The Art of Film Funding
Discover the secrets to funding and creating successful indie films with The Art of Film Funding Podcast. Join Carole Dean, President of From the Heart Productions and author of The Art of Film Funding, and Heather Lenz, director of the award-winning documentary Kusama-Infinity, as they chat with top film industry pros. Get practical insider tips on crowdfunding, pitching, saving on budgets, marketing, hybrid distribution, and the latest in A.I. filmmaking. Whether you’re funding your first project or navigating new trends, this podcast has everything you need to succeed. Subscribe and let’s get your film funded!
The Art of Film Funding
How to Use Self-Empowerment and Simple Techniques to Create Your Future, Part 1
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Love of Radio.
SPEAKER_02Hi and welcome to the Art of Film Funding. I'm your co-host, Claire Papin. Along with Carol Dean, author of the best-selling book, The Art of Film Funding, Carol is also the founder and president of From the Heart Productions and the host of this show. Carol Dean is a producer as well as the author of The Art of Film Funding 2nd Edition and The Art of Manifesting, Creating Your Future. Her executive producer credits are BAM 6.6, Women Behind the Camera, Step Away from the Stone, American Chain Gang, and even more you can find on IMBD. Carol is an entrepreneur who created and ran a film business in Hollywood, New York City, and Chicago for 33 years. She sold the businesses in 2001. She created the Roy Dean Film Grant in 1992 and has given over $2,500,000 in grants to independent filmmakers and helped to produce over 50 films. Carol is currently the president of From the Heart Productions, a 501c3 nonprofit, where she manages the grant and fiscal sponsorships for the nonprofit. And she teaches intentional film funding with Tom Malloy through FromTheHeartProductions.com. Carol, I am so excited to have this show with you today. And I want you to talk about your book, The Art of Manifesting, Creating Your Future. You also wrote this after Michael Weesee published your other book, The Art of Film Funding, Alternative Financing Concepts. So what prompted you to write The Art of Manifesting, Creating Your Future?
SPEAKER_03Well, thank you, Claire. Thank you for that lovely introduction and for uh hosting the show and talking to me about this book. I've really loved this book. I wrote this to support filmmakers with the most important knowledge they need. Teaching the art of film funding around the world. I was in South Africa teaching in New Zealand, all over America, and I had so much fun. But the more I taught that book, the more I realized that that was only half of it. The real important side of film funding starts in your head. It's who you are and what you think. Because you are the magic. You are what makes the film. And if you don't feel you can do it, if you have the slightest feeling of discomfort when you start out to ask for money, that can impede your process. So I began to put together ideas for how to manifest the money, how to bring the money to you, what is required. And then I started teaching how to manifest along with my art of film funding because it the two go together. It's like you can't walk around on one shoe. You need two for the balance. The film funding really starts with your mind and your faith, your belief in yourself. It's the most important part of funding, as far as I'm concerned, because you can tell when somebody calls you to introduce themselves or their film if they've got total faith and confidence or not. It comes through. And that's the most important part of the funding. If you give me any waver of insecurity, or you use a lot of hopes, or I would love to, or I'm thinking about those things turn people off immediately. You have to be totally determined and fixed in the knowledge that your film is funded, and I'm calling you because I know you give a grant, and if you're interested in helping me, terrific. If you're not, that's okay because I'm making this film with or without you. That's the kind of uh confidence that you have to walk out the door with or sit on the phone and talk to people about. So that made it the most important book I'd ever written.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, I can understand that for sure. And I understand also that the word manifesting is a unique word compared to many of the other ones, like, oh, you're gonna create this or you're gonna work on this or you're gonna try for this or that. But the word manifesting, what is the actual definition of that?
SPEAKER_03Well, that's really a good question, Claire. This is where we start, it's the beginning. The dictionary says evident to the senses, especially to the sight, apparent, distinctly perceived, hence, obvious to the understanding, apparent to the mind, easily apprehensible, plain, not obscure or hidden. In other words, you can't say to the universe one day, okay, I am making a feature film, and this is my plan. So then the next day I say, Well, you know, I'm not sure if I want to make that film or not. I think I think I might make a documentary. Well, no, that's not going to work. This is the most important part of manifesting. Let's go back to the definition. Evident to the senses. You have to feel it, see it, know it, believe it. All of the senses have to be involved. You have to be able to talk about it so that you are confident, that comes through your voice, your body language has to be very positive, and you have to know in your mind and uh that you can achieve it. And the vision see to the senses, this is why I tell everyone you have to visualize that your film is fully completed, and when you go to bed at at night, you start to go to sleep, you see your film on a big 40-foot screen in the theater, you're in the catbird seat, you're sitting there, and you say to the projectionist, run the film. And the lights go down, the curtains are drawn back, and there comes the title to your film, and you're just full of joy and confident success, and you're sending all of these emotions up to the universal mind saying, Here I am, I have finished my film, and then you see the title, you see the uh credits. The best director I could have chosen, look at that DP, I was so accurate. That DP did the best job all the way down the line as the credits come up. You're complicating, you're complimenting yourself. Everything is perfect, and you go to sleep. Sending that off to the subconscious as well as to the universal mind. Because you know what you want. You were totally upset. You see the end result. So going to the end result is what works because the definition says apparent to the mind.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so it looks as though Carol's line has dropped, and we will have to uh let her call back in. And in the meantime, we will uh we'll hold the line for her and let her know that uh she needs to call back in. Um one of the things that she talks about when she talks about the art of manifesting is also how manifesting comes from not only the mind, but the heart. And I know that when we see this kind of thing happen, when we see it not only in our mind, but also in our heart, that heart is also like an energizer. It charges that vision. And I know she talks about this in different ways, maybe not in those exact words, but in different ways she talks about this. So we can always tune in to our heart and mind and allow that to give it the juice that a vision really needs. And another thing that I know that we've talked about in the past, Carol and I, because I I've I've really had the opportunity to get some good coaching from her on manifesting. And that is that if you ever come across a situation where you feel like, uh-oh, you know, I'm having a negative thought, this thought is gonna hold me back. I'm, you know, I'm nervous about talking about my film to this investor, and I don't want that to cause any problems. I don't want that to uh keep me from manifesting what it is I'm working for. Well, the truth is that even if you have a negative thought, you can use your own visioning to cancel it out. You can just say, in your mind and in your visioning, I will not allow any negative thoughts to get in my way. I have a clear path. And if a negative thought does show up, I will simply let it dissolve and keep moving forward. And that way, you don't have to be afraid of having a negative thought or one popping in if one does. In other words, you're not giving it any energy. And without the energy, it doesn't have any way to go forward. So you can step into that with and know that you are in control. The person who is really creating this film is the one who is in control. That is the person who uh is who you really are. And also, while we were are still waiting for Carol to call back in, we can uh discuss some of the other things that I know that she wants to talk about. However, it looks as though she has just made it in. So here we go. I'm gonna open your mic, Carol. I I know you can hear me. Hi, Carol. Hi, Claire.
SPEAKER_03So tell me where I disappeared. I must have a problem with my time.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'll have to let you know also that I was sharing with the audience some stories of of things that you have done for me when you were coaching me on manifesting. So I just carried on until you were able to call back in. Um where you left off. Yes, yes. I was telling the story about how you uh have said in the past that if a negative thought does come up, you don't have to give it any power, you don't have to give it any energy. You can simply say, there are no any negative thought that may come up will not get in my way. I will still move forward, and negative thoughts will just dissolve. So, in so many words, you have said that to me, and I was just sharing that with our listeners. Oh, that's so important. Thank you, Claire.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yes.
SPEAKER_02Sure, yes, yes, yes. Well, where you left off when you were sharing with me uh before the the line dropped, you were talking about the importance of um when when you're manifesting, you also need to um stay in the moment. You've got to stay in the moment of the manifesting so that you can use the power of that moment.
SPEAKER_03Right. Well, it's it's so evident to the senses, we'll go back to the beginning. It's obvious to the understanding. The point is that if you if you start off telling the universe, I'm making a feature film, this is the title, gone with the wind, etc. etc., and then you say, Well, no, I don't think so. I think I'm gonna do a documentary, but I'm not sure. That's where you get in trouble with the universe. It's best to think about what you want, make a commitment to yourself and and the universe and say, Okay, this is it. I found what I want. Now you start manifesting, now you start creating the vision, the three-month goal, the six-month goal, etc., and start moving forward. But you you make a commitment and you know exactly what you want. That's how you can bring it in. Not when you are unsure and when you're constantly changing your mind. That's not the best way to manifest. That doesn't mean that you start out to make a film, someone comes up with ideas and you incorporate those and make it even better. That's all acceptable. It's going from the beginning, knowing what you want, and starting out on a strong foundation with some clarity and vision. That's how you manifest because you are manifesting every day with your mind when at night, when you go to bed, you say, Okay, tomorrow I'm going to be on a conference call, uh, I have this going on at four o'clock, and I have that, and you are thinking about it and you are actually manifesting it. When you go back and look at the physics of how things in this universe work, we are the magic. We are what stops a particle. They say particles are never at rest, they're always moving, even at zero degrees temperature. So but when a human looks at a particle, they can stop it. Now, how does that work? Right? Right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because we are the magic. We are the power. And so the pr the whole thing is to understand the power of your mind and realize how powerful you are as a being so that you can use that power to make your film along with your to-do list and your pitch and your proposal and all the things you have to do to make your film. It's the most important part of it to believe and have this confidence and have a clear vision of the end result.
SPEAKER_02Yes. All right. Well, you also talk about how the art of manifesting uh has has um beautiful wisdom about how artists need to know the market from their products and section and they need to consider the penetration of that market as a measure of success. So why is it important to explore your market and your audience so early in the production?
SPEAKER_03Well, thank you, Claire. It's let's just say if you were going to drive from LA to New York, the first thing you'd do is uh go to automobile club and get yourself a map and you would set out on a destination, you'd know where you were going, right?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03And that's the most important thing here. Too many filmmakers start out to make a film and they're not sure who the they're going to sell the film to. They're not sure where it's going to be screened or shown or what the distribution would be. Well, I know you can't just say, well, I'm I'm positive I'm getting a Sundance, or I know that Submarine will take this film, but you do have to know who your audience is and who you're making for. All of these are very important. So who do you think would be interested in buying the film? Where? Which uh channel, which um uh cable station, which streamlined a streamer is uh yours. Which one of these places would want to buy your film? You need that destination and most importantly, you need to profile who you think your audience is because you want to uh find that audience and attach them to the film while you're making it, Claire, because that same audience if they're interested in the subject matter, they want to see you make the film so they would be uh donating to your film, right? Right. Yes. As well as they would want to download it. And downloading is going to be even more prominent in the future because of COVID 19. We may not have as many theaters when they do open up. We may have a smaller number. So filmmakers have got to have a really good handle on their market and how to reach it. And that's that starts early on in the process. You have to say to yourself, Why am I creating this art? Am I motivated out of a need for riches or fame? Or do I want to document an important part of history? Uh do I want to bring a little known subject to light? Am I passionate about this subject? I mean, what is the reason? Why are you making this film? And it's okay if the film is to promote you as a filmmaker, good. Identify that, know that going in. If it's to shed light on an important subject matter, excellent. You have some clarity on what you want. These are exactly the things that a good uh distributor would ask you. And when you go to a marketing person like John Reese, he's gonna ask you, or Peter Broderick, they're going to ask you, What why did you make this film and what do you want to do with it? So you really should start thinking about that early on. It just makes it easier for you to make decisions during the funding process.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So in the art of manifesting, you also say one of the easiest things you can do is to stay in the now. Which is what we were talking about a few minutes ago. Being in the present, put a smile on your face and stay positive. So you also believe that reading your goals in the morning and the evening help them to manifest as well. So should you read them out loud?
SPEAKER_03Oh, definitely. But rem your goals are yours. They're you uh to you alone. You should not be sharing them because when you start talking about them, people say, Really? You think you're gonna do that? And then the negativity starts. And you don't want that. You're not gonna put yourself in a place where you can let other people uh bring you down. So don't even mention it. Keep that to yourself. But it when you're alone, let's say in your bedroom, your bathroom, when you're brushing your teeth, you can say uh your goals, say them out loud, read them out loud, talk about them. Is it to like you're talking to your best friend, talk to the universe and say, I can't wait to get John Ligio to do produce my film. He's the best guy I know for it. I'm sure he's gonna love the idea. And I can't uh wait till he says, Yes, I'm on your team. Whatever it is you want, talk about that. And um I think that our voice and speaking things out loud is a manifesting technique. Not only does it work through our vision, but it's through the senses. You go back to the dictionary, it says through your senses, so you talk it, see it, feel it, know it, all of those things.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Good, good information. So also tell us about your relentless faith and how that helps with manifesting as well.
SPEAKER_03Well, faith, you know, faith is the key. That's one of the great keys to life, but I really think it's the the greatest key to filmmaking, faith in yourself, faith in your film, um faith in the the universe, uh, that it will allow you to raise the funds to make the film to be successful, to achieve your goals. Uh the most important thing that you can do uh is uh go back to uh this is one of my favorite parts of the Bible says, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. That's Matthew 17, 20. Right? It's a very important statement. Can you imagine moving a mountain with your mind? My heavens, uh I'm not sure how that works, but I do know that our minds are extremely powerful, so maybe they're more powerful than we ever imagined. And that's what I like to believe. I believe that we are walking Wi Fi's. We know we are sending and receiving every day, right? We know we're sending, and the trick is to be able to receive more than we do. We're always asking for guidance and help and support through our request to the universe. So the best thing for me, I believe, for filmmakers, is to meditate. Put fifteen to twenty minutes a day on your calendar and make that your own private, quiet time where you do nothing but sit silently if that's what you need. I'm the one that needs a quiet, peaceful place to sit and meditate. And then I take things to my meditation, I ask for guidance, I leave it alone, and I usually have answers within 24-48 hours that were better than any suggestions I had for the solution to the problem. And I just asked for help. And sometimes, you know, you'll get an answer, and it may be from a person or on television or whatever. I had a kidney infection, and I said to the universe, okay, should I give up coffee? Is that gonna help? I don't know. Maybe I should drink tea. And so let me know. And I swear, Claire, that night I turned on TV and it wasn't five minutes in. There was a show where this woman had had a bit of a crisis, and the guy s said to her, he took his her hand in his and said, What you need is a sweet, hot cup of tea. Very clearly. I said, Okay, that's exactly that's exactly what I did. I I gave up the milk and just went with sugar and tea and no milk and coffee and and it helped, you know. So we have to listen to listen.
SPEAKER_02Yes, the signals and the yes, uh synchronicities that show up too.
SPEAKER_03Oh yes, aren't they fun? Yes.
SPEAKER_02That's a great story.
SPEAKER_03Well, uh there was a week.
SPEAKER_02Oh, please go ahead, yes.
SPEAKER_03It that worked for me back in the s in the late 70s in New York, Meredith, and she was the technical woman. She used our evaluating machine to evaluate two and one-inch tape. And so I put out on the wind, Meredith, where are you? I'd love to know how you're doing. And it wasn't well, maybe a couple of months, and she found me on Facebook and said, Where are you? I want to say hello, and got to me. So I had been trying to figure out uh the name of a wrap I use. It's a Mexican uh wrap that that just goes around your shoulders and it's lovely, but I couldn't remember the name of it. I kept saying, I think it's a Rwanda, but I don't remember. Well, I get Meredith on the phone and we're chatting about the last 30 years, and she said, Do you still have that blue Rwanda? And I said, Yes, but I'm not sure what's the name of that. And she said, It's a Rwanda, and I loved yours so much I had to go buy a red one. Now that's a long way around to give me the answer to a question, but I know the universe did that on purpose to make me know we're listening.
SPEAKER_04Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_02They're listening, and are we listening?
SPEAKER_03That's it. That's the question. That's the question. And you can listen when you make yourself have twenty minutes a day, no cell phones, no interruptions. And some people love a walking meditation. Just slowly walking, looking at the trees and the plants, and that's when they can receive. Uh and whatever is your own personal way of receiving, I highly recommend that you put that in your calendar. You again are the one that can make it happen. When you program it in, you plan on it, it will happen.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Right. Well, you also give some really wonderful affirmations in your book. And one of my favorites is forgiveness and love dominate my thoughts. I also have another one. Every transaction that I create is beneficial for all. I like both of those. And that would start my day off in a really good mood. You also say you want us to study one person that we highly respect, whether it's the Dalai Lama or Mahatma Gandhi or the director Spielberg. You say we need to find someone we truly admire and closely look at their values because it's important for you to have values in your life and knowing what they are and focusing on them brings you closer to reaching your goals. I love that. So why is that?
SPEAKER_03Well, it's something that we a lot of people do unconsciously. You uh you have someone that you dearly love and respect. Uh, and so I I just want you to become aware of how important it is for you to analyze that person and find what is it about them that you really love. I love the Dalai Lama smile. When he smiles, the your heart just opens up, right? He's just delightful, and he's got this l child-like part of him, this l innocence, this caring, loving, nurturing part of him that uh is so beneficial to all. Just being in a room with him, just having him on the television can make your whole house uh feel like a holy place. So it find someone that touches you in some way, and then analyze what you think their uh uh attributes are and write those down because obviously they're important to you, and incorporate those in your life. Live your life with that value because that's what you want, that's why you are drawn to that person, and that will enhance your life and make you happy.
SPEAKER_02You know, I and I have heard that when you see something in someone else that you have a reaction to, whether uh whether it be something you like or don't like, sometimes what you're seeing is something that also is within you, and you're just recognizing it in someone else. So if you are looking at someone that you highly respect um and you hold in a in a very special place, the way you have just described the Dalai Lama, um, those attributes and values that you see in them are within you, and it's important for you to give focus to it, bring it out, nurture it, like you were just saying, by by writing those things down and looking at those things really deeply.
SPEAKER_03Exactly, Claire. This is very important because Claire, people give money to people, not to the art, not to the book or the films that you're making. They're gonna give it to you because they admire you, they trust you, they want to support you. So you have to be your very best. Yes. And that's why you need to identify.
SPEAKER_02Yes, identify those things. You ask a very important question in your book, and I want to know why this question is so important. Are you willing to take a leap of faith?
SPEAKER_03Yes. This is what it's going to take that, and you'll know when the moment comes. Uh I was working a booth at the Showbiz Convention in Los Angeles when I was running my other business in my l other lifetime, and Barbara Leibowitz, that's a sister of Annie Leibowitz, walked up to me at the booth, and I thought, oh my gosh, here we go. Because I couldn't get out of the booth, I couldn't leave, I couldn't say, Let's go have a cup of coffee or let's go chat. Anyway, it was a 30-minute pitch, but it was very good for me because first of all, I saw her passion for the film. I realized how dedicated she was, how how much she intended and wanted to make this film. She had a job as a uh news uh researcher. I think it was one of the TV stations, I think it was ABC. She had a very high-paying, great job, and then she found out about a prison program that had the least amount of recidivision, Claire. It was training hardcore criminals to be underwater divers because they love danger, and this was a dangerous job, so it can it fulfilled that need and made money for them too. So she and she did win the grant, but she brought her film to me in such a passionate way that I was very impressed, and I put her in the finals. I never make the final decision on who the winner is. I always have uh documentary feature film judges decide that. But she did win the film. She quit her job and made this film called Salvaged Lives, got her sister Annie to take a still shot of a guy in the diving helmet, the old diving stuff that used to weigh a ton. And of course, that was her first film from after that. She married her cameraman, and they have raised two lovely children, and they have a very profitable documentary production company. Now, that was her first film. And here's what she did. She knew she was gonna win, Claire. She uh came to me that night after she won, and and I was giving, this is in the what, uh 92, 94, around in there, um, $3,500 in Raw stock, which is what, three times that now? Anyway, she said, I'm coming at 7 30. Will you be there? Will you open the office for me? I was a Saturday morning. And I said, What? She said, Oh no, I've had my crew on alert. I told them I'm winning this award, and we are shooting tomorrow. I've got a a pass to get in the prison. She said the worst case was I would have to buy the Roststock Carol, but I knew I was gonna win it. So um we opened the office and she got a Rostok and off she went. Now that's faith, okay? She saw what she wanted and she went after it, she won that award. At that time, we made the top five people pitch in front of an uh audience at the director's guild. And I remember, see, they the judges would have reviewed everyone already, and probably leaning towards who they were going to pick. But after everyone pitched, we took an intermission and the judges made their final decision, and they made it on the passion of the filmmaker, and that's where Barbara was ten feet above everybody else, her passion for this project. So again, her faith and belief in herself paid off, and paid off so well that she made the film, she sold the film, and she made a name for herself in the industry. Good story.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'd like to recap what you have after every chapter, and you say pat yourself on the back each day, even for the smallest success. So, what is the benefit of that?
SPEAKER_03Well, filmmakers are exceptionally hard on themselves, Claire. And I and I know you are too. An example, if you know, if a filmmaker has a list of seven things they're supposed to do that day and they got two things done, they look at, oh my gosh, I didn't get five. There's five things now I have to do tomorrow. I'm like, I did do a good job. No, don't do that to yourself because you are the film. You have to keep yourself in the highest esteem. Always care for yourself, support yourself. Say, wow, I got two things done today. Isn't that wonderful? So I only have five to do tomorrow. Always see things as the can the cup is half full. Compliment yourself, support yourself. Never put yourself down. If you're late, you can apologize, but never say uh that anything is is bad about yourself. Don't say, oh, this I'm terrible, I'm late. No, I'm late. Don't put yourself down. Hold yourself in the highest esteem. This is all part of preparing yourself to go out there and raise the $200,000, $300,000 you need to make the film. You must keep yourself in the highest esteem at all times. Well, good advice.
SPEAKER_02All right, so let's talk about chapter three. Take back your personal power. And you say everything you feel is inside, right? And how you react is what really matters. So would you would you expand on this? Yes.
SPEAKER_03Well, uh something, uh anything that happens to you, it's not what happens to you, it's how you react to what happens to you, right? It's how you react. And I know that is easier said than done when you're in the middle of something and it's shocking happens. But just keep this thought in mind, keep saying this to yourself till you impregnated it in your mind so that when something does happen, it's not what happens, it's how you react. So let's say that you go in an office and you pitch someone about your film and they say no. Well, all right, so you've just been stabbed or you feel that way, but don't let that don't don't react to that. S smile and say, Thank you very much for this, but could you tell me why? And it might be as simple as, well, we've used our budget for this year. Oh, well, would you be interested in uh when is your next budget in six months? Should I come back? Of course. See, that's a totally different thing than what you thought. You felt that he doesn't like your work. That doesn't necessarily mean I don't like your work. No, we can't take you right now. Means not right now. So you have to ask, get clarity on everything. Those are the things that I think are really important. Don't attach your power to things. Um the most important thing I love Dr. Chopra is saying when you really want to get something achieved, all you have to do is put your attention on your intention. Because where you put your attention is where the mind goes. So think about uh how you react to any situation. That's really an important thing. Um there's a great story about a uh this came out of an old book called The Old Man Who Lost His Horse. There was an old man who lived with his only son at the border of the state, and the old man had a strong attachment to his horses and often let them graze freely in the meadow. And one time a servant reported to the old man that a horse is missing. It must have gone into the neighbor's state. Well, his friends felt very sorry for him, but the old man was not bothered at all by the loss. As a matter of fact, he said, Who knows? The loss may bring us good fortune. And a few months later, a strange thing happened. Not only did the missing horse return home safely, it also brought back with it a fine horse from the neighbor state. So when his friends heard the news, they all congratulated him and said, Oh, good luck. But the man said, Who knows? We'll wait and see. And then one day when the old man's son was riding the fine horse, he accidentally fell off and broke his leg and was crippled. Well, then the friends came to comfort the old man. But he wasn't the least disturbed by the accident. Who knows? This may bring us good fortune, he said. And a year later, when the neighboring state sent troops across the border, all the young men were drafted to fight in the war, and most of them were killed. The old man's son was not drafted because a riding accident had spared his life. So this is a story of not being attached to the to anything. You have to stay open. Attachments are difficult for you and they hold you back. And the most important thing, I think, for everyone is is to remember Joseph Campbell. He says if you follow your bliss and you put yourself on a kind of track that has never been there all the while, that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one that you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss and they open the doors to you. I say follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were. And if you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else. So this is very important to realize. If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the whole while, waiting for you. Amazing, isn't it? Yes, it is.
SPEAKER_02So uh just one quick question about this story that you you told where you're saying when you're talking about to not be stuck on attachments, to have to not be attached to things. So just for even deeper clarity on this, what would you say the difference is between having an attachment that the film is going to be done and made completely and ready to go, or visioning and having faith that it will be done?
SPEAKER_03Well, I don't call that an attachment, I call that a vision and a goal. That's a direction that you're going in. The completion of the film is your direction. But to manifest, you have to pretend it already has happened. It is in the now. The key to manifesting is you pretend it's here and you've got it. Um go to one of the filmmakers who had uh done everything possible to get a grant. She had applied to several grants, and uh so she put her mind on how she would spend the money. And I called her uh it was right at Christmas time. Say, what are you up to? And she said, Well, I've I'm working on my location. I said, Well, is this what you the 30,000 you were talking about that you needed? Yes, I need the thirty thousand, but uh and I know exactly how I'm gonna spend it. I've got everything planned, I know where I'm going, what I'm spending, to the penny. And that's when I got to tell her that she had just gotten a check for thirty thousand dollars that her grant came through. And she said, Oh wonderful, but it was it was a fate of complete. She had done all the work, turned it over at the universe, and then went to step two, which is if I get the money, how am I gonna spend it? And that's what she was working on. It was if she already had it. Okay, great, thank you.
SPEAKER_02So let's talk about loss. I know this comes up for filmmakers, they have to deal with that on a daily basis. Um, because there is you win some, you lose some in some ways. And you bring up Elizabeth Kublin-Ross and her five stages of loss. This is very important. Would you share about that?
SPEAKER_03Yes, I will, because I love Elizabeth. I took so many weekend workshops and studied with her for so long. What a wonderful human being. Um yes, well, the the story goes that some filmmakers were making a film about dying, and they went to this hospital and on every floor they talked to the nurses who Dying. We want to interview these patients. Nobody on my floor is dying, was what they got from every floor in the hospital. And so it was this total denial that anyone is dying. Of course we die. Well, Elizabeth got involved and she began to research and analyze and study death. And so she um came up with these stages of loss. It not only applies to death, it applies to loss like in a marriage. You lose your partner, your uh your home. If it burns, that's a loss. There's so many losses that we go through. Um and when I would study with her, she would ask us to join in song to bring in the angels, Claire. We always had to sing at the beginning of all the events, sing for about fifteen or twenty minutes. And I didn't I never saw any angel, but the energy was there, you know. Always there. And she uh the stories that you would hear there from mothers losing their children and oh my gosh, the loss and Elizabeth uh was there to help people get through traumatic times. But she says that the first thing that happens when you lose something is your reaction is denial. Well, I can't believe this, I just won't accept it because your mind does not want to take that information as a fact. And some people hide their loss and refuse to deal with it. Um acceptance or denial of the situation is what really creates your reality on this one. So you you don't want to get confuse detachment with denial. Detachment says that you accept the situation, understand that it's beyond your control, but n denial is the inability or the refusal to accept the situation. So the first step to manifesting your goals or your art is to accept the loss. Whether it's a uh losing a part to another actor or a negative gallery review or losing a grant, um your loss will affect your creativity if you let it. Accepting loss is a first step to healing. And when you acknowledge the event, refuse to give it power over you, it cannot hurt you anymore. Um you know, there was a time uh in my life where uh running a business, I was I was truly on the wrong track. I loved jewelry and I was and so I had amassed a bunch of jewelry. And I was going out of the country, so I put all my jewelry, including a a ring that had been given to me of like a 30 karat emerald ring. Gigantic, mo monstrous thing. It's beautiful. So I put all these goodies and took it to my mother and said, Hold on to this for me. Uh I feel it's safer with you than even in the bank. So I off I go, come back. A few months later, maybe four or five months, I remembered, oh my gosh, she's got all my jewelry and call mother and she said, You never gave me that jewelry. What's what's wrong with you, honey? I don't have that. Oh my god, what a loss. I love that ring. I was thinking um about that. So what I did, I did a nice hot bath with the bubble bath, the whole thing, lighted candles, I did a ritual, I said goodbye to the ring. Okay. I mean that was a big thing. I cut it loose and said goodbye, I've lost it, and have a good time or life wherever you go. Hope they enjoy you. And about three weeks, four weeks later, my mother called me at the office and she was really sweet and chatty and so, how are you, sweetheart? What are you doing? And oh, by the way, you won't believe this. I was in the closet this morning and I uh swear to you, your jewelry case jumped out of the closet at me. And uh mother was a Scorpio, so you never you never said, Oh, mother, that's not true. You said, Oh, thank you, Mother. She was intent, you know, and she was intent. She said, Okay, here it is, I've got it. She never said, I'm sorry, I forgot about it, but she just Carol, I don't know if you can hear me.
SPEAKER_02Can you hear me? It looks as though the line dropped again. And so we're gonna have to hear uh the rest of this story when she calls back, and I know it'll be in just a moment. Oh gosh. That is a great story, though, I have to say. That the the jewelry just jumped out at her from the closet. And uh and then there it was after she had finally accepted the situation and let it go. And there it was. So all right. Well we're still here she is. Carol has rejoined us. I'm gonna open the mic. Okay, Carol, let me just tell you where you left off. Okay. All right. Well, um I I was having a very good time uh about the story for just a moment ago, but I'll have to tell you that um you left off at the part where it leapt out of the closet at her and because she's a Scorpio, you you just simply say thank you.
SPEAKER_03Exactly right. But the thing is, Claire, I let go of it and it came back to me. Now that's the thing. That's really there's something there for all of us to think about. But uh we're running out of time, so I'll just go through the rest of the five stages because they're very important. And you have to understand that you're going to go through these stages when you get a no or when you uh that's a loss to you when you don't win a grant, all of these things. So be aware of this and and just let your body go through these five stages and help it. The next stage is anger. And some people will not voice their anger when they suffer a loss. They hold this anger inside and they become an angry person. And believe me, I know you've probably met someone like that. But Elizabeth says, How can I uh use this anger uh and turn it into creative energy? Elizabeth used to tell us to go to the beach and take a piece of a uh like a watering hose or take any kind of a uh loose thing like a plastic something and beat it. Take the and make g hit it, hit the sand with it. Just beat it or get your pillows and beat your pillows. Get that energy out of your body. But you turn to the universe and you say, Okay, I'm full of anger right now for losing this. I'm gonna put that anger into my art. Put it into your creativity. And it does work. She's right. Hopelessness, uh I see filmmakers in this stage. They've worked they've worked on long term projects and that takes years to produce and so they get hopeless. Uh, but don't uh let that bother you. You've got to realize this is part of the process. Then bargaining, the next stage of grief occurs when you begin to bargain with the universe. So you would do anything to get things back the way they were were before. You just need one more chance, you start negotiating, you know. Um then finally is acceptance. The final stage is when you accept the loss and you learn to live with it. And when this occurs, your mind is paramount to your happiness. You finally realize that acceptance is the key to your happiness and you regain your life. Right? So what I we're back to where we were uh before and it's not what happens to you, it's how you react to what happens to you.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Okay.
SPEAKER_02And then you also talk about a quote about the little voice, how important it is to go by the inner voice that you have.
SPEAKER_03Right, Claire. It's so important. We're studying Dean Raden, who's the head of uh the noetics, science of noetics, and he tells us, he's done a lot of research on psychic phenomena, and he says we're all psychic, whether you know it or want to accept it or not, everyone. We all have this ability, and we all have this inner knowing, and so he just says, accept it, get on with it. We all have it. Better that you recognize it and start to use it. I have found that when you honor the little voice that says take an umbrella when it's uh 80 degree day, that you take an umbrella and see what happens. And then the little voice gets stronger, and the next time it's a more important message, but you have got to realize that you're part of a universe, a teeming universe where we're all connected and we're all receiving information on a daily basis. That's a message to you, and that that little voice is yours to support you and nurture you. It's your angels, your guides, your ancestors talking to you, whatever it is, it could be the quantum field, it could be God. We don't know, but it is a valid thing and you should honor it.
SPEAKER_02Well said. Now, do we have enough time left to talk about Robert Monroe and the Monroe Institute, or would you like to save that for part two that's coming up?
SPEAKER_03Oh, that would be so much fun. I loved Robert. We had a lot of fun together. I studied with him. I met Carolyn Mace there before Carolyn Mace became Carolyn Mace. So yes, it would be a lot of fun to start there.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so we will leave that wonderful story and discussion for part two of this three-part series that we're doing on the art of manifesting. And we'll cover some other things as well. Like, for instance, if you join us again for part two, we're gonna talk about connecting to your true self, connecting to the universe, using words as manifestors, and releasing your full potential and more. We're just we're gonna have a lot to discuss in part two of this series. And Carol, I just want to thank you for all that you do because there's so much. You are a wealth of information, and there's so much to um uh share with us that you know I wish we could just, you know, keep this going for three hours. We need at least that amount of time. But for right now, thank you, Claire. Yes. We will put a bookmark on it now, and we do hope you all will join us uh next week for part two. And uh it's been great, Carol. Thank you so much for everything.
SPEAKER_03Oh, lots of love to you, Claire. Thank you for the show and thank you for all the wonderful things you do. It's a joy to have you in my life. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02All right, well, be well, everyone. See you next week. Okay, bye. Bye. Now, in its second edition, Carol Dean's popular book, The Art of Film Funding, has 12 new chapters to cover all areas of film financing and how to avoid expensive pitfalls. Learn how to start with an idea and end with a trailer, how to make an ask for money, create your story structure and your trailer, legal advice, fair use, successful crowdfunding, how to ask for music rights, and what insurance you can't shoot without. Available on Amazon under Carol Team and at FromTheHeartProductions.com. I want to remind our listeners that David Rakelin is a brilliant and talented award-winning musician who scores films and can compose music for a trio or for a full orchestra. David is a very good friend to the independent filmmakers and comes highly recommended by From the Heart Productions. If you need music to help tell your story, please contact us at davidwakelist.com. David R-A-I-K-L-T-S.com. And Carol and I want to thank you for tuning in to the Art of Film Funding. Please visit our website at FumTheheartproductions.com. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Good luck with your film, everyone.
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