HISTORY OF ACT ONE

ACT ONE started in Hollywood in early 1999 as an educational outreach to writers of the Christian entertainment fellowship Inter-Mission, with initial funding from the Stratford Foundation.  That summer, a core group of Hollywood professionals came together with Act One’s first class in hopes of passing on to a new generation of Christian writers their own hard-won knowledge and expertise.  From the beginning, Act One worked to develop in its students a sense of artistry, a commitment to professionalism, and a serious devotion to a life of Christian faith. The goal was an ever-widening network of film and television professionals whose lives and work would be marked by personal integrity, artistic excellence and socially responsible content that respects and serves Hollywood’s global audience.

Act One’s curriculum developed through a series of meetings with working Hollywood writers that focused on the skills essential for anyone aspiring to write for film and television. It became clear that what was needed was not a strictly academic approach but one that relied on mentoring, with established writers sharing their practical skills, knowledge and experience with each class of new writers.  The result was a program alive with a spirit of dynamism and excitement, with a wide range of viewpoints combining to build a broad and realistic sense of the Hollywood writer’s life. Act One’s instructors literally walk off of sets or out of story meetings and into our classroom, making the notion of a screenwriting career feel real and attainable to our students.

In 2001, the Catholic Communications Campaign funded Act One: New York at Fordham University-Lincoln Center. The program in Manhattan created a solid new community of writers and producers who now meet regularly for collaboration and prayer. Act One: Chicago followed in 2002 at Loyola University’s Lakeshore Campus. Next came Act One: D.C. at George Washington University in 2004.

To prepare students for the real-world demands specific to writing for television, Act One added a successful TV Track in 2002.  The following year, Act One added the year-long Advanced Writers Workshop and the 8-week Act Two program, both open exclusively to qualified alumni of the Act One Writing Program.  In 2004, Act One:  The Screenwriter’s Spiritual Journey was launched to address the spiritual challenges our alumni face as they pursue careers in Hollywood.

In 2005, Act One added the groundbreaking Executive Program to train and mentor gifted young Christians for future decision-making roles in mainstream film and television. With an impressive instructor base of working professionals, the Executive Program’s rigorous 12-week curriculum emphasizes practical skills training in story development, finance/budgeting, leadership, management and ethics, as well as personal and spiritual mentoring. Each of the students is matched with a summer internship at a Hollywood studio, talent agency, production company or law firm. After completing the Executive Program, alumni have moved rapidly into executive-track jobs across Hollywood.

And in 2006, for the first time, Act One will present the Writing Program on Saturdays beginning in September and continuing through the spring of 2007 in order to make this acclaimed training available to Los Angeles-based students who may already be working in entertainment industry positions and can’t take off a month to attend the traditional program.

As the Act One community moves forward, with our alumni thriving in executive offices and seeing their work produced, winning major writing fellowships, finding representation and landing Hollywood assignments, the goals set for Act One back in 1999 are coming into view.