I leave Los Angeles tonight for London. It’s been a very full and action packed trip. Loads of fun, extremely productive. I worked on Bali Brothers, Sacred Sites, MWP Books and met many dear friends.
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