Not unlike the college campus, Hollywood has become a center of influence in our culture. And while the college campus remains InterVarsity’s mission field, and there are other ministries that focus on Hollywood, about a dozen years ago InterVarsity helped launch a project aimed at opening up a dialogue between Hollywood and the church.
Scott Young, an InterVarsity staff member working with Christian faculty in southern California, is a co-founder of the City of Angels Film Festival. And up until recently he was director of the Film Festival.
“The festival’s beginning was a lot like the typical garage band,” Scott remembers. Around 1993, a group of friends—some working in Hollywood and some working in theological education—were talking about doing a film festival to explore faith issues in cinema. A similar conversation had been taking place among some faculty and staff on the campus of Fuller Theological Seminary. When the festival actually started to come together, Scott suggested, “Why not do it in Hollywood, and why not do it for the city of L.A. rather than just for Fuller faculty and churches.”
And so the first City of Angels Film Festival was held in 1994 at the Director’s Guild of American theater complex on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. It became an annual event, 12 years running, each one directed or co-directed by Scott.
“It was really a way to gather people who were interested in cinematic art. We also had a concern for the city, and in one way or another we were interested in religious activities and ideas,” Scott says. “It was an invitation to the city to come and talk about our past, our present, and our future. And it gave the church a chance to participate in the public discussion about the future of L.A.”
Getting a church community involved in a film festival was a challenge. But Scott believed strongly that the opportunity was ripe for better relationships between Hollywood and the church.
First, it was the city’s social unrest following the Rodney King riots in 1992 that cried out for healing. Films that explored the character of Los Angeles were the focus of the first festival, entitled Los Angeles in the Movies: dreams, conflicts, lifestyles. Second, Scott felt the church and the university needed to better understand the power of visual literacy. And third, movies and their aesthetic values are shaping culture as well as the church. “Given the importance of cinema in our culture, this is a great way to gather people and create a discussion for the Gospel, in a subtle rather than overt way.” Scott says.
And the discussion has been appealing to many, with positive media reviews and an average annual attendance around 2,000-3,000. “I’ve had a number of people say that this has really helped the healing process in L.A,” he says.
Last year Scott announced that he was stepping down as director of the festival. He’s surprised that he actually stayed involved for a whole 12 years, but he believes the festival is now established and has a great future. “I’ve left the festival in good hands,” he says.
Now, as Scott continues his InterVarsity work with faculty on the University of Southern California campus, he has a new film-related role. He has been named chaplain for Act One, an organization that trains people of faith for careers in Hollywood’s film & television industry. He’s already served on the Act One faculty for the last six years. “Being a chaplain in Hollywood would be the next phase of my activity here,” he says.
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An interview with Scott Young, related to this story, is this week’s InterVarsity podcast. You can listen to it at: http://www.intervarsity.org/audio/. You can also add the InterVarsity podcast to your downloads at: http://www.intervarsity.org/audio/podcast.php.
