Barbara Nicolosi
Encyclopedia
Barbara Nicolosi-Harrington (born February 20, 1964) is an American screenwriter
, script consultant and founder of a Christian screenwriter’s program.
to Anthony Salvatore Nicolosi and Hilda Couture Nicolosi. She is the second of four daughters. Her youngest sister is the professional opera singer, Valerie Nicolosi. When Barbara was five years old, the family moved to Newport, Rhode Island
where her father took a job as the archivist for the Naval War College. Anthony Nicolosi would go on to found the Naval War College Museum. She has a B.A. from the Great Books program at The College of Saint Mary Magdalen, and a Masters Degree in Radio/TV/Film from Northwestern University
.
and for The Passion of the Christ
.
Nicolosi began her professional writing career as a media columnist for the Catholic monthly magazine Liguorian. In 2004, she moved her column to the National Catholic Register newspaper and the on-line site CatholicExchange.com. She won Catholic Press Awards for her media columns in 2002 and 2004. One of her columns was selected for the 2006 Loyola Press release, The Best Catholic Writing of 2005. She is the co-editor of the 2006 Baker Books release, Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith and Culture.
Nicolosi has served as a judge or jurist on many cinema and arts panels. She was a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, on the film jury for the Catholics in Media Awards, a judge for the Catholic Academy's Gabriel Awards, a reader for the Humanitas Prize for screenwriting, and served for nearly ten years on the Blue Ribbon Jury of the Angelus Awards, student film festival. She won several awards for her work including the Legatus Outstanding Laity Award, the Spirit Award of the Windrider Forum at Sundance, the Act One Servant Faculty Award, and special awards for her contributions to cinema studies from the Catholic University of Valencia, Spain and Santa Croce University (Rome).
Nicolosi has taught screenwriting or cinema studies as an adjunct professor in the Seaver Graduate School at Pepperdine University, and also in undergraduate programs at Azusa Pacific University
and the Los Angeles Film Study Center. She has been a guest lecturer on art and cinema at many other institutions of higher learning including Notre Dame University (South Bend, Indiana); Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington), Biola University (La Mirada, California), Ave Maria University (Naples, Florida), Santa Croce University (Rome), the Catholic University (Milan) and the Catholic University of Valencia (Spain). She was also a featured speaker at events hosted by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, and for the Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican.
Nicolosi is Founder and Chair Emeritus of Act One, Inc.
, a Christian organization for training aspiring scriptwriters and producers starting out in Hollywood. She was also a founding partner in Origin Entertainment. She is an adjunct professor of screenwriting and cinema at Azusa Pacific University and has also been an adjunct at Pepperdine University
and a Guest Lecturer at the Los Angeles Film Study Center. She is a member of the WGA-West
. She co-wrote Mary Mother of the Christ, with Benedict Fitzgerald
for a 2011 wide-release by MGM. The film stars Al Pacino
and Peter O'Toole
and will be directed by James Foley
She wrote a contemporary resetting of Jane Austen
's Persuasion
, entitled Polosuasion for IMMI Pictures in Beverly Hills, and is currently writing Fatima, Miracle and Message, for Origin Entertainment.
Nicolosi summed up her reasons for founding Act One: “I realized coming here that it's not that Hollywood was persecuting the Church as much as it was the Church was committing suicide in Hollywood. Big difference. So I basically wrote an article about it to this effect that Hollywood wasn't anti-Christian as much as it's anti-bad art, and we're just giving it schlock.”
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, script consultant and founder of a Christian screenwriter’s program.
Early life and Education
Nicolosi was born in New Brunswick, New JerseyNew Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
to Anthony Salvatore Nicolosi and Hilda Couture Nicolosi. She is the second of four daughters. Her youngest sister is the professional opera singer, Valerie Nicolosi. When Barbara was five years old, the family moved to Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
where her father took a job as the archivist for the Naval War College. Anthony Nicolosi would go on to found the Naval War College Museum. She has a B.A. from the Great Books program at The College of Saint Mary Magdalen, and a Masters Degree in Radio/TV/Film from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
.
Career
Barbara Nicolosi began her career in Hollywood as the Director of Project Development for Paulist Production s in Pacific Palisades. She was hired by producer Fr. Ellwood "Bud" Kieser, and worked with him for two years. She has produced five plays at the award-winning Actors Co-op Theater in Hollywood. She has worked unofficially as a script consultant for scores of feature and television projects. Officially, she was a theological consultant on Saving GraceSaving Grace (TV series)
Saving Grace is an American television crime drama series which premiered on TNT on July 23, 2007 and ran until June 21, 2010. The show stars Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter in her first television series, as well as Leon Rippy, Kenny Johnson, Laura San Giacomo, Bailey Chase, Bokeem Woodbine,...
and for The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
.
Nicolosi began her professional writing career as a media columnist for the Catholic monthly magazine Liguorian. In 2004, she moved her column to the National Catholic Register newspaper and the on-line site CatholicExchange.com. She won Catholic Press Awards for her media columns in 2002 and 2004. One of her columns was selected for the 2006 Loyola Press release, The Best Catholic Writing of 2005. She is the co-editor of the 2006 Baker Books release, Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith and Culture.
Nicolosi has served as a judge or jurist on many cinema and arts panels. She was a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, on the film jury for the Catholics in Media Awards, a judge for the Catholic Academy's Gabriel Awards, a reader for the Humanitas Prize for screenwriting, and served for nearly ten years on the Blue Ribbon Jury of the Angelus Awards, student film festival. She won several awards for her work including the Legatus Outstanding Laity Award, the Spirit Award of the Windrider Forum at Sundance, the Act One Servant Faculty Award, and special awards for her contributions to cinema studies from the Catholic University of Valencia, Spain and Santa Croce University (Rome).
Nicolosi has taught screenwriting or cinema studies as an adjunct professor in the Seaver Graduate School at Pepperdine University, and also in undergraduate programs at Azusa Pacific University
Azusa Pacific University
Azusa Pacific University is a private, inter-denominational, evangelical Christian university located near Los Angeles in suburban Azusa, California. It was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900 in Whittier, California. It began offering degrees in 1939...
and the Los Angeles Film Study Center. She has been a guest lecturer on art and cinema at many other institutions of higher learning including Notre Dame University (South Bend, Indiana); Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington), Biola University (La Mirada, California), Ave Maria University (Naples, Florida), Santa Croce University (Rome), the Catholic University (Milan) and the Catholic University of Valencia (Spain). She was also a featured speaker at events hosted by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, and for the Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican.
Nicolosi is Founder and Chair Emeritus of Act One, Inc.
Act One, Inc.
Act One, Inc. is a Christian, non-profit organization established in January 1999 by Barbara Nicolosi. A training program for aspiring filmmakers, Act One provides in-class instruction from professionals, internships, and practical experience...
, a Christian organization for training aspiring scriptwriters and producers starting out in Hollywood. She was also a founding partner in Origin Entertainment. She is an adjunct professor of screenwriting and cinema at Azusa Pacific University and has also been an adjunct at Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
and a Guest Lecturer at the Los Angeles Film Study Center. She is a member of the WGA-West
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
. She co-wrote Mary Mother of the Christ, with Benedict Fitzgerald
Benedict Fitzgerald
Benedict Fitzgerald is an American screenwriter who co-wrote the screenplay for The Passion of the Christ with Mel Gibson. His other writing credits include a television screenplay of Moby-Dick in 1998 and Wise Blood in 1979....
for a 2011 wide-release by MGM. The film stars Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
and Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
and will be directed by James Foley
James Foley
James Foley is an American film director and screenwriter. He was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, the son of a lawyer...
She wrote a contemporary resetting of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
's Persuasion
Persuasion (novel)
Persuasion is Jane Austen's last completed novel. She began it soon after she had finished Emma, completing it in August 1816. She died, aged 41, in 1817; Persuasion was published in December that year ....
, entitled Polosuasion for IMMI Pictures in Beverly Hills, and is currently writing Fatima, Miracle and Message, for Origin Entertainment.
Nicolosi summed up her reasons for founding Act One: “I realized coming here that it's not that Hollywood was persecuting the Church as much as it was the Church was committing suicide in Hollywood. Big difference. So I basically wrote an article about it to this effect that Hollywood wasn't anti-Christian as much as it's anti-bad art, and we're just giving it schlock.”
Filmography
- Mary Mother of Christ (2011) — co-writer
- Polosuasion (preproduction) — Writer
- Fatima, Miracle and Message (preproduction) — Writer
- Cosmic Origins (2011) - Executive Producer
Television
- Faith Under FireFaith Under FireFaith Under Fire is a television series that aired every Saturday at 10pm EST on PAX TV and was hosted by Lee Strobel. In the main segments, two guests would discuss current issues related to Christianity. In segments following commercial breaks, people on the street were interviewed on the same...
- Herself (1 episode, 2005) - Culture Wars (2005) TV episode – Herself
- Rated "R": Republicans in Hollywood (2004) (TV) - Herself - interviewee
External links
- Church of the Masses Nicolosi’s Blog
- Act One Program for screenwriters founded by Nicolosi