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November/December 2004 Living Now
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| Stephen Simon |
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 start 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 Storytelling has disappeared and has been replaced by an ever-increasing emphasis on effects, sequels, and dumb comedies.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 3 – 5 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 Three’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 4 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.
On the Web, readers can join The Circle by going to: www.SpiritualCinemaCircle.com. Or call: 1-800-280-8290
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