By Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST and ASSIST News Service
STUDIO CITY, CA (ANS – Feb 4, 2015) – Karen Covell, is a woman on a mission – to get Christians
to pray for those working in Hollywood.
to pray for those working in Hollywood.
I
caught up with Karen at on Thursday, January 29, 2015, at an
extraordinary event put on by the Hollywood Prayer Network, which she
founded and directs, at a special packed-out occasion called HOLLYWOOD
HONORS 2015 at CBS TV in Studio City, California, during which a who’s
who of Hollywood stars, who are also Christians, were honored for their
witness over many years.
So why, I asked her before the
excitement all started, should we pray for Hollywood, and she replied
firmly, “Because Hollywood is not Sodom and Gomorrah Hollywood – it’s
Nineveh. Hollywood is the world’s most influential mission field.
“Everything that comes out of
Hollywood touches people all across the globe and we need to pray for
those decision makers; those talents and cultural influencers, who are
touching people groups all over the world.
“I believe there’s a spiritual
battle going on and that why the church either hates Hollywood or is
afraid of it. And I want people to pray against the enemy from stopping
us and realizing we can change the world by praying for Hollywood.”
Karen is a producer, co-owner
of Joint Effort - a film production company - and co-owner with her
husband Jim, of JC Productions, a music production company. She has had
extensive experience in producing TV specials, documentaries, and
children's programming.
Karen
was also the producing director of the 8th Annual Women in Film
Festival in Los Angeles. Prior to that event, she was one of the
founders of Kino Women International (KIWI), an international women's
film federation at the Moscow Film Festival and in Georgia, then part of
the Soviet Union. She has also been booking producer for TV specials
and fundraisers, booking celebrities and interviewees for the American
Heart Association, the American Lung Cancer Association and World Vision
International. She also served as the interim Theatre Manager for the
Mark Taper Forum for six months.
As Founding Director of
Hollywood Prayer Network, Karen speaks and teaches around the country to
people of faith, encouraging them to not hate Hollywood or boycott its
products, but instead to pray for the people in the entertainment
industry.
Karen is also a National Board
member of the Producers Guild of America, a founding member of PREMISE,
and a board member of the Biola University Media Task Force. She is a
graduate of USC with a BA in Producing. Karen is married to a film and
TV composer and her “best pal” -- Jim. They are the proud parents of
their two “Wonder Boys” – Chapman University, Dodge Film School
graduate, Christopher, and USC Film School Sophomore, Cameron.
Karen, who bubbles with
enthusiasm in all that she does, told me that she originally came from
Chicago to go to school as the University of Southern California (USC)
and said that during that time in 1977, she gave her life to Christ in
her freshman year because of her roommate, Debbie.
“She
was lovingly just putting up with me all year, answering my questions,
and telling me about God,” said Karen. “I asked all kinds of questions
and I was very resistant. But then, by the end of my freshman year, I
was walking through the campus and I suddenly said, ‘God I want what
Debbie has. Would you come into my life?’ I kind of made a bargain with
him. I told him, however, that there were three things I didn’t want to
do: to tell anybody about him, be a missionary, and I did not want to go
to Africa, but other than that, I told him he could have ‘all of me.’”
I then asked Karen how the
Hollywood Prayer Network came into being, and she said, “As I mentioned,
I came into the industry as a producer and started realizing that I had
one foot in two different worlds. I had one in the church world as a
Christian, and also a foot in Hollywood as a professional; and neither
worlds liked each other very much at all. I struggled with trying to get
work, as many people do at first, and I had no support from my church
because they were against Hollywood.
“I realized that this had to
change. So we started a prayer group some 32 years ago and that
continues today. Eight people were part of it at first, and we just
started praying for each other and for other people and interceding for
the industry. And as the time went on, I thought, we need more than just
us praying. We need people on the outside also praying.
“And then, about 15 years ago, I
said, ‘I’ve got to stop this hate relationship between the church and
Hollywood and the only way I knew was to pray. For, if you pray for
someone, you can’t hate them.”
Karen said there were three reasons she started the Hollywood Prayer Network.
“One was to change the attitude
of the church,” she explained. “The second was to pray for Christians
coming out here because [often] they were not supported by their family
or their church; and it was really hard for them to maintain their faith
and to work in Hollywood. The third was to pray for the non-believers
in Hollywood; the decision makers who didn’t know Jesus. I have a real
heart to reach the people who don’t know the Lord. And the first
Presbyterian Church of Hollywood offered me to come under their wing.
“At the time, they had an
interim pastor named Doug Milam who was very supportive. He became a
close friend and is now the chairman of the board of the Hollywood
Prayer Network.”
I
wondered what she thought about the Christian movies that had been
coming out over the years, and she said, “I honestly think there is an
ebb and tide of Christian movies coming in and out of Hollywood. There
were a lot that came at the time of Cecil B. DeMille, such as ‘The Ten
Commandments,’ and ‘Ben-Hur.’ There were a lot of Christian-themed
movies and then they disappeared for quite a few decades.”
Why, I asked.
“Well, first of all, the church
turned away from Hollywood and then even hated all that came out of the
studios and had no interest in them,” said Karen. “I also think that
there are trends and that now when we’re doing big epics with people
looking for stories. And interestingly enough now, for decades people
are starting to do more movies based on books, and when you want to do a
big epic, a good book to turn to is the Bible. I don’t know how long
it’ll last, but we do have A.D. coming from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey and don’t miss Tolkien’s The Hobbit!”
Finally, I asked Karen why her group were putting on this 2015
HOLLYWOOD HONORS event, and she replied, “Actually, my twenty-something
assistant is the one that brought me the idea. She said, ‘I think our
young generation should honor the trailblazers in the industry. And, as
she told me about it, I said, 'Absolutely, let’s do it.’ So that’s why
we started planning this. The point is not only to honor the people that
have come before us that have made the path easier for all of us but to
inspire the young generation the millennials who are coming in now to
say they’re passing on a legacy take on that baton. Be people of
integrity be strong in your faith and make an eternal difference while
you’re working in Hollywood.”
The packed gathering was
attended by many believers who have been highly successful in Hollywood
over the past 40 years, and included Al Kasha, Pat Boone, Wink
Martindale, Ken Wales, Rosey Grier, and veteran stuntman, Bob Yerkes, to
name just a few.
To learn more about this fine work go to: www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org
Note: I would like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing this interview.
Photo captions:
1) Karen Covell being interviewed by Dan Wooding (Photo: Tim Hathaway)
2) Karen leading in prayer before the event (Photo: Tim Hathaway)
3) Part of the audience (Photo: Tim Hathaway)
4) Dan Wooding interviewing Pat Boone (Photo: Tim Hathaway)
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