J. Christopher Conkling teaches ancient Greek and Roman literature, film writing, creative writing, and film history at the University of Judaism in Bel-Air, California. Previously, he ran the advertising and public relations efforts for two large divisions of Pennzoil-Quaker State and Shell Oil. He cowrote the screenplay of the original, animated Lord of the Rings film, wrote A Joseph Smith Chronology for Deseret Book and has published articles in BYU Studies, Literature and Belief, and the Ensign.