Grand Entrance

[Johnny]

Howdy, I'm an aspiring Screenwriter who has just finished writing my first two feature films. They are Romantic Comedies set in the backdrop of The South within the "Christian Youth Group Culture". I know people have said that if I'm going to write movies that I should steer clear of religious themes because Hollywood is not going to accept them unless it's a scathing reproach of organized religion but really these movies are just narrations of things that I personally have gone through in my own journey as a follower of Christ within the church.

I had a story that I needed to get out and they came out in these two films.

Grand Entrance is the story of a young single mother who falls in love with her best friend and rich famed Best Selling Author/Youth Pastor/Celebrity hob knobber after being divorced by her verbally abusive husband.

She does not have the same level of faith in God or Jesus that her famed suitor has but loves him dearly. When presented with the live changing proposition of marrying him and living the live and having the love she's always dreamed of she runs.

He continues to pursue her and denies her running back to the man who abandoned her when she needed him the most realizing that it's the pastor whom she needs, and ultimately that faith, hope, and love are truly the greatest virtues.

When the rag tag group of friends torn apart from betrayl and abandonment comes back together in the spring/early summer again with the best friend/famous pastor rolling into town with the goal and objective of gaining back her trust, love, and proposing marriage to her again all hell breaks loose.

Yep it's actually not your typical Kirk Cameron type Christian themed script. It reflects real life, people, and situations that I've been involved in.

I am in looking for elements that would really help this script stand out as I'm in the editing stages. I already have had some advice from friends who have read the script but I was hoping to get some advice from writers.

Elements I already have:
The supportive best guy friend(through thick and thin)
The support best girlfriend(skeptical but willing to help out)
The wolf in sheeps clothing Best friend(Really aiding the enemy)

The Antagonist(Ex-Hubby)
The protagonist(Ex-wife & Youth Pastor)

The interaction of the group, the comrady, etc.

The girl who is being pursued clubs and drinks.

The Pastor goes into clubs/bars etc. to try to convince her to come away with him but always ends up failing. Goes as far as sending messengers when his attempts to club hop fail. They fail too. So he resolves to go to see her talking his 2 week Summer vacation early.

Any thoughts, suggestions? I will get to the second script when I'm finished with it. I am looking to submit this script into contests this spring to get my name out there. Also I am planning to attend Film school in the fall and will hopefully be moving to L.A. So any help would be appreciated.

[JonnyAtlas]

Just an initial thought, it seems the pastor is the protag, not the ex-wife. The pastor is the one doing the pursuit. He is the active character. You should really consider making it from his perspective.

[alex whitmer]

The marketing angst behind films that come across as religious first, story second is that it limits the audience size by default, just as any micro-niche film will do.

Films like "Witness" are rare. Story dominates, yet the audience is well aware of the setting and how it influences character behavior, but this setting is always subordinate to story.

Another good example is "At Play in the Fields of the Lord"

A fun comedic take is "For Richer or Poorer"

You need to ask yourself why you wrote this in the first place, and what message, intended or not, is the film likely to carry. Reading the intro you have here, I get a good dose of religion, but that's not a fair analysis having not read the script.

As with any religious or even cultural film - story first, and the hearts and minds of the audience will follow - maybe not convert, but certainly follow!

aw

www.alexwhitmer.wordpress.com

[Kwinnky]

Howdy, I'm an aspiring Screenwriter who has just finished writing my first two feature films. They are Romantic Comedies set in the backdrop of The South within the "Christian Youth Group Culture". I know people have said that if I'm going to write movies that I should steer clear of religious themes because Hollywood is not going to accept them unless it's a scathing reproach of organized religion but really these movies are just narrations of things that I personally have gone through in my own journey as a follower of Christ within the church.


Clearly, you limited an audience when you make a movie about ones religious journey; but hollywood isn't the only place that makes movies. There's people who make a living writing independent movies.

[Johnny]

Clearly, you limited an audience when you make a movie about ones religious journey; but hollywood isn't the only place that makes movies. There's people who make a living writing independent movies.

Well the main character happens to be a youth pastor. The main story is his pursuit of the struggling single mom. The second part of the story is this woman's spiritual awakening and seeing her desires to counsel others come true. She is going to college to counsel/mentor young women(part of her backstory).

[Johnny]

So, I know this is a super-mega bump but I'm working on this script and after redoing the beginning. It seems that the pro-tag is actually the ex-wife is the protag in the story, she's the one with the active motive. I've written it from her perspective...

[NikeeGoddess]

the apostle is probably my favorite flick with a religious theme. have you seen that robert duvall picture?

but what a wayward/atheist woman religion reminds me of saving grace with holly hunter.

Well the main character happens to be a youth pastor. The main story is his pursuit of the struggling single mom. The second part of the story is this woman's spiritual awakening and seeing her desires to counsel others come true. She is going to college to counsel/mentor young women(part of her backstory).so far what you go is just premise. there is no story yet.

it would be more interesting to me if SHE were the verbally abusive spouse. then she has a reason to find salvation: saving others while she saves herself.

okay - so this is not your story (b/c you don't have one that you expressed yet) but i'm just spitballing for fun: what if she were addicted to the jerry springer show and felt the need to counsel all those people on the show?

[Johnny]

It has been a really longtime, but I have seen it. I am thinking I'll rewatch it again. Just to get ideas and riff off it. :) Love Robert Duvall as an actor.

Faith, Hope, & love 1st Corinthians 13 is a theme in the movie.
1st John 3:16 is also a theme of the movie. Laying down your life for another.

Thanks for those ideas NikeeGoddess. That's a really interesting take on the "counseling", right now I have the cliche' "I want to counsel the wayward latina's from making the wrong decisions." Reaching out to the neighborhood girls.

I really appreciate it.

[DavidK]

I know people have said that if I'm going to write movies that I should steer clear of religious themes because Hollywood is not going to accept them unless it's a scathing reproach of organized religion but really these movies are just narrations of things that I personally have gone through in my own journey as a follower of Christ within the church.

The issue usually revolves around whether you're using your movie to advocate certain religious values, or you have a good story in which the characters' religious lives play a dramatic role.

Witness, Night of the Hunter, and The Apostle are good examples of the latter and appealed to a wide audience. Then there's Monty Python's Life of Brian and The Last Temptation of Christ.

On the other hand, if you want to promote a religious perspective then your audience is much narrower and you'll probably need to find a niche distributor who handles movies with religious themes and accept that your movie won't go wide.