Barbara Nicolosi is the Executive Director of the Galileo Forum, a Web-based project of Azusa Pacific University to highlight cutting edge thought in culture, science and business. She was the founding Director of Act One, a faith-based ethics and craft training program for Hollywood writers and executives, and is currently the Chair Emeritus of the Board of Directors.

Originally from Portsmouth, RI, she has a Masters in Cinema from Northwestern University, and is an adjunct professor screenwriting and cinema at Pepperdine University and Azusa Pacific University. Barbara is a member of the Writers Guild of America-West. She wrote Mary, Mother of the Christ, with Ben Fitzgerald (The Passion of the Christ) for a 2013 wide-release by MGM. A theological consultant for many entertainment and media projects, Barbara has been a grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, a reader for the Humanitas Prize, and a Blue Ribbon Juror for the Angelus Awards Student Film Festival. Barbara is the co-editor of the 2006 Baker Books release, Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith and Culture.

WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS:

Friday, 11:00 a.m
Evangelization and Media: Rethinking the Catholic Sub-culture
“The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favour.” Genesis 4:4-5
The hard truth is most Catholic efforts in media fail utterly as evangelization among the unchurched, even if they do perform acceptably as catechesis among the faithful. Why are our media efforts so ineffective beyond our Church doors? How can we break out of the Catholic bubble and be heard in the broader culture?

Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

The Role of the Beautiful in Evangelization
“Let your light so shine before men, that they see your good works and give glory to the Father in Heaven.” Matthew 5:16
What did Pope Benedict XVI mean when he said that the music in the Church today reflects the “cult of the band?” What role does beauty play in opening the hearts to the Gospel? What is beauty, and how can we get beautiful art and culture back in the Church?