The Village Square

Craig Detweiler
Filmmaker and Author
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena CA

Craig is a filmmaker, author, and cultural commentator who’s been featured in The New York Times and on CNN and NPR. He co-directs the Reel Spirituality Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he jumps headlong into contemporary culture working to cross the cultural divide between Hollywood and faith communities. His first book, A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture, connects the dots between movies, music, TV and the divine. It has been adopted as the standard text in the field of theology and pop culture on college campuses around the world. Other books by Craig include Purple State of Mind, Finding Middle Ground in a Divided Culture and Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century. His is co-director of the L.A. Film Festival and has written and directed a number of award-winning films.

John Marks
Author, Journalist
Former 60 Minutes Producer

John is a novelist, journalist, formerly 60 Minutes producer and Berlin bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report. His first novel, The Wall, was named a New York Times Notable Book in 1998. His second, the critically acclaimed sequel War Torn, made Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2003. His third novel, Fangland, appeared in January 2007 and has been optioned for a feature film by Hilary Swank. His 60 Minutes segment ‘Submission‘, about the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, received a 2006 Gracie Allen award from the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television for Best Hard News Feature. John’s first work of non-fiction, Reasons to Believe, a portrait of American Christianity, received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. Marks has also written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.