited though for conservative Christian consumption). Movie theatres were forbidden by Falwell’s “Liberty Way,” a legalistic law-book we were commanded to obey. After I made my spiritual journey from fundamentalism to freedom, from guilt to grace, I played catch-up and educated myself on the history of film by borrowing movies from the public library and taking a film history class at Los Angeles Valley College. My second film school was the New Beverly Cinema, a revival theatre in Hollywood owned by Quentin Tarantino that shows two independent or classic films every night. European filmmakers inspired me, like Bergman and Fellini. Bergman’s Persona impacted me in its style of close-ups of the actor’s hands and faces. It influenced me and gave me the idea to shoot a lot of close-ups when I made my movie, Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story. This enabled me to me to create a sense of Sister Aimee’s claustrophobia and also make a 1920’s period piece on a low budget without the pressure to create an epic with thousands of extras and period cars and sets. One of the highlights of my moviemaking career was when the New Beverly showed Sister Aimee and the owner told me it set a theatrical attendance record for the best-attended digital film shown there.
The Method actors of the fifties (Brando, Dean, Clift) are my favorites. Marlon Brando was my greatest influence as an actor and seeing his work in On the Waterfront, Godfather, Last Tango In Paris, and A Streetcar Named Desire was a turning point for me. I loved James Dean in Rebel without a Cause and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun. Robert Redford inspired me in The Natural, a film that gave me the idea to make my upcoming film with a mythic motif. It’s a baseball bio-pic entitled Baseball’s Last Hero: The Roberto Clemente Story. I’m raising money to make it now.
What’s this about you having been a “rock and roll preacher” at one time?
RR: I grew up playing guitar in the bars of Pittsburgh. When I became a born-again Christian as a teenager, I shared my faith by playing Christian rock I composed in nightclubs and I started churches that worshipped with guitars instead of an organ or piano. Conservative Christians criticized me, saying rock was the devil’s music. Now it’s common, even in conservative evangelical congregations, to play guitars and have a worship band. But when I first did it, it was controversial. I’ve always been drawn to expressing my faith in an edgy and creative way, so my moviemaking follows that same theme of recognizing the Creator as the Master Artist, and our creativity as a small part of God’s creativity, an expression of the image of God in us. Art is a ministry and ministry is an art. I believe our imaginations can soar when we choose to be innovators rather than imitators. I encourage people of faith to follow their interests and intuition even if their religious circles try to discourage them. Our talents are gifts from God. What we do with our talents is our gift back.
Tell me about Sister Aimee. As much as I hate to admit it, I’ve never heard of her before now.
RR: She was the fabled female evangelist who built a temple of Hollywood proportions in the Roaring Twenties here in Los Angeles. Sister Aimee was front-page news, the most famous female faith-healer of her time, especially when she disappeared in 1927 at Venice Beach. She claimed to be kidnapped. Our film traces her story from her teen years through her life of preaching the gospel and praying for the sick until her controversial death by overdose in 1944. I chose her story because I identified with her and used her story as an allegory for my life and some of the things I’ve gone through. For those interested in her life, my film Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story is available through Amazon, Netflix, and Blockbuster.
The Eternal Grace community sounds great. Is it a Christian-only type of thing or can anyone join in?
RR: Although our gatherings our Christ-centered, anyone is welcome whether they consider themselves a Christian or not. We seek to grow by attraction rather than promotion so we do not seek to convert anyone by debate or manipulation. We hope the presence of Christ where two or more gather in his name will touch hearts with an awareness of God’s love that attracts them to him.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to receive God’s eternal grace and to give grace to ourselves and to others. We believe God is the Creator, the Master Artist. The Holy Spirit is highly creative. Therefore, we support the creativity in each other. We are pioneers, open to the adventure of faith. We express love through art, music, compassion, and prayer. We cooperate with God, praying, “Thy will, not mine, be done.” Our spiritual journeys have taken us through different groups, cross-pollinating various teachings, ideas, and experiences. Through it all, we’ve come to understand that the goal is love, that they will know we are his disciples by our love. Love fulfills the law. Love covers a multitude of sins and love never fails.
Many of us have moved here to Hollywood from somewhere else, and many of us came here for a creative career, a calling to express ourselves. We highly value and encourage artistic gifts and expression. We’re pioneers. The same leap of faith that enabled us to venture to L.A. enables us to pioneer spiritually and creatively. We’re planting Eternal Grace, a church that brings Christ, creativity, and community together.
We’re believers in God, the one the Bible describes as unconditional love, and we have a passionate hunger for a true spiritual connection beyond religion and the established church. Eternal Grace is a church that welcomes artists, supporting their creative journey without judgment. Worship includes following our artistic passions. As the Spirit hovered over the waters in God’s creation in the beginning, his Spirit hovers over us as we create today. There’s a symbiotic relationship between the Creator and creativity. Growing in relationship to one can open us to more of the other.
We come from diverse backgrounds and sometimes we may disagree agreeably. What unifies us is our desire to do the works of Jesus, healing, restoring, and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. We read the Gospels and Book of Acts not just as history books but as models for church life.
We seek to extend the ministry of God’s Spirit by bringing healing to the hurting. Eternal Grace heals the hurting hearts of artists and actors, minstrels, and mavericks, bohemians and burned-out believers, with the embrace of God’s radical grace.
Where do you see yourself, say, ten years from now? Twenty?
RR: There are two parts to that, being and doing. As far as being, I want a life of no regrets. I want to continue to grow and learn. I’m always reading books and taking classes. I want to keep getting better as a writer, actor, director, and musician. I want to keep growing spiritually and bring God’s healing and recovery to others that have been through a lot in their lives as I have, particularly people like me from imperfect families with imperfect pasts. Eternal Grace is a Christian community where imperfect people are perfectly welcome. I want to be a good father, husband, friend, mentor, and teacher. I want to stay at peace with God, myself, and others.
Now for the doing. My first novel, a coming-of-age story entitled Stick Man is slated to come out in 2010. I have three films in various stages of development I want to make soon: my baseball bio-pic about Roberto Clemente, a film about the Azusa Street revival, and the film version of my novel Stick Man. I will continue to be a working actor in mainstream and independent film, television, and theatre. I have a second novel in the works, a historical novel about Sister Aimee. My wife and I also want to do some more cross-country trips. We like seeing America by land, all the different and diverse states. It’s such a beautiful country filled with great people. This gives us a chance to visit our sister churches in other states.
I’m also writing a nonfiction book about my understanding of the teachings of Jesus and grace. I see Eternal Grace in Hollywood as a mother church, a spiritual sending community that will plant sister churches that plant other churches so Eternal Grace will be a church-planting movement that will multiply hundreds of churches in the next twenty years. These congregations will nurture artists, providing them with training in acting, writing, filmmaking, and creativity so they can see their wildest dreams and the desires of their hearts as artists come true. As the psalmist wrote, “Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart.” I want to start a foundation that helps artists and does real compassionate work among disadvantaged children to do our part to make up for the travesty that here in America millions of children have no health insurance and are hungry. Sadly, the policies that support these injustices are too often supported by those who claim the name of Christ. Our foundation will meet the real needs of people with compassion, grace, and understanding.
Any last words of faith or inspiration?
RR: The church is built on a revelation and understanding of who Jesus is (Matthew 16:18). On New Year’s Eve, 2009, we were celebrating with an Eternal Grace house church that gathered at our apartment Thursday nights. At one point in the evening the larger group of over twenty people broke into smaller groups of three to five people to pray for each other and for the visions in their hearts for 2010. I was led of the Spirit to go to our back bedroom by myself. I meditated for about thirty minutes and Jesus spoke clearly to me, “Take care of me, and I’ll take care of you.”
I knew in my heart the fullness of the statement. I’m to teach who Jesus really is, correcting as best I can some of the bad P.R. he’s been given by rigid, religious fundamentalists, and work with him in building churches based on his eternal grace, a clear understanding of the real Jesus. He takes care of me, my family, our Eternal Grace churches, and my creativity and artistic work. In John 12:32, He promises when we lift him up, a clear understanding of the Real Jesus, not the Religious Jesus, all are drawn unto him. Prophetically, we know that one day, “Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord” (Philippians 2:10, 11).
He showed me in a flash of insight that flooded in on me like an epiphany the contrasts between the Real Jesus and the Religious Jesus. II Corinthians 3:6 says, “The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life.” These contrasts were a litany of deep spiritual understandings of the letter of the law versus the Jesus of love. I will elaborate on these truths in detail in a book I’m writing, tentatively titled, Getting to Know the Real Jesus, but I will share a few of them succinctly:
The Religious Jesus is law. The Real Jesus is love.
The Religious Jesus brings guilt. The Real Jesus brings grace.
The Religious Jesus brings condemnation. The Real Jesus brings compassion.
The Religious Jesus hurts people. The Real Jesus heals people.
The Religious Jesus uses people to build the church.
The Real Jesus uses the church to build people.
As a church planter, I’ve learned firsthand the differences between churches started on the foundation of the Religious Jesus versus churches started on the foundation of the Real Jesus. Eternal Grace Church, located here in Hollywood, has been the healthiest church community my wife and I have birthed because we’ve become healthier in our understanding of God’s eternal grace. My prayer is that Eternal Grace churches will continue to flourish and multiply, bearing lasting fruit in sharing the unconditional love and eternal healing grace of the Real Jesus.
I think it is essential to understand that the creative potential in human beings is the image of God. Whether or not we think of ourselves as artists, we are. To be artistic is to create, an instinct we were all given. Within each of us is creativity because we were made in God’s image. Letting go of rigid religious thinking enables our artistic, spontaneous side to emerge. Find an outlet for creativity, whether its filmmaking, music, writing, refinishing furniture, cooking, puppetry, acting, dance, drawing, embroidering, or gardening—the possibilities are endless.
Anything that lets us create something outside ourselves is good. The reward is a sense of self-expression, the joy that we made something and can see ourselves in it. Sometimes what we create reaches others as well. The more I let go of the legalistic ways of thinking from the toxic teachings of fundamentalism, the more I see my creativity soar. My creativity is more important to me than rigid ways of thinking from my past indoctrination under Jerry Falwell and other preachers of the letter of the law. Like I quoted before from the Bible, “The letter of the law killeth, but the Spirit gives life.” I welcome the Spirit to bring life and creativity. Here are seven principles I believe the Holy Spirit is saying to artists:
1. The Master Artist loves to support artists.
2. The Holy Spirit hovers over creation in Genesis 1 and hovers over us as we create today. The Holy Spirit is highly creative.
3. Creativity shows we are made in the image of the Creator. Our creativity is a part of his creativity. Therefore, moving toward our creativity can open us to the Creator and vice-versa.
4. Those who work together creatively often form a natural community. Three C’s: Christ, Creativity, Community.
5. Art is a ministry and ministry is an art. We bless artists to create freely and without judgment.
6. Art is an eternal seed reaching not only multiple countries but multiple generations.
7. Creating churches of artists in the 21st century requires new wineskins and new wine. We need to show them the Real Jesus, not the Religious Jesus (John 12:32).
One more thing: I wrote a prayer for artists I want to share in closing that other artists have told me they appreciate and some incorporate into their own prayer and meditation: “Thank you, God, for the talents you’ve entrusted to me and that my creativity is a small part of your creativity. I glorify you with my art as an act of worship. Release me from the bondage of the extremes of grandiosity and inferiority that I may affect others with my work and carry your message forward. I surrender my talents to you knowing you will flow through them in just the right way. I open myself to your direction and abundance that I may know joy and peace in my work. Amen.”
--Charisma Magazine, Ed Donnally
~*~
Richard Rossi is an Academy Award-considered filmmaker, actor, and musician. His feature film, Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story was voted the number one spot on the IGFA list of the “100 Greatest Guerrilla Films of All Time” and is available through Netflix, Blockbuster, and Amazon. Recent acting roles for Richard include: the husband of the female faith-healer in the above-mentioned Sister Aimee (finalist for best feature in Milan) and an A-list director in the Hollywood tale, Live Fast, Die Young, which led the Laemmle in receipts. Richard's next role is the scout who discovers Roberto Clemente in a baseball bio-pic. Richard teaches guitar privately and at Los Angeles Valley College. His first novel, a coming-of-age story entitled, Stick Man, will be released worldwide in 2010 (published by Savant Books.) He and his wife of twenty-five years, Sherrie, recently founded Eternal Grace, a Christian community of actors, artists, writers, and musicians in Hollywood.
~*~
David Boyer Interview with
Richard Rossi
[email protected]
http://www.myspace.com/clementemovie
http://www.aimeesemplemcphersonmovie.com
As a filmmaker, how many hours of practice would you recommend to an aspiring filmmaker before attempting to produce a really well-crafted film?
RR: It’s important to get started making art without worrying about the result. We learn to write by writing; we learn to act by acting; we learn to make films by making films. We must take care of the quantity and let God take care of the quality. In other words, make movies, keep doing it, and your craft will grow.
What specific factors differentiate Christian films from the average theatre release?
RR: The term “Christian film” is used in church circles to describe movies made by evangelical Christians. In my opinion, the term “Christian film” does not guarantee the quality of the film’s artistry or message. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” Dividing everything into a dichotomy of sacred and secular is common in the thinking of some religious people. I prefer to look for God’s hand and message throughout the earth and I often find films that show faith in a powerful way, some made by evangelical Christians, but more often in some that are not called “Christian films.” One example of this off the top of my head is one of my favorite films, On the Waterfront, a movie starring Brando that has one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard delivered by Karl Malden (the priest character) which results in a transformation in Brando’s character. The message that Jesus wants us to love others and stand up for the weak and oppressed comes through very clearly.
The Bible stories show the full gamut of human nature. David is called a man after God’s own heart. His victories of faith are detailed and his psalms of worship are there for us to see his intimate relationship with God. David’s flaws and faults are also there, like the problems with Bathsheba and Uriah. I think films have a unique opportunity to show this multi-layered aspect of humans who are fallen, yet created in the image of God, a mixture of light and shadow. In Sister Aimee, I didn’t shrink back from showing that she stumbled and bumbled along the way, that she was married three times, had a morals trial in court, and died under rumors of suicide. Yet she was an amazing church-planting evangelist, and the denomination she founded (The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel) now numbers 32,000 congregations worldwide. Her fruit has remained. The best films show both sides of the duality of people, like Robert Duvall’s The Apostle. He captures accurately the feel of the Pentecostal preacher and his world and the mix of emotions he experiences, praise and lust, eroticism and religion, love and violence, and ultimately redemption and eternal grace.
The Apostle character is not at all one-dimensional as some evangelical movies tend to do when they portray the Christian as wholly good and godly. Too often Christian films suffer from what I call the “white hat and black hat approach,” like an old B-Western with the good guys in white hats and the bad guys in black hats. The Christians are seen as perfect people ready to be “raptured” and the non-Christians are evil, self-centered people God is ready to judge in fiery wrath. If we’re honest, we know the world isn’t like that. The dualistic framework of dividing humanity into a binary of two camps—the born-again believers who are shining and shimmering, being conformed to Christ, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, and on the other side, the wicked, liberal unbelievers who are nasty, immoral, fleshly, wicked people—does not correspond to the reality of how things really are, that unbelievers are often nicer people. Whether their niceness stems from nature, nurture, or the light from Jesus that lights everyone who comes into the world created in God’s image, I don’t know. I value a core principle that everyone is made in the image of God and looking for the light and shadows in my characters rather than discounting and dividing people anymore. I don’t believe in the simplistic dualism of guys in the white hats and in the black hats, and this is why I reject other tenets of fundamentalist films, like their conspiratorial view of the world.
Do you think that trying to wear too many hats can hurt the overall quality of the film?
RR: Multi-tasking is reality for the guerrilla filmmaker. In an ideal world, we would like to have millions of dollars to hire award-winning artists in all levels of production, but it’s better to make art with what God puts in our hand than to not create at all. In the story of Moses, God asked him, “What is in thy hand?” and Moses replied, “A rod.” God told Moses, “It shall be the rod of God.” For the low-budget auteur, the rod may be the camcorder in his hand and by financial necessity he may have to ask God to inspire his creativity through the palette of his meager equipment and team. Film is a collaborative effort and I think everyone who is involved influences the final outcome of the film, but I would caution filmmakers not to draw back from making movies because you don’t have a lot of people and resources. Get help and input from as many people as you can, but sometimes the reality is the filmmaker finds he has to rely on himself in many capacities and leave the outcome to God. Make a movie with what you have. Don’t wait for an elusive millionaire to show up and fund you or a big studio system to green-light you. Green-light yourself.
Tell me, what first prompted your interest in becoming a filmmaker? An actor? Any early influences?
RR: The years I spent in the anti-art wilderness of Falwellian fundamentalism (I attended Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University where I earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in pastoral and biblical studies), isolated me from a lot of the wonderful moviemaking out there. On the positive side, they did show some classic films on campus (edited though for conservative Christian consumption). Movie theatres were forbidden by Falwell’s “Liberty Way,” a legalistic law-book we were commanded to obey. After I made my spiritual journey from fundamentalism to freedom, from guilt to grace, I played catch-up and educated myself on the history of film by borrowing movies from the public library and taking a film history class at Los Angeles Valley College. My second film school was the New Beverly Cinema, a revival theatre in Hollywood owned by Quentin Tarantino that shows two independent or classic films every night. European filmmakers inspired me, like Bergman and Fellini. Bergman’s Persona impacted me in its style of close-ups of the actor’s hands and faces. It influenced me and gave me the idea to shoot a lot of close-ups when I made my movie, Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story. This enabled me to me to create a sense of Sister Aimee’s claustrophobia and also make a 1920’s period piece on a low budget without the pressure to create an epic with thousands of extras and period cars and sets. One of the highlights of my moviemaking career was when the New Beverly showed Sister Aimee and the owner told me it set a theatrical attendance record for the best-attended digital film shown there.
The Method actors of the fifties (Brando, Dean, Clift) are my favorites. Marlon Brando was my greatest influence as an actor and seeing his work in On the Waterfront, Godfather, Last Tango In Paris, and A Streetcar Named Desire was a turning point for me. I loved James Dean in Rebel without a Cause and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun. Robert Redford inspired me in The Natural, a film that gave me the idea to make my upcoming film with a mythic motif. It’s a baseball bio-pic entitled Baseball’s Last Hero: The Roberto Clemente Story. I’m raising money to make it now.
What’s this about you having been a “rock and roll preacher” at one time?
RR: I grew up playing guitar in the bars of Pittsburgh. When I became a born-again Christian as a teenager, I shared my faith by playing Christian rock I composed in nightclubs and I started churches that worshipped with guitars instead of an organ or piano. Conservative Christians criticized me, saying rock was the devil’s music. Now it’s common, even in conservative evangelical congregations, to play guitars and have a worship band. But when I first did it, it was controversial. I’ve always been drawn to expressing my faith in an edgy and creative way, so my moviemaking follows that same theme of recognizing the Creator as the Master Artist, and our creativity as a small part of God’s creativity, an expression of the image of God in us. Art is a ministry and ministry is an art. I believe our imaginations can soar when we choose to be innovators rather than imitators. I encourage people of faith to follow their interests and intuition even if their religious circles try to discourage them. Our talents are gifts from God. What we do with our talents is our gift back.
Tell me about Sister Aimee. As much as I hate to admit it, I’ve never heard of her before now.
RR: She was the fabled female evangelist who built a temple of Hollywood proportions in the Roaring Twenties here in Los Angeles. Sister Aimee was front-page news, the most famous female faith-healer of her time, especially when she disappeared in 1927 at Venice Beach. She claimed to be kidnapped. Our film traces her story from her teen years through her life of preaching the gospel and praying for the sick until her controversial death by overdose in 1944. I chose her story because I identified with her and used her story as an allegory for my life and some of the things I’ve gone through. For those interested in her life, my film Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story is available through Amazon, Netflix, and Blockbuster.
The Eternal Grace community sounds great. Is it a Christian-only type of thing or can anyone join in?
RR: Although our gatherings our Christ-centered, anyone is welcome whether they consider themselves a Christian or not. We seek to grow by attraction rather than promotion so we do not seek to convert anyone by debate or manipulation. We hope the presence of Christ where two or more gather in his name will touch hearts with an awareness of God’s love that attracts them to him.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to receive God’s eternal grace and to give grace to ourselves and to others. We believe God is the Creator, the Master Artist. The Holy Spirit is highly creative. Therefore, we support the creativity in each other. We are pioneers, open to the adventure of faith. We express love through art, music, compassion, and prayer. We cooperate with God, praying, “Thy will, not mine, be done.” Our spiritual journeys have taken us through different groups, cross-pollinating various teachings, ideas, and experiences. Through it all, we’ve come to understand that the goal is love, that they will know we are his disciples by our love. Love fulfills the law. Love covers a multitude of sins and love never fails.
Many of us have moved here to Hollywood from somewhere else, and many of us came here for a creative career, a calling to express ourselves. We highly value and encourage artistic gifts and expression. We’re pioneers. The same leap of faith that enabled us to venture to L.A. enables us to pioneer spiritually and creatively. We’re planting Eternal Grace, a church that brings Christ, creativity, and community together.
We’re believers in God, the one the Bible describes as unconditional love, and we have a passionate hunger for a true spiritual connection beyond religion and the established church. Eternal Grace is a church that welcomes artists, supporting their creative journey without judgment. Worship includes following our artistic passions. As the Spirit hovered over the waters in God’s creation in the beginning, his Spirit hovers over us as we create today. There’s a symbiotic relationship between the Creator and creativity. Growing in relationship to one can open us to more of the other.
We come from diverse backgrounds and sometimes we may disagree agreeably. What unifies us is our desire to do the works of Jesus, healing, restoring, and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. We read the Gospels and Book of Acts not just as history books but as models for church life.
We seek to extend the ministry of God’s Spirit by bringing healing to the hurting. Eternal Grace heals the hurting hearts of artists and actors, minstrels, and mavericks, bohemians and burned-out believers, with the embrace of God’s radical grace.
Where do you see yourself, say, ten years from now? Twenty?
RR: There are two parts to that, being and doing. As far as being, I want a life of no regrets. I want to continue to grow and learn. I’m always reading books and taking classes. I want to keep getting better as a writer, actor, director, and musician. I want to keep growing spiritually and bring God’s healing and recovery to others that have been through a lot in their lives as I have, particularly people like me from imperfect families with imperfect pasts. Eternal Grace is a Christian community where imperfect people are perfectly welcome. I want to be a good father, husband, friend, mentor, and teacher. I want to stay at peace with God, myself, and others.
Now for the doing. My first novel, a coming-of-age story entitled Stick Man is slated to come out in 2010. I have three films in various stages of development I want to make soon: my baseball bio-pic about Roberto Clemente, a film about the Azusa Street revival, and the film version of my novel Stick Man. I will continue to be a working actor in mainstream and independent film, television, and theatre. I have a second novel in the works, a historical novel about Sister Aimee. My wife and I also want to do some more cross-country trips. We like seeing America by land, all the different and diverse states. It’s such a beautiful country filled with great people. This gives us a chance to visit our sister churches in other states.
I’m also writing a nonfiction book about my understanding of the teachings of Jesus and grace. I see Eternal Grace in Hollywood as a mother church, a spiritual sending community that will plant sister churches that plant other churches so Eternal Grace will be a church-planting movement that will multiply hundreds of churches in the next twenty years. These congregations will nurture artists, providing them with training in acting, writing, filmmaking, and creativity so they can see their wildest dreams and the desires of their hearts as artists come true. As the psalmist wrote, “Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart.” I want to start a foundation that helps artists and does real compassionate work among disadvantaged children to do our part to make up for the travesty that here in America millions of children have no health insurance and are hungry. Sadly, the policies that support these injustices are too often supported by those who claim the name of Christ. Our foundation will meet the real needs of people with compassion, grace, and understanding.
Any last words of faith or inspiration?
RR: The church is built on a revelation and understanding of who Jesus is (Matthew 16:18). On New Year’s Eve, 2009, we were celebrating with an Eternal Grace house church that gathered at our apartment Thursday nights. At one point in the evening the larger group of over twenty people broke into smaller groups of three to five people to pray for each other and for the visions in their hearts for 2010. I was led of the Spirit to go to our back bedroom by myself. I meditated for about thirty minutes and Jesus spoke clearly to me, “Take care of me, and I’ll take care of you.”
I knew in my heart the fullness of the statement. I’m to teach who Jesus really is, correcting as best I can some of the bad P.R. he’s been given by rigid, religious fundamentalists, and work with him in building churches based on his eternal grace, a clear understanding of the real Jesus. He takes care of me, my family, our Eternal Grace churches, and my creativity and artistic work. In John 12:32, He promises when we lift him up, a clear understanding of the Real Jesus, not the Religious Jesus, all are drawn unto him. Prophetically, we know that one day, “Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord” (Philippians 2:10, 11).
He showed me in a flash of insight that flooded in on me like an epiphany the contrasts between the Real Jesus and the Religious Jesus. II Corinthians 3:6 says, “The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life.” These contrasts were a litany of deep spiritual understandings of the letter of the law versus the Jesus of love. I will elaborate on these truths in detail in a book I’m writing, tentatively titled, Getting to Know the Real Jesus, but I will share a few of them succinctly:
The Religious Jesus is law. The Real Jesus is love.
The Religious Jesus brings guilt. The Real Jesus brings grace.
The Religious Jesus brings condemnation. The Real Jesus brings compassion.
The Religious Jesus hurts people. The Real Jesus heals people.
The Religious Jesus uses people to build the church.
The Real Jesus uses the church to build people.
As a church planter, I’ve learned firsthand the differences between churches started on the foundation of the Religious Jesus versus churches started on the foundation of the Real Jesus. Eternal Grace Church, located here in Hollywood, has been the healthiest church community my wife and I have birthed because we’ve become healthier in our understanding of God’s eternal grace. My prayer is that Eternal Grace churches will continue to flourish and multiply, bearing lasting fruit in sharing the unconditional love and eternal healing grace of the Real Jesus.
I think it is essential to understand that the creative potential in human beings is the image of God. Whether or not we think of ourselves as artists, we are. To be artistic is to create, an instinct we were all given. Within each of us is creativity because we were made in God’s image. Letting go of rigid religious thinking enables our artistic, spontaneous side to emerge. Find an outlet for creativity, whether its filmmaking, music, writing, refinishing furniture, cooking, puppetry, acting, dance, drawing, embroidering, or gardening—the possibilities are endless.
Anything that lets us create something outside ourselves is good. The reward is a sense of self-expression, the joy that we made something and can see ourselves in it. Sometimes what we create reaches others as well. The more I let go of the legalistic ways of thinking from the toxic teachings of fundamentalism, the more I see my creativity soar. My creativity is more important to me than rigid ways of thinking from my past indoctrination under Jerry Falwell and other preachers of the letter of the law. Like I quoted before from the Bible, “The letter of the law killeth, but the Spirit gives life.” I welcome the Spirit to bring life and creativity. Here are seven principles I believe the Holy Spirit is saying to artists:
1. The Master Artist loves to support artists.
2. The Holy Spirit hovers over creation in Genesis 1 and hovers over us as we create today. The Holy Spirit is highly creative.
3. Creativity shows we are made in the image of the Creator. Our creativity is a part of his creativity. Therefore, moving toward our creativity can open us to the Creator and vice-versa.
4. Those who work together creatively often form a natural community. Three C’s: Christ, Creativity, Community.
5. Art is a ministry and ministry is an art. We bless artists to create freely and without judgment.
6. Art is an eternal seed reaching not only multiple countries but multiple generations.
7. Creating churches of artists in the 21st century requires new wineskins and new wine. We need to show them the Real Jesus, not the Religious Jesus (John 12:32).
One more thing: I wrote a prayer for artists I want to share in closing that other artists have told me they appreciate and some incorporate into their own prayer and meditation: “Thank you, God, for the talents you’ve entrusted to me and that my creativity is a small part of your creativity. I glorify you with my art as an act of worship. Release me from the bondage of the extremes of grandiosity and inferiority that I may affect others with my work and carry your message forward. I surrender my talents to you knowing you will flow through them in just the right way. I open myself to your direction and abundance that I may know joy and peace in my work. Amen.”