BEHIND THE SCREEN: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film and Culture

This thought-provoking collection of essays on Hollywood includes contributions by Christian writers for both film and television. After a hard-hitting, impressively self-reflective opening piece on the history of Hollywood's tortured relationship with Christianity, essayists expound on a number of topics, from how to survive mostly secular Tinseltown with one's faith intact to exploring reasons why the industry is so secular in the first place. Refreshingly enough, the book's tone is almost completely nondefensive; these authors are culture makers who want to seamlessly integrate their beliefs with their work and art. One standout essay is Thom Parham's "Why Do Heathens Make the Best Christian Films?" It asks why, when non-Christians have been making faith-filled masterpieces like The Lord of the Rings , Chariots of Fire and The Shawshank Redemption, believers are wasting their energy on "unwatchable" dreck like The Omega Code . Readers also shouldn't miss movie marketer Jonathan Bock's proactive essay "Love the Cinema, Hate the Sin." (Nov.)