An award-winning writer, speaker, and producer, Dr. Barbara Nicolosi has spoken at hundreds of conferences, universities, and churches. She is the featured host on the Mystaogy podcast. She has also given retreats for parish ministers. With 23 years of experience working in Hollywood as a writer and producer, Dr. Nicolosi speaks about the intersection of faith and culture, the role of art and beauty in the Church and world, and how to engage the secular mainstream with Gospel themes. As a Great Books professor and former member of a religious community, she can also speak about a number of topics that draw from literature and philosophy including the nature and importance of friendship, various aspects of prayer and spirituality, the history and social imporatnce of story and art, and how the Church can more effectively find a voice in the marketplace of ideas.
Dr. Nicolosi is founder of the Write Spirit creative writing program for young people which is under the auspices of the Catholic Art Institute. A member of the Writers Guild of America-West she has written screenplays for several Hollywood production companies. Her most recent credit is as a co-writer on the 2020 Picturehouse release Fatima, directed by Marco Pontecorvo and starring Harvey Keitel and Sonia Braga. Barbara has a doctorate in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University in the UK, a Masters in Film and Television from Northwestern University, and a B.A. from the Great Books program at Magdalen College in Warner, NH. She has done further studies in documentary production and animation at UCLA. She has taught iat the university level for twenty years. She has been a script analyst, production company executive, and consultant on scores of entertainment projects including the features The Passion of the Christ and TV shows Joan of Arcadia (CBS) and Saving Grace (TNT). A highly experienced public speaker on art, culture, media and spirituality, Barbara has delivered hundreds of addresses at universities, conferences and assemblies all over the world including at the Vatican and for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Barbara has been a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and a reader for the Humanitas Prize which has been called the Pulitzer of screenwriting. For ten years, she has been on the Blue Ribbon jury of the Angelus Awards Student Film Festival, which is the top student film competition in the world. She is currently directing a Mystagogy program at St. Stephen's parish in Chesapeake VA.
Barbara has appeared as a cultural commentator on ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR and in the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Premiere magazine, among many others. She has produced several award-winning plays at the Actors Co-op Theater in Hollywood, and is currently working on a play about the struggle to regain the beuatiful in the Church. Barbara has been an adjunct professor of cinema at Pepperdine University and Azusa Pacific University and a guest lecturer at the Los Angeles Film Study Center, the Catholic University of Valencia, in Spain, and the Catholic University of Milan. She won Catholic Press Awards in 2001 and 2002 for her contributions to various Catholic magazines.
She is the co-editor with Spencer Lewerenz of the Baker Books 2006 release, Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith and Culture and of the 2005 Michael Wiese Publication release Notes to Screenwriters. She has been a contributor to several other books including: the 2012 Our Sunday Visitor release, Style, Sex and Substance, the 2010 Baker Books release, For the Beauty of the Church, the 2001 Augustinian Press release, Back to the Drawing Board: The Future of the Pro-Life Movement, and Loyola Press’ The Best Catholic Writing of 2005. Dr. Nicolosi has received several awards for her work in media and culture. Including a special award in 2004 by the Legatus International Association and the 2006 Spirit Award from the Windrider Forum at the Sundance Film Festival. Most recently, she received the Gravitas Award for Cultural Impact from the Diocese of Trenton for her work in media in the spirit of Blessed Pope John Paul the Second. Dr. Nicolosi served as a consultant to the Board of Directors of the Magis Institute, a non-profit to promote authentic Catholic culture and spirituality. She was also on the board of New Ethos, an effort to foster dialogue and cooperation between the Christian community and Hollywood. In conjunction with Family Theater in Hollywood, she taught theology to converts to Christianity from the entertainment industry.
Comments From The Public
"Barbara Nicolosi not only has excellent public speaking skills, but much more than that, she knows what she is talking about. Although Catholic, she is also effective with Protestant audiences. If the topic is media related, Barbara has interesting and important things to say." - Dr. Tom Nash, Professor Emeritus, Biola University.
SHE IS WORTH EVERY EAR THAT LISTENS TO HER. SHE EDUCATES BUT EDUCATES WITH HUMOR! SHE KNOWS WHO SHE IS AND DOES NOT APOLOGIZE FOR BEING!
I heard Barbara speak at a symposium at UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago). She was thoughtful, engaging, and hilarious! - Terri Aluise, Chicago
Barbara has a tremendous grasp of past history and current culture. To that, she brings a biblical perspective of the Church's responsibility (and opportunity) to engage and impact culture. Add to this, she is an entertaining and captivating speaker. You will not be disappointed! - Steve Vinson, Chandler, AZ
Barbara taught me at the Act One: Writing for Hollywood program in 2004. During this month-long course I was continually amazed by her knowledge of both the screenwriting craft and the movie business as a whole. It was like drinking from a fire hydrant with all the wisdom she poured over us that summer. No exaggeration, I still hear her voice EVERY TIME I sit down to write today. And I could list at least ten things off the top of my head that stuck to me so profoundly, but I'll spare you the read so as not to spoil anything when she comes to speak to you in person. If you let Barbara Nicolosi come give a speech at your school, class, ceremony, or function you will NOT be disappointed. I promise! - Aaron A., Ft. Worth, TX
Barbara is scary smart, knowledgeable, sassy, devout, entertaining. As they say, run don't walk, to hear her! - Janet E. Smith, Ypsilanti, MI
Barbara is one of the most intelligently passionate speakers I've ever heard - and these days those two factors do not often go hand in hand. Unwilling to pull punches and sharp as a tack, her insights and experience are a welth of insperation, encoragement and wisdom for anyone within earshot. Her lectures encoraged me as a Christian, an artist, a business woman and simply as a woman. Thank you Barbara. - Chloe, Denver, CO
Barbara is an articulate and insightful speaker. As a former student, I had the privilege to hear Barbara speak at various functions and she never disappoints: her acerbic wit and wisdom will win you over as she engages you to reflect and think critically on the topic at hand. - Phil Thompson, Calabasas, CA
