Writing to Worship: Cinematic arts professors outline Christ-focused approach to storytelling

Creating movie or TV scripts as a Christian ought to be more than simply establishing an intention and obstacle, inventing characters, and letting the page fill up with text. When Christians create through their faith, using their God-given gifts, it becomes a form of worship to their Creator, according to two professors in Liberty University’s Cinematic Arts, Zaki Gordon Center.

Professors Michael Torres and Durrell Nelson share this approach to storytelling in their recently released textbook, “Screenwriting: An Adventure into Wonder.”

While Liberty’s cinematic arts program has always taught the intersection of storytelling and the Christian faith, the concept for the textbook came about from the realization that there were few to no resources that teach how a screenwriter can use their faith to influence their craft.

“From what we have looked at over the decades, I don’t think there has been a textbook on screenwriting that starts with God and how He has created us,” Torres said. “(This textbook) is written to screenwriters and begins by telling them they are first and foremost a child of God. Trying to get students to own that and think about that as they create, that’s what we want — bringing who we are as God’s creation and Christ followers into how and what we create.”

Mirroring the three-act structure of a screenplay, the book is split into three sections. It opens with an explanation of how every human is created in God’s image, encouraging screenwriters to accept their design as a child of God and use their gifts to tell their personal stories through their relationship with Him. While they wrote the book for screenwriting, Torres and Nelson said that this approach can apply to any artform.

“I personally believe that since the image of God is in every human being, whether they are a Christian or not, whatever art comes out of them is ultimately a gift from God,” Nelson explained. “We took that starting point and then looked at how we normally teach screenwriting. The book still has all of the basics of screenwriting in the second section, but it has the beginning of talking about how we’re all created with the ability to tap into the creative parts of ourselves.”

At the end of each chapter, or “scene,” readers are given a writing exercise that helps them reflect on new aspects of their relationship with God, their personal story, and the ways they can best tell it in a screenplay.

The third and final act, Nelson said, “charges you with the responsibility of creating from the heart of God.” That heart — the emotional and God-inspired substance in their story — can often fall to the side when students focus solely on the formatting and story beats of their screenplay.

“After we teach them about the nuts and bolts of writing a story, most students take on a very structured, mathematical approach of following the formula,” Nelson said. “What tends to happen when they focus on only that is they leave out the heart of the story. They don’t have what is at stake. They don’t look at the big picture. This (textbook) helps them to start writing with the right heart.”

The cinematic arts department has already begun using “Screenwriting: An Adventure into Wonder” in its screenwriting courses.

“We want (students) to recognize that the whole endeavor starts with God,” Torres added. “Anything you do can be worship, and your life can change as a result of it. First and foremost, they think about their relationship with God and then consider why they’re writing this story, whatever it is. We hope to inspire people with this idea.”

Nelson has more than 30 years in the film business working as actor, director, producer, writer, and stunt coordinator. He is the director and producer of the feature films “Texas Rein” and “Waking in Southport,” and second unit director of the TV pilot “Eleanor’s Bench.” As a professional SAG actor his credits include “Drop Dead Diva,” “Killing Lincoln,” “Jag,” “An American Carol,” “Eleanor’s Bench,” “A Haunting,” And “X-Files.” Durrell is an award-winning screenwriter and recipient of the prestigious Jerome Lawrence Award for playwriting. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte and a Master of Professional Writing from University of Southern California.

A 30-year veteran of film and TV production, Torres has written, produced, and directed projects ranging from 30-second spots to feature films. For a decade, Michael worked as Managing Producer and Director of evangelistic docudramas, music videos, and an award-winning original musical “Adventures to a Colorful Life.” Most recently, he wrote and directed the award-winning short film Paper Football. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication from Regent University.

In its nine years, Liberty’s cinematic arts program has developed seven feature films, one television pilot, and one short film. The two-year immersion cohort for the B.S. in Film Production & Content Development allows students to concentrate solely on filmmaking. In addition to creating their own short film and business plan, students earn at least one IMDb credit on a professional film project.