The Producer, The Screenwriter, The Director and the Actors

I often think about how the “Trinity” can be clearly explained to someone who is new to Christianity. Even most non-Christians know that the Trinity consists of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. But it seems very confusing. They ask, either silently to themselves, or verbally to others, “who are they, why do we need three of them, and how can they all be called God?” So, here is my attempt to answer all of these questions.

First, think about the top-level persons required to make a movie: (remember, these are loosely defined and incomplete descriptions. They are intended only as an introduction to the roles.)

One God in Three Persons

Producer(God the Father): Supervises, finances, sponsors, organizes, hires director and screenwriter, releases the film when it is finished, wins or loses the academy award for best picture. Essentially, the producer provides the resources and the infrastructure for the film.

Screenwriter(God the Son): Writes the story, creates the characters, develops the dialogue, works closely with the actors to help them rightly and accurately portray the story he has written. Basically, the screenwriter is responsible for all the verbal and nonverbal content of the film.

Director(God the Holy Spirit): Determines the creative vision for the film, facilitates the shooting of the entire film and each scene within it. The Director has (or should have) complete artistic control of the film, works closely with the Director and the Producer and, hopefully, forms a strong emotional attachment with the characters in the story and with the actors who play those characters.

Why do we need all three of them

All three of these roles are essential and of equal importance with regard to making a movie. A Producer can sponsor and finance an idea but without a screenwriter (resulting in a screenplay) there is no story to tell. A Screenwriter can create a work of genius but if there is no-one to set it into action and guide it through the process, it will never be completed. A Director can lead, guide, coordinate, temper, and artistically create an award winning product, but without any supervision, financing, or formal organization it will literally never even begin to happen.

Don’t forget the Actors

So, in a way, you could look at the finished product, i.e., “The Movie” as God, and the Producer, Screenwriter, and Director as the “Three Persons” of God. This now brings us to the Actors. While it is possible to make a movie without actors–a movie with actors will “produce” a significantly more interesting, vibrant and three-dimensional movie (in my opinion, of course). One of the roles of the Producer is to allow the hiring of actors. We are those actors. The Producer makes us possible, the Screenwriter gives us our “character” (and occasionally plays a character, Himself, in the movie) and the Director helps each of us act out our part and fully realize our “character”.

Now with all of that said, sit back, enjoy the movie, and think about God!