An Interview with GodNovelization by Robert Noland
Based on the screenplay by KenAguado
An Interview with God
Copyright 2018 Ken Aguado. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced,distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, includingphotocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,without the prior written permission of the publisher, except inthe case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews andcertain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Forpermission requests, write to the publisher at the addressbelow.
Any references to historical events, real people, orreal places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and placesare products of the authors imagination.
Book cover images from the motion picture AnInterview with God Copyright 2018 Peachtree Cinema 1, LLC. Usedby permission.
Published in association with the literary agency WTAServices LLC, Franklin, TN
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations aretaken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIVCopyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used bypermission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from TheMessage. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002.Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Cover Design by Ken Aguado
Interior Design by Amy Balamut
Editing/Proofreading by Christy Distler
Film Website: http://www.aninterviewwithgod.com/
Smashwords Edition created 2018
Published by ScreenMaster Books
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Table of Contents
The strange andamazing journey of An Interview with God actually begandecades ago. But I promise to make this brief.
If you google my name, you will quickly learnthat Ive been around for a while, toiling in showbiz, as they say,for many years as an entertainment executive and producer. Noovernight success am I. Over those decades, Ive worked oncountless film and television projects, finding time along the wayto also teach the occasional film school class and write dozens ofin-depth articles on a variety of entertainment-related topics.Moreover, Ive tried to live my life with courage and compassionand let both flow into my work.
The story of An Interview with Godbegan when I was invited to attend the Haifa International FilmFestival in northern Israel for the festivalsthirtieth-anniversary gala. Being asked to participate was a bigdeal for me. On the other hand, my invitation came on the heels ofa prolonged and deadly series of rocket and mortar attacks thatemanated from Gaza, and its just possible that these dire eventscaused previous invitees to back out. Hence my invitation. In anycase, Id never been to the Holy Land, so I jumped at theopportunity, despite the concerns of my family and friends.
Israel doesnt disappoint. To see the sightsand walk in the footsteps of the people and events of history andthe Bible was an indescribable experience. Its a magical, mysticalplace. I returned to America inspired, and all that creative andspiritual energy had to be directed somewhere, right?
As a filmgoer, I was already motivated by therecent success of what Hollywood (weirdly) refers to asfaith-based filmsor as I like to call them, films. From TinselTowns perspective, theres an amazing risk/reward equation tothese movies, meaning they can cost very little to producecomparatively but can garner big box office numbers. Clearly therehad been a largely ignored and underserved group of spiritualfilmgoers around the world.
From a professional perspective, the otherinteresting thing about this phenomenon is that faith films fitinto a genre that Hollywood has all but abandonedthe venerable drama. Ilove them, but these films are mostly impossible to get made inHollywood. If you like a good drama, try television. But nowcombine that with an inspirational message? All I can say is,Count me in.
So I returned from Israel inspired to writemy first screenplay. As it turned out, the timing couldnt havebeen betterthe start of the holiday season. The combination of theannual spirit and the fact that the film business shuts down fromThanksgiving through New Years would give me a quiet four to fiveweeks to write a first draft of a script. And thats exactly what Idid. An Interview with God happened fast. Most screenwriterswill tell you the initial draft usually takes two to threemonths of work. But did I mention I was inspired?
The story I chose was pretty simple and, insome ways, not all that original. I had always liked the basicconcept of broadly appealing commercial films like Oh God!and Bruce Almighty and thought, Why not take a conceptwith proven appeal and write it as a drama, but amplify theChristian message? What if you could interview God? What would youask? And what might God ask you?
What I liked about this inspired approach wasthat the auspices of an interview would allow me to introduce thetheological ideas in a way that might make them more accessible topeople who are interested in spiritual matters but may also feelintimidated by the more orthodox approach that pervades many faithfilmssome ofwhich are quite literally preaching to the choir. There are a lotof people on the outside who are looking for a way to come inside.I wanted to open the door. And I wanted to create a biggertent.
Just fourteen months after I finished myscript for An Interview with God, we began filming in theNew York City area with seasoned, accomplished actorsthe fastestIve ever had a film produced. Was this just good fortune? Orsomething else? Ill let you decide for yourself.
I was then very pleased to be able to revisitthis story once again when the opportunity came to create anovelization. Working with author Robert Noland on his adaptationallowed us to dig even deeper into the lives of these characters,exploring the daily battles and faith struggles we all deal with inour own way.
We hope you will ask the tough questions andarrive at your own answers in this expanded story of AnInterview with God.
Surviving the Fire ofRe-Entry
The massive bay of the C-130 military planeholds some very precious cargo heading back to the United Statesfrom Afghanistan. Six extremely exhausted, tragically empty,war-ravaged men sit securely strapped into their jump seats. Theyappear lifeless, spaced away from one another with two to threeempty chairs between them. At thirty thousand feet somewhere overthe Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the night, the darkness feelsstrangely denser, deeper than ever before.
Between the jump seats and the rear of theplane stand two rows of three eachsix solemn flag-draped coffins.Ornate wooden boxes representing young lives forever silenced,their hopes and dreams for the days beyond service to their countrynow as vanquished as the breath in their lungs. A peculiar presenceis felt in the absence of a life one once knew so well.
Death has always had a daunting supernaturaleffect on the living.
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