I set off to Bali with Alberto Roman (philospher and shamanic musician) who had worked with me on “The Shaman and Ayahuasca” (now in post production). The idea was to explore Bali’s concept of Niskala – or ‘the unseen world’. The Balinese spend 50% of their lives in temple ceremonies and rituals appeasing the unseen gods and demons that inhabit and influence their world. We wanted to meet and film people who are mediums and spiritual practitioners between these two worlds. And Bali is filled with them.

What we received was absolutely magnificent. Bali opened her arms and welcomed our inquiry. First, we had a ceremony where, through the auspices of a high priest, we asked the gods for their blessings for us and for the project. Then, over 16 masters showed us into their worlds and provided insights that literally blew us away. Among these:

• A balian hands-on healing on a boy whose leg was badly damaged in a motorcycle accident. Afterwards he shows us how he uses his tool-kit of charged and magical instruments, daggers and stones.

• A shadow master reveals the dangers of performing Calon Arang through which he identifies those practicing black magic in the village.

• A woman goes into trance and appears as Quan Yin. Through music, incense, chanting and her own charismatic power she leads dozens of villagers into trances of Hanuman, snakes, alligator men and many other dieties. Desiring to do more than experience this from the outside, we too entered these non-ordinary states.

• A prince in the royal lineage of an ancient Balinese kingdom shows us a secret palace he’s been building for 10 years: courtyard after courtyard, magnificent gates and statues. I am overwhelmed by the beauty.

• A powerful painter and yoga practitioner gathers energy from nature’s power spots and creates gigantic masterpieces.

• A priest leads his mountain villagers in a ceremony to call the deities who arrive but the teenage dancers are unable to go into trance to receive them. A poignant and sad moment. The village will keep trying.

• A small farmer goes into trance and channels Hanuman, the monkey king, and performs a healing.

• A village has recently had to repair its sacred Barong mask. A big ceremony is held where the mask is taken in a procession from the temple altar to the graveyard. At midnight, the entire village sits quietly while the priests invoke the gods the come and “reactivate” the sacred mask.

• One hundred teenage girls practice the Legong, as their teacher, a famous trance dancer, watches their every move. We interview her top students, who easily go into trance.

I’ve been to Bali around 20 times and never have the priests, healers, shadow masters and others been so willing to share their most sacred arts. We were shown things that few outsiders have ever seen.

I shall now spend the next year editing some 22 hours of material into a film and a book. Watch this space!

Scripts are usual secret documents that are only shared initially with actors, department heads and financiers. I took quite an opposite approach and just published the script which is now available in all bookstores and on Amazon BEFORE the film has been made. This is the rationale behind such madness. mw

GREAT UNPRODUCED FILM SCRIPTS™

THE IDEA

No one doubts that the road to getting an independent film made is filled with incredible obstacles. Not only is writing an original script a laborious accomplishment that may take dozens of rewrites, but even if it’s great, truly original and has something to say, sadly, that doesn’t guarantee it will get made.

To get made (by someone other than the writer) a script has to land in the right hands at the right time. Many screenwriters do not live in L.A. or New York. They do not have access to agents, studios, or independent producers. And even if they did, their “small” (e.g. non-blockbuster) movie would fall well below the radar of most executives anyway. Therefore, their films need to be made outside the system, be great, and then with the luck akin to lightning striking a penny, find distribution and audiences.

The publication of this “great unproduced script” is the first of what we hope will be a series of original, heart felt stories from screenwriters seeking to get their independent visions into the world. By publishing these scripts, we hope they will be read by producers, filmmakers, or private investors seeking fresh material and that these films will get made. If not, then at least the story will be read by many more people than would normally read a script.

We’ve been doing what we can to support independent film since 1981 when we released our first book, The Independent Film and Videomaker’s Guide by Michael Wiese. At that time there was only one other “how to” filmmaking book in the bookstores. Today we’ve published 150 books about all aspects of filmmaking. We’ve helped define the genre. This next step is an experiment to see whether publishing great scripts will assist in the process of getting great films made, that have something to say and that will inspire audiences for generations to come for the benefit of all.

Once again, Michael Wiese steps up to the plate first, and his Bali Brothers script — a story he has been developing for years — serves as the guinea pig.

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

Bali Brothers was inspired by the time I lived with a friend in what was then a remote village in Bali. It was 1970, and not far away, the Vietnam War was in full bloom. We were film students setting out to discover who we were and what life was all about.

A Balinese painting salesman found us on a beach and invited us to his village. Dewa Nyoman Batuan, the kind and generous head of the village, gave us a tiny room to sleep in and fed us. We learned some Indonesian, prayed in the temple ceremonies, participated in ritual magic, studied painting and shadow plays, and played extraordinary gamelan music. Besides being immersed in what has to be one of the most creative and exquisite cultures on the planet, we saw a people who lived communally, where the family and community came first, where the ego was suppressed for the benefit of the whole, and where an entire people lived in close harmony with nature and their gods.

After many months living in this remote location, being a participant in the spiritual and ritual life of the Balinese, immersing ourselves in the trance-invoking gamelan, and the mythic archetypal characters channelled into life by the shadow master, we experienced various levels of non-ordinary realities.

The time spent in Bali forever transformed me at the deepest level and I’ve been exploring those feelings and trying to find my place in the world ever since — not unlike the protagonists in our script.
I’ve returned to Bali more than twenty times during my life and maintain a close relation with the village and my friends, now revered village elders.

In the early nineties, I started going through old diaries and reconstructing the events of that first trip. In 1995, I published a novel called On the Edge of A Dream: Magic and Madness in Bali which tells the story of that first year. While it is written as fiction, 80% of it is true.

Then I started work adapting it into a film script.

For eight years, I wrote draft after draft. I had written some scripts before but, as I found out, I knew little about what I was doing. This was more complicated, because the scripts were based on autobiographical material and even though some say “write what you know,” the fact that it was based on my life gave energy to my ego and kept me from the core of the material. As I learned, I was too busy protecting myself.

So I studied, took courses and published a lot of screenwriting books from some of the greatest minds in the industry. This gave me an amazing ace. I had access to the world’s greatest scriptwriters, script consultants, and story editors. They not only wrote books for me but they were my friends. Over the years, some very smart people consulted on the script and gave me extensive notes and guidance.

I bow down and touch their feet with the greatest of appreciation for their contribution to my work and my life: Christopher Vogler, Steve Katz, Blake Snyder, James Bonnet, Mary Trainor-Brigham, Judith Weston, Mark Travis, Jeffrey Schechter, Matthew Bishop and Lacy Waltzman.

Of course, more than anyone else, my wife, Geraldine Overton, has watched me twist and turn in the wind, and I am grateful for her patience. I’ve come to call the project “Michael’s folly” because of the vast number of hours (and dollars) I’ve put into this work over the years. Granted, I’ve been running a publishing company and making the occasional other film and I haven’t been working on it every day, but it has been fifteen years, and I have yet to make this film.
Howard Suber, UCLA educator and mentor to just about every major director and producer in Hollywood, says the average films takes nine years to make. People don’t realize this. They think a script is written, and then shot, then appears in the theaters. Many times I’ve despaired and really questioned whether this was something I wanted to pursue and every time I got “yes” as an answer and there would be another burst of creative energy. If this is the film I was born to make, then let me make it! I take frequent comfort in friend Bucky Fuller’s advice when he said that great things like the redwoods, the great whales, and the elephant have long gestation rates. I like to think of this film as one of those “great things.”

In 1994, after countless drafts, I realized I had taken it as far as I can. I needed help. I needed a co-writer. I found Matthew Bishop, who gave me notes and then came up with a strategy and structure for rewriting it. I gave him my blessing and he ran with it.

I took this version and continue the process I had begun earlier of trying to find producers, foreign sales reps, and talent to join in. I made the rounds at Cannes. As I’ve learned, no one says “no” but they don’t say “yes” either. They hope to remain friends with you and hope you’ll get your film made and come back to them when it’s finished. There is so much film product available, distributors do not need to finance anything, they just wait, go to festivals, and pick the plums off the tree. The filmmaker is expected to hock house and the family fortune to make his film and hence gain entry to this glamorous world.

Writing a film that is set in another culture presents other challenges. Not only is a script a kind of blueprint that gives everyone the vision and must tell a cracking good story, it has to do so within 120 pages. (The “right length” in Hollywood this year is 106 pages!) The story has to be told with great economy. So writing in a way that allows people to “get” Bali is very difficult. Most readers had never been there. So how do you create that image in their heads without them substituting Mexico?
I would shoot a trailer. In 2002, a month after the Bali bombings, I took two actors from Los Angeles, a U.K. cameraman, and a producer to Bali for ten days, and we shot a short piece. I made DVDs of it, sent it around with the script, and put it on YouTube. Of course the problem with this is that we shot it for nothing on mini-DV and the style of the piece is not the look we’ll have the final movie. Also, by now, the actors in the trailer are not the actors who will be in the film. Nevertheless, I learned that a mixed Balinese and Western cast and crew can work very well together. I learned how long things really take to shoot and what it would cost. So, for that alone, it was well worth doing.

A few more years went by and I was not getting it financed. Part of the problem is that I no longer live in the States, and I don’t just mean L.A. I live in Cornwall, England, a most powerful and beautiful place but also one of the most depressed places in Europe with high rates of unemployment. Talk about out of the loop! It’s very remote, which I like, and takes five to six hours by train to get to London. So I am unable to have lunch meetings, attend parties, and do all those social networking things that helped me find financing in the past — unless I travel far from home.

A sales agent at Cannes introduced me to an executive producer in Los Angeles who liked the script. She started making pitches to help secure young name actors. Curiously, and in contrast to what I expected would happen, the agents of the actors liked the script, but the actors passed. We were not able to find out whether it was the part they didn’t like or that they simply didn’t want to leave their new girlfriends and spend seven weeks in Bali. We started to get insecure about the script.

Another rewrite. I wrote another list of possible changes and I got more notes from script consultants. (When you garner advice from experts, they’ll always find something.)

In looking for another writer, I was given a moody script set in New Orleans by Lacy Waltzman. It was very good and had a dark and mysterious tone. I hired her and after many months we had a much-improved script.

I’m a morning person. I get up a 4:30 a.m. and by 10 p.m. I’m knackered. The U.K. is eight hours ahead of L.A. So if I want to start pitching, the earliest I can do so is about 6 p.m. my time. I found it far too difficult to make late night pitches to actors’ agents or anyone, for that matter.

I decided to set up the production in the U.K. I did a series of auditions and mixed and matched actors until I found a trio that I felt would work very well with one another: Phillip Barantini and Leo Gregory would play the roles of “Nick” and “Eddie,” and Rebecca Grant would be “Shakti,” the mysterious apprentice to the shaman.

I made one-sheets (sales sheets) and appointments at the market of the Berlin Film Festival. My actors, while I was confident they all had the potential to be great stars, had not yet arrived at that place in their career to be worth anything from a world sales perspective. They were not on that short list of “A” actors or bankable stars.

I like these actors tremendously and have spent as much time with them as I could every time I went to London. I know they can deliver memorable and moving performances. That, it seems, isn’t what the money people want to hear. They want names that will guarantee box office sales and a great return on their money.

For anyone who’s tried it, you know it’s a chicken and egg cycle that you have to break out of. You need financing, but that won’t come without a bankable star, but a bankable star won’t come without a firm cash offer. You can’t get the cash without the actor and you can’t get the actor without the cash. But, if you have a great script, you might be able to get the actor, if you can get the script to the actor without going through the agent. Ultimately, of course, you need to work with the agent.
So my strategy was to try to obtain an “A” actor for the small but important role of “Nigel,” the expat. At Cannes and other film festivals, I met several name actors who I thought would be good for the Nigel role. (It can be played by a wide range of actors.) I got them the script, but they passed. This time I found out why. The part wasn’t substantial enough for them.

I withdrew from the selling process. Lacy and I again worked on another rewrite strengthening the lead roles and also deepening the ex-pat role. When the script was finished, I gave it to the leading casting director in London, who presented it to the first person on our list. After about six months we never got a reply so it was time to move on, assuming they didn’t want to do it. It is now with another “A” actor and we are waiting to hear.

Without cash in hand and the ability to say we are definitely starting on this date, months and years pass. If a name star does agree to be in your film by the time you actually do raise the money, that “A” star could be booked up for many years.

Even with an “A” star there are no guarantees. Every year there are many films made with “A” stars that do not perform at the box office.

So, what you have in your hands is probably not the last version of the script. It will go through more revisions until it is shot. And the film itself will be different again because the story actually gets told three times — once in the script, again in the performance, and lastly in the editing.

Regardless of whether or not the film is funded, I continue to do works that will inform the envisioned film. A few years ago in Bali, I gathered together a Balinese composer and a dozen musicians. I gave them ideas for short sound sketches that related to scenes in the film such as “Shadows on the Wall,” “Flirting,” “So Sad to Say Goodbye,” “Demons Approach,” and a few dozen others. In less than a day we recorded some twenty-eight cues, which, if they are not used in the film, they are a healthy start in banking sounds and sound design ideas for the ultimate sound track.

Also, after years of watching Dewa Nyoman Batuan paint mandalas, I published 140 of them in Mandalas of Bali in November 2009. These mandala paintings will have a presence in the film.

For me, this is and has been a process of exploration and discovery, trying to create something that was seeded in me decades ago that continues to grow and find expression.

For the last twenty-five years, I’ve given filmmaking seminars all around the world. I’ve heard hundreds of story pitches. Many of them fail because their creators are not able to communicate (or even know) what their story is about. Okay, to some degree this criticism is not fair because filmmakers and writers go through this process to discover what their work is about. Nevertheless, to deepen their understanding of what they are trying to achieve and to help them articulate it, I put the attendees through an exercise I call “What’s it REALLY about? Two seated people face each other. One runs the mind of the other (the writer/filmmaker) with a simple question: What’s it really all about? The question is asked flatly, without judgment. A short answer then erupts. Sometimes we run this exercise for half an hour. All kinds of stuff come out, most of it rubbish, but if the writer is really willing to dive deeply, a very powerful statement often emerges that surprises everyone.

In all fairness, I run this exercise on myself about Bali Brothers: “What’s it really all about?”

• It’s about freedom and responsibility.

• It’s about magic.

• It’s about love that heals.

• It’s about finding out who we really are.
•
It’s about discovering we are even more magnificent than we think we are.

•
It’s about two brothers who heal their differences through the beauty and magic of Bali.

•
It’s about the incredible capacity of human beings to pull back the veil and enter new worlds.

• It’s about how we might live together.

• It’s about how we might create a world that benefits everyone.

•
It’s about an amazing culture that has a great deal to teach us if we are willing to listening.

May you enjoy Bali Brothers!

Michael Wiese
Cornwall, England
August 30, 2009

Almost exactly two months ago, my wife and I, and Alberto Roman were in Pulcalpa Peru interviewing Pablo for a book and a film. When we first arrived and met him he was beaming with love and warmly welcomed us. To honor him, I presented him with a white Tibetan khata (scarf). He was delighted and even though it was 90 degrees outside he never took it off. Here is a transcription of one of the first things he said to us which gives us comfort in these hours since his passing. Clearly this was a prophetic dream.

Pablo:

“I got up very early today, at 4 o’clock in the morning, very happy, because I had a vision last night of… of… of some white light or white beings descending on me… and the fact that you gave me the khata reassures me of that. I saw people…lots of people… lots of beings. I felt like I was sitting on a throne, and was surrounded by all these beings. All these folks just come surround me by light and some sort of glory. At that moment I felt so happy and I gave a lot of thanks to the Diving Being… and I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I have been going since 4 o’clock in the morning because of that vision.

I am just so happy to have had that. In my dream, I felt very happy and well loved and embraced by this light and all these people and I am just very happy and I haven’t wanted to go back to sleep since then and that you’ve given this (khata) to me, I am finding it very special.”

I started reading anything I could get my hands on by Buckminster Fuller when I lived in Japan in 1970. Japan – in its rush to be as futuristic as possible – was the perfect setting. Bucky said things that I had not heard before. He said that we can use design science to make the world work bringing everyone around the world out of poverty and to a standard of living level equal to what the world’s greatest powers now enjoy. He went on to prove Malthus and the common belief of scarcity in the world as quite wrong.

When I returned to the States I immediately sought him out and I was fortunate to meet Bucky and hear him speak countless times. I worked on a number of documentaries about him and we celebrated our mutual birthday several times with him as well. I joined him and his friends once for a week long conference in Bali. Bucky and Bali: it doesn’t get better than that.

Every dinner with Bucky was preceded by him drawing on the table cloth or whatever was around in his attempts to explain synergetic mathematics to me. He was clearly a man 100 years ahead in his thinking.

I encourage anyone to read his books or view videos in which he appears. His language may take a little while to get into but the “big bang” realisations that you will eventually get listening to him will be well worth your patience. He can change the way you think about everything.

So step by step the film gets out into the world. But you have to do it one step at a time. I say this to authors too – you sell books one at a time and the word gets out there and its onward and upward from there.

At the London screening I invited Jonathan Tammuz a producer and Oscar winning director (who is joining as producer the Bali Brothers team) and lead actor Phil Barantini. It was a good night. They got to see my work and we all got to know each other better over tapas after the screening. Phil just got a guest spot on the popular UK series THE BILL.

MWP just hired a publicist for SACRED SITES and will making a focused effort for national and regional press coverage now that distribution is in place.

I emailed the foreign sales agent for the film who told me we have about 16 buyers screening the film (since it was in the market at Cannes) so fingers crossed for some significant sales.

Right now I am in Rockport Maine. We arrived last night. Today my daughter starts a two week filmmaking for teens course at the famous Maine Media Workshops (formerly the International Film and Television Workshops). For the last two years I’ve taught directing and producing master classes here but this year my wife and I will just enjoy Maine – plus I’ve got a ton of writing to catch up on.

In September I’m going to Bali to move BALI BROTHERS along as well as some other projects. One is a full colour book of the Mandala paintings from Dewa Njoman Batuan who is one of my oldest friends and former village head in Pengosaken. We met in 1970 when I first lived in his village. The book is his life’s work which is expressed through hundreds of mandala paintings and his writing about Balinese life, religion and philosophy. I’ll also do some casting, location scouting and explore villages near Gunung Agung the volcano to find exterior shots where the village and volcano can be seen in the same shots. It’s been a couple of years since I was last there so there will be many friends to catch up with as well.

Now all this sounds like a lot of activity and it is. These projects (and many more – we haven’t even discussed the ongoing book business) start at step one – sometimes many years ago – and each day or week I work on them and bring them along. They don’t get finished right away but they do get finished. One has to be patient and try to do the best work possible which helps to insure their success. When I was younger I wanted to do everything quick, and get it out. Now I realize there is much more power in going slowly, carefully, and so – like the great redwoods or blue whales – I allow for long gestation rates.

Onward and upward,

Michael

This is in contrast to the screening I had on The Lizard (in Cornwall) last week. A group of about 20 people had requested a screening as a benefit for a Tibetan cause. Everyone sat silently after the film ended – perhaps not wanting it to end. A great feeling. Most bought DVDs to share with other groups. Even today – a week later- I got a call from someone who said she can’t keep it out of her mind and wanted to order a copy. This is the way it is suppose to work – word of mouth which builds and builds.

I was in London last week for 2 days meeting with financiers and a post production facility. The financiers are more money lenders who will loan money against the tax refund that qualifying UK films receive. The bad news is that this is expensive money (15-18%) but the good news is that no equity is attached so you can pass on the benefits to your investors.

Until we’ve financed BALI BROTHERS we can’t start. So we had to scrap the August start date and are now looking at October. I am also waiting on a friend to close a film fund which seems to have dragged on for months.

Still there is lots to do. We are still trying to cast a “name” for one of the lessor roles. And that’s part of the problem. A “name” wants a big role not a small role. We are pitching an Oscar nominee as well. Fingers crossed.

So in August I’ll be in Rockport Maine teaching a producing master class. It’s a terrific environment and a great time is had by all.

Independent Filmmaking Workshop

Actor Phil Barantini visited Cornwall a few weeks ago and I showed him the sights. Phil plays one of the leads in Bali Brothers along with Leo Gregory. Leo didn’t come as he was busy filming THE BIG I AM where he has the lead role. Apparently on the first day of shooting someone threw a bag at him in a scene and it broke his nose in three places. He told me he’s alright now and filming as resumed. Leo is heating up with leads in three features already this year.

On the publishing front we just got a book proposal for a very intelligent horror book which we are reviewing. Hmmm. Just maybe.

Onward and upward,

Michael

One highlight – of course – was the showing of SACRED SITES OF THE DALAI LAMAS at the Landmark Theater. We had two showings. The first was so packed people had to sit in the aisles. The second 9pm showing was almost full. Steve Dancz and I conducted a Q&A session after each showing.

People gathered around us afterward, mostly to thank us. Not that we have that much to do with it it. The power that they are feeling radiates from the sacred sites and power spots of Tibet through the screen. That’s what they are feeling.

A family of Tibetan refugees from Lhasa came up afterward. The tiny grandmother who had recently arrived put her hands together and bowed constantly as her daughter translated saying how wonderful it is for us to show Tibet and its spiritual practices to the world. It was a very moving moment.

I also was tapped on the shoulder and surprised to see Allegra Snyder. She is Buckminster Fuller’s daughter and mother of my dear friend Jaime Snyder who had told her about the showing. Allegra was the former head of UCLA’s dance department – a major force in world dance and the arts. She also for many years headed up Bucky’s Institute. (Bucky was also a friend and I worked on several films about him. We shared the same birth date and once celebrated it together in Bali.) It was a real honor to have her in attendance.

Yesterday we brought together 30 or more of our authors for a “MWP Publishing University” where we went through the whole publishing arc from acquisition through production, marketing and distribution. It was an extraordinary experience to be with new authors (or those we are just considering signing now) to those whose books recently came out to the ‘grand old masters’ like Chris Vogler and Judith Weston. Remember those charts of earlier man – starting with those stooped over like apes progressing through Neanderthal and Java Man – it was kinda like that. ;)

I’d write more but I just got a call from the hotel’s front desk that the UK talent agent Chloe Ernst has arrived. We are about to have breakfast. Chloe represented Phil Barantini and Rebecca Grant – two of the leads in the Bali Brothers love triangle. We’ll discuss casting the ex-pat role of “Nigel”.

Gotta run.

Over and out,

mw

So far I’ve had meetings with our company’s bookkeeper and accountant, Debbie and Steve. These folks are terrific. Without the smooth infrastructure they provide, business would be impossible. Each time we meet we find better ways of doing things – which is also the goal of the upcoming “Publishing University” which we are holding for 30 authors on Saturday.

After the meetings I went to LA’s County Museum. I haven’t been in many years and it was fantastic. I meet Don Kennedy, one of my oldest friends, who is a singer songwriter living in Northern California. We formed our first band in high school and while my musical career floundered after a few years (and having my drum set stolen and the insurance money put into a film) – he’s still at it with hundreds of songs to his credit. (http://web.mac.com/mechanicalarts and http://www.donaldmccrea.com) Check it out.

Early one morning I went over to my film storage facility deep in San Fernando Valley. Remember the shot at the end of Raider’s of the Lost Ark – that enormous warehouse that goes to infinity? That’s the place. I was met by a very friendly and helpful guy who looked like was straight out of ZZ Top- long hair, beard, sunglasses. Before he took me to my stuff to sort through he said, “let me take you on a little tour”. He said, “look! Here’s Judy Garland’s films, and over here Bozo the Clown’s TV shows, and Dom Deluise has his stuff here. It was a tour of the collected junk of Hollywood celebrities! Fantastic. Would make a great little film.

I sorted through twenty boxes of films, workprints, mag tracks, original music recordings going back to my first film. I threw away most of it so that only three boxes remain. Then I took about 15 films and videos over to a post production facility where I am having everything digitized. Some I may release on DVD or video stream or just show to my daughter. A blast from the past. Watch this space!

Next was lunch with Manlio Roseano, a young Italian producer from Bologna who took both my master classes at Rockport’s International Film and Video Workshops last summer. Pencil thin moustache, 40’s style clothers, silver convertible. Gotta love this guy. He was in LA to option a novel. I saw him at the Berlin Film Festival a few weeks ago when he took me around and introduced me. I joined him and his wife one day to visit the Stasi prison in East Germany (where much of The Lives of Others was shot).

Then, a great reunion with Nick Frangakias. We met 30+ years ago and I probably hadn’t seen him for 10 years. He was a Franciscan monk and later an actor, filmmaker, writer and close friend with Jean Renoir. He’s got a Renoir project he has writen and is producing in France. He came down from Ojai to see me where he manages a meditation retreat. We spent about four hours catching up. Bright eyes, great enthusiasm. This guy glows. Absolutely energizing to be around him.

That night I met fireball Ruth Hayward who was introduced to me by Glenn Mullin (Tibetologist and guide in the Sacred Sites film). She was having a meeting with a board of directors of a Tibetan foundation that she’s organized at the request of the Dalai Lama. I waited until they finished their meeting to join them for a laughter filled dinner. Ruth is a whirlwind personality whose master skill and art form seems to be putting people, money and ideas together so that big things happen. Her house is filled with Tibetan art and furniture which must make the many Tibetan lamas that stay with her very comfortable to be surrounded by familiar things. Some of her furniture and art work is on display at the LA County Museum. She also works with the museum and numerous NGO’s around the world. She rattled off about half a dozen projects she involved with too numerous to mention here but lets just say the woman is a spiritual powerhouse. She was kind enough to put the word out about tonite’s showing through her extensive community.

Yesterday Ken Lee, MWP’s VP, came down from Seattle. We had lunch and planned ‘publishing university’ day for next Saturday and finalized some details for tonight’s showing. We’ve worked together 17 years! The guy doesn’t age. Wonder what he eats for breakfast?

I then had a meeting with an energetic guy with contacts with hedge funds. He’ll present Bali Brothers to them for possible financing. Fingers crossed. Then I caught a movie and went to bed! I am still seriously jet-lagged.

Today I’m off to Samuel French bookshop (to make sure our books are faced out! Ha!) and then Santa Monica for the second half of my trip – if only I can get off this laptop and stop blogging!

Onward and upward,

mw

So I’m off to LA for a long list of tasks which I’ve been saving up.

SACRED SITES FOR THE DALAI LAMAS is playing on March 13th at the Landmark Theater. Composer Steve Dancz and I will do question and answer session after the two showings. I’m looking forward to see how a Los Angeles audience will respond to our little film.

(Two weeks ago I was at the Berlin Festival and found a foreign sales representative who will sell it around the world. I am busy getting all the delivery materials and masters made as he wants to screen it at the Cannes market in May. It quite amazing to see how this little film is finding its way out into the world.)

In LA I’ll also be meeting with some financiers for Bali Brothers so fingers crossed.

Ken Lee is coming down from Seattle for our March 16th, MWP Publishing University. Thirty of our authors will gather with us for a day of brainstorming. Michele from the LA office will be there as well as other MWP freelanceers and staff. It’s going to be great to see everyone at last.

I’m also going to meet old friends, some of whom are coming in from Northern California including a Franciscan monk, a singer-songwriter, several producers, and a Buddhist gardener. I’m looking forward to seeing these friends many of whom I haven’t seen for many years.

I’m also digging through my film master storage facility and pulling out some early films for transfer to DVD.

I’ll only be gone about 10 days as I have to get back to Cornwall for a local showing of SACRED SITES which is a fund raiser for Tibetan causes.

All in all it promises to be an action packaged trip with much time spent with dear friends.

Onward and upward,

Michael

I’ve been very surprised by this. I thought we’d have a very small quiet release and over time it would (or would not – like so many) make its way into the world. And its not just Buddhists who are interested. Many ordinary folks are interested in Tibet, the Dalai Lama, and the great masters who acheived enlightenment.

My sense is that the power of these very powerful sacred places carries through the film into the hearts and minds of its audience and changes them (as do the sites themselves). After all, to visit any one of these places in a lifetime would be the dream of many Tibetans.

And so, while I was going to release this film quietly to a small audience now we are in discussions with broadcasters, theater chains, and some showings will be alongside the Dalai Lama’s upcoming Spring and Fall tours in many U. S. cities.

Here’s where you can see it in the next few months (that I know about):

March 28-30th – The Celtic Film Festival, Isle of Skye

April 13-14 – The 2nd Annual Buddhist Film Festival, Montana

April 21 – The Office of Tibet/Kailash Centre, London

April 19-28th – Atlanta Film Festival

April 28 – The Art Theater, Champaign Illinois

May 3 – Tibet House, New York City

July 6 – Foundation for Tibet, London in celebration of the Dalai Lama’s birthday

July 7 – San Francisco Tibetan Community in celebration of the Dalai Lama’s birthday

June 16-17 – Films on Tibet, The Flushing Library, Flushing New York

A video trailer is here.

and it’s also available as a DVD through www.mwp.com and Amazon in the US and through Wisdom Books in the UK.

So marketing genius that I am, I got this one all wrong. Fortunately!!

Onward and upward,

Michael