Interview With Karen Hall: TV Writer, Novelist And Catholic Convert

A Spiritual Pilgrimage

She was Supervising Producer on Moonlighting and has written and produced several award winning television movies including Toughlove and the mini-series The Women of Brewster Place. Karen has been nominated for six Emmys, and has won four Humanitas Prizes and the Writers Guild of America Award.

BN: Flannery O’Connor, once said that the only sensible answer to the question, “Why are you a writer?” is, “Because I’m good at it.” When did you realize you were good at writing, and how did you carve out a career in Hollywood?

KH: I was six years old, and I’m not sure how I knew, except that the class had an assignment to write a story and everyone else was miserable and I thought it was more fun than anything I'd ever experienced. I kept writing all the way through high school and college, and then decided to try my luck in network television. I wrote a few “spec” scripts to use as a portfolio, moved to Los Angeles, and gave my scripts to just about everyone I met. One of those people was Alan Alda. He read them and was impressed and recommended me to the M*A*S*H staff. They hired me to write an episode, and after that, one job led to another.

BN: Your novel, Dark Debts, by Random House, relates the spiritual pilgrimage of a Jesuit exorcist. Was writing the book a spiritual pilgrimage for you as well?

KH: When I started writing Dark Debts I was an agnostic and I thought I was writing a book about evil. By the time I finished, I was a Catholic and I’d realized I was writing a book about faith. The process was five years long and had lots of twists and turns, but the book was absolutely a spiritual pilgrimage. On the day I finished it, I realized that even if I never sold it and it did nothing but sit on my shelf and grow mold, the five years I’d spent writing it had literally saved me. Or rather, God had saved me through the process.

Writing For God

BN: Is working in Hollywood different for you now that Jesus is a factor in your life?

KH: I expected it to make my life more difficult, but the truth is that it has made my life much easier. Creatively, it makes my choices much easier. There are projects I simply can’t be a part of if I’m going to call myself a Christian. It always makes my life easier in that my faith sustains me where my career quest did not. At any given moment, I’m much more concerned about what Jesus is thinking of me than of what CBS is thinking of me. When I was an agnostic television writer, show business was my Higher Power, and boy is that a tough row to how.

Since returning to show business after writing my novel, I have been extremely fortunate – or blessed – in being offered one job after another that gives me a chance to write about God. It’s funny, because I gave God a big speech after my conversion. I explained that I’d wanted to write novels so that I could write about Him, so if He was going to send me back to screenwriting, I’d appreciate it if He would send me opportunities to write about Him for television and film. He took me up on that offer, big time. As a friend of mine pointed out, He doesn’t get a lot of offers like that from Hollywood!

BN: Have there been any major themes that have preoccupied you throughout your creative life? Has your conversion to Catholicism added any new ones to the mix?

KH: Several years ago I dug out all the one act plays I wrote in college and read them, to see if there was anything in them that hinted at where I was heading, and if there were any common themes. Reading them made me realize that I have always written about the same things. I write about survival and redemption. They are topics I’ve always thought about: what are humans able to endure and still remain hopeful. What does it take to destroy faith to the point that it can’t be resurrected? I still like to write about those things, but I think my conversion has made me work on a larger canvas. I still care about faith and hope and redemption, but they all mean something different to me now. “Faith” no longer means will I get the right man/job/car/house if I persevere? “Faith” means can I be like Job – can I let life beat me to a pulp and still come out of it loving God. The same with things like hope and endurance. I’m not focused on how it will come out at the end of the day, but rather how it will come out at the End of the Day.

A New Trend

BN: You wrote one episode for Judging Amy last year called “The God Thing”, in which Amy struggles with the fact that she has no relationship with God. Why did you want to write this story, and how was it received?

KH: My sister Barbara is the executive producer. She called me because she knew I loved writing about theological issues and chances to write about God on network television are few and far between. Also, I’ve seen a lot of self-exiled baby boomers return to Christianity in their mid-thirties – I was one myself – and felt it was an accurate and interesting story. The episode was well received. The ratings were good and I got a lot of mail from people who were pleased that we tackled the subject matter.

BN: How has the climate for “God is a factor” shows changed over the span of your two decades in Hollywood, and where do you think things are headed?

KH: Where things are headed is always anybody’s guess. When I first started working in television, God was rarely mentioned on network television. As “spirituality” started to become trendy in the 90’s – a pendulum swing back from the materialistic 80’s- God became trendy. I think the success of shows like Touched by an Angel and Seventh Heaven unlocked some doors. At first I was not impressed – and, in fact, I was annoyed – because while spirituality had become trendy, Christianity was as ostracized as ever. I didn’t believe Christianity would ever become trendy, but there does seem to be a new momentum of openness lately.

Christianity is, by its definition, an “exclusive” religion. We are not like everyone else. We make distinct claims that separate us from the rest of the world, and it makes me nervous when we try to pretend that’s not true so that we won’t offend anyone. When I read the New Testament, I don’t notice Jesus or St. Paul or any of the apostles worrying about whether or not they’re offending anyone. St. Paul is not saying to non-Christians, “I’ll just stick to subjects where we agree so I won’t hurt your feelings.”

BN: You traveled all the way to Italy in 2000 to attend the Vatican’s Jubilee for Journalists. What did you come away with?

KH: The Jubilee for Journalists was much more positive than I’d thought it would be. I thought the Pope was going to scold us and tell us to get our acts together. It never dawned on me that he’d actually encourage us and thank us for the difficult work that we do. He appropriately pointed out that we have a tremendous responsibility because of the power in our hands, but he was very gracious in acknowledging the role that journalists have played in supporting and spreading the work that he has done, which is, obviously, the work of the Church. And then he prayed for us and blessed us, and I know we need it. It’s not often that people in my profession have anyone pray for us and bless us, so that was quite a moving experience. I also met a lot of wonderful Catholic journalists, and I came away with the feeling of belonging to a powerful army of people who are not cynical and jaded, but who are putting all their strength into using their talents for the greater glory of God.

BN: What does the Church need to do for Hollywood?

KH: Pray. I’m not trying to be glib. That’s the answer.

You can contact Karen through her website.

Barbara Nicolosi teaches screenwriting to aspiring Catholic writers at the acclaimed Act One: Writing for Hollywood. You may email her at [email protected].

(Originally published in LIGUORIAN Magazine, One Liguori Drive, Liguori, MO, 63057)

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