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OF THE BEST movies made each year are never seen. These are
films that inspire, open the heart or transform the viewer, but, because
they don’t fit into the traditional “Hollywood mold,”
they don’t make it into your local movie theater. But now you
can see these kinds of films in your home with recently launched DVD
film club, The Spiritual Cinema Circle.
The Spiritual
Cinema Circle finds films from all corners of the world that warm the
heart and is the brainchild of best selling authors Gay & Katie
Hendricks and veteran Hollywood film producer Stephen Simon. Since the
launch in April 2004, over 9,000 people in 58 different countries have
signed up for this new venture.
 Stephen
Simon recently took a few minutes from his home in Ashland, OR to chat
with us about his efforts to introduce spiritual cinema into the world
via The Spiritual Cinema Circle – soon to become the premier home
for films that engage our collective human spirit.
Q:
With your connections in the film industry, delivering keynote talks
at film festivals and venues around the world, you had the opportunity
to see wonderful films that hardly anybody else got to enjoy. Is this
what inspired you to launch The Spiritual Cinema Circle?
Gay Hendricks actually initiated and then approached me with
this idea – and I loved it from the beginning. I’d been
talking about a distribution company for spiritual entertainment for
years, and here it is. It’s great news for audiences and great
news for filmmakers. We put 40 – 45 spiritual films per year into
people’s homes.
Q:
It took you 20 years to get WHAT DREAMS MAY COME made. Why did Hollywood
drag its feet on this film?
I knew one of the main purposes of my career in movies was to
produce the film and get it out into the world. However, nobody understood
WDMC. After years and YEARS of industry politics and filibustering,
when WDMC hit theaters it became extremely and immediately obvious that
the film was going to work wonderfully for the audience attracted by
its story, but not for the casual viewer. The studios marketed the film
on the star power of Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr. and made the
film out to be an action-packed adventure, which it is not. WDMC is
not a walk in the park – it challenges audiences to look within
themselves and, as such, it is not a movie where you can just check
out and go along for the ride. This was when I realized we had to find
a new way to reach people who would connect with this kind of film –
because Hollywood obviously didn’t know where to start. Even with
all that, the film grossed over $100 million worldwide and won the 1999
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Q:
Why do you think Hollywood has ignored these types of films?
Hollywood has turned its back on “older” filmgoers. In their
unfortunate and desperate quest for the “under-25”film audience,
Hollywood Studios have abandoned classic storytelling and alienated
adult filmgoers along the way. Storytelling has disappeared and has
been replaced by an ever-increasing emphasis on effects, sequels, and
dumb comedies. I’m confident The Spiritual Cinema Circle will
reconnect adults with movies they’ll love and want to see. We
view our films as a return to shamanic storytelling.
Q:
When did you know you had to leave Hollywood?
An experience occurred with a teenage girl who died of cancer
in 1998. Amanda Weber was dying when she saw the TV ads for WDMC and
we got her a video of the film so she could see it at home. Her Dad
told me that she died very peacefully after seeing the film and that
just did it for me. I knew that I couldn't exist in the superficial
mindset of "Hollywood" anymore. I physically left in 2001,
and re-located to Ashland, Oregon, where I am surrounded by a community
that totally supports and inspires my vision.
Q: What are a few examples of the types of films people
can expect to see from The Spiritual Cinema Circle?
A perfect example of spiritual cinema is Niki Caro’s 2003
indie hit WHALE RIDER. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, GHOST – these are
all good examples of mainstream films that fit within the spiritual
cinema genre. We travel to film festivals around the world to hand pick
films for The Circle that uplift, inspire and touch the heart. These
films go directly to DVD for our members – to keep!
Q:
How does The Circle work? What are the “nuts and bolts”
of being a member?
We operate kind of like a cross between a “book of the
month” club and Netflix. We do the homework for our viewers and
pre-select three to five films per month to put on DVD. We usually try
to have at least one feature-length film, a handful of short films,
and lately we’ve had some wonderful documentaries thrown into
the mix, too. Members pay $24 per month and the DVDs become theirs to
keep.
Q:
Are you attached to the production on any of The Circle’s films?
Or is The Circle primarily a distribution vehicle?
Right now The Circle is exclusively a distribution operation
and I have nothing to do with any of the films that are being distributed
by the circle, with the exception of Volume Four’s documentary
on the making of INDIGO, a film which I directed and produced with James
Twyman and Neale Donald Walsch. The Circle, however, will not distribute
the film itself. Hopefully, someday, we will become a theatrical distribution
company as well. We’ll see…
Q:
Some members have set up viewing circles within their communities –
people who get together each month to screen Circle films to share the
emotional experience of watching spiritual cinema. What is The Circle
doing to encourage and promote this kind of community?
I just love that the very name of our company has inspired and
encouraged this community atmosphere – this was really what Gay,
Katie and I sought to do from the very beginning – bring like-minded, spiritually focused people together through films they could
enjoy. We actually saw these “viewing circles” pop up all
over the country, so we’ve created a space on our Web page for
people to find each other within their city.
Q: We’re
dying to know what your favorite Circle film has been so far. Any favorites
on the horizon?
Yikes! I love them all! We actually just posted some viewer
response to our Volume Three on our Web site – one member in Cincinnati,
Ohio had this to say: “I don't know how you can surpass Volume
3. Every piece was spectacular. I just finished MOTHER GHOST. I have
to rank it in the top ten movies I have seen in my lifetime, and that
is no short span. I was born the year GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD
OF OZ were first released and have been going to the movies ever since.
Thank you for doing such a superb job in providing a much needed uplift
in the art of films.” I think that speaks for itself, don’t
you?
Q: What
has surprised you the most about The Circle?
How fast it’s caught on! We did not think that we would have this
many subscribers from this many countries this quickly. We would
have been happy if we’d had the response we’ve gotten in
just four months in our first year of operation. We hope our films stir
people to remember who we can be when we reach beyond the seen into
the realm where we engage the magical aspects of our human potential.
©
Heidi Metcalf, 2004
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