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May/June 2004 Living Now
The Movie Mystic

by Stephen Simon on the Spiritual Cinema Circle

Stephen Simon

I am very excited this month to discuss with you a brand new distribution system for Spiritual Cinema called the Spiritual Cinema Circle (www.Spiritualcinemacircle.com) that actually brings 3- 5 movies into your homes each month on DVD!!

The CIRCLE offers a service that's unique and deeply needed. The CIRCLE gives you a way to bring hours of inspiring entertainment into your life each month, while making an important contribution to the world.

Each month you receive 3-5 features and shorts on DVD. The movies are personally selected by me and my team. These movies represent the best of spiritual cinema and art.

The movies are new films you're unlikely to see anywhere else.

The DVDs are yours to keep. This is what we call our Play It Forward plan: you don't have to return them. In fact, you're encouraged to share them with friends and family, in order to broaden the worldwide Spiritual Cinema Community. We also have instituted a Plant It Forward program: for every subscription, we plant a tree somewhere in the world.

The cost of the service is kept deliberately low, so the maximum number of people can participate. If you join now, you become a Member of The CIRCLE for less than $25 per month. To sign up for this special plan, go to: www.spiritualcinemacircle.com. There's no risk - you may cancel your membership at any time. And remember, you never have to return any of your DVDs, even if you decide to cancel your membership.

If, like me, you love movies, but you find it harder and harder to go to theaters because of the violence, emptiness and overall lack of quality and imagination that most of the current crop represents, The CIRCLE is a wonderful opportunity.

I loved WHALERIDER and felt grateful that so many people got to enjoy it. There are many films as beautiful as WHALERIDER made every year, but almost nobody gets to see them. Remember how you felt when you saw FIELD OF DREAMS, GHOST or TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY? I want you to see the hidden treasures, the films that are just as moving as those classics of spiritual cinema.

As a result of my connections in the film industry and my talks at film festivals and venues around the world, I get to see wonderful movies every year that hardly anybody else gets to enjoy. I'm not exaggerating when I say that some of the best movies made every year go virtually unseen. The major distributors won't touch the most heartfelt, soul-satisfying movies, because they don't think there's enough money in it for them, and even the independent distributors often overlook quality films. Remember, the mainstream movie business literally runs as much on popcorn-sales as ticket-sales. Big, violent action movies bring in audiences that eat those huge $7 boxes of popcorn and those 32-ounce $4 cups of soft drinks. That's why theater-owners want them, and that's why Hollywood makes them. The movies you'll see as a member of The CIRCLE are made with love and passion. They're not made just to sell popcorn.

Following are some initial subscriber responses to the first month's films from The Circle:

"I loved, loved, loved them all!  The only problem I had was there were not more of them!  I could have watched them all night. In fact I did until 1:30 this morning! Keep them coming....."
-- Debra, North Carolina

"The three short movies stirred me. And the feature FINDING JOY touched me to the core. No blood. Not one gun blast. No one screaming in horror. Just thought-provoking, intelligent, and truly entertaining stories about real people living life...."
-- Rita C., Oregon

"Here's what I have to say about the three shorts and the feature you sent: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.! .."
-- Maria & Guillermo, Mexico City

"Thank you so much for the first fantastic DVD's in the circle! I saw all the films yesterday. Jillians Vantage was my favourite, but "Finding Joy" and "Matchbox Fever" were also very, very good. I just can't wait to get another package from the Circle ..."
-- V.Swingen Oslo, Norway

Thank you...and we'll see you in The Circle!!

[Ed. note: I was going to review the DVDs, but Stephen and the viewers said it all. Giving us access to such fine films is both an inspired idea and a wonderful service to the wider community – and I really enjoyed the films. Thank you Stephen! ---Miriam Knight]

Stephen Simon produced such films as Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come and also produced and directed INDIGO. Stephen leads seminars, telecourses, and inspirational Mystical Movie events around the world. For more information, please visit www.Movingmessagesmedia.com. Stephen welcomes your comments by email: Stephen@Movingmessagesmedia.com.
To join The Circle, go to: www.spiritualcinemacircle.com