Karen Kingsbury and the film connection

June 20, 1:29 PMChicago Christian Fiction ExaminerLaura Knoerr

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Coming to theaters soon, read the book first.

On June 23, Karen Kingsbury, with more than 15 million copies of her award-winning books in print and a New York Times bestselling author, will offer the second novel in her Above the Line series, Take Two. The series looks at the cost of success in the high-stakes world of movie-making.

The first  novel, Take One, introduces two young filmmakers, Chase Ryan and Keith Eillison, who leave the mission field of Indonesia to tackle the mission field of Hollywood.  Take Two finds the two "at the center of Hollywood wheeling and dealing." 

A third book, Take Three, is due for release in 2010.  Kingsbury writes about a world in which she is increasingly involved. In the genre of drama, she has one produced film under her belt and another, A Thousand Tomorrows, in development.

Just as in secular media, there is a clear link between Christian film and Christian fiction. Not all, but many of the recent Christian film success stories originated as popular fiction: J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series; Robert Whitlow - The List; C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian; Jim Stovall - The Ultimate Gift;  Mark Andrew Olsen - Hadassah: One Night with the King; Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' Left Behind series; and Joseph F. Girzone - Joshua.  

In fact, Christian authors have been regular speakers at International Christian Visual Media's annual Catalyst Conference. In years past, authors such as Frank Peretti and Jerry Jenkins have addressed the Christian filmmaking group. This year,  Karen Kingsbury will speak at the conference. Her novel Like Dandelion Dust has birthed a film of the same name. Set to release in 2010 and starring Mira Sorvino,  the film is making its way through film festivals across the country - most recently at the Seattle Film Festival.