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Oct 17·edited Oct 17Liked by Rick Schmidt

“I slept on it, and slept on it. Then one morning I woke up a little smarter than the day before. Looking over Tom’s long list of “Dont’s,” reviewing all the scenes with questionable legal problems, I got an idea.”

I love those sentences.

In recent years I’ve been very interested in what are called “Spiritually Transformative Experiences.” (STEs). These include Near Death Experiences (NDEs), Pre-Birth Memories, Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs), etc.

One thing that is often said to “seekers” longing for personal STEs, (not just reading about them) is this:

Before you can experience an STE you need to BELIEVE you can. (Of course some people have them unexpectedly, without seeking them.) But, for the Seekers, BELIEF is vital.

What you describe in those two sentences, and in virtually all of your writing about your filmmaking experience, is, to me, a testimony to the power of BELIEF.

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Thanks Steve. I always happily get an expanded view of my strange filmmaking experiences when i read your comments. It always seems, looking back, that forces beyond my control have been at work when I’ve worked (shot, directed, edited, produced) my movies. Like having “no cast” and then the exact right person, often a non-actor, shows up (like recently, the “wife part” in NO TEARS FOR BANKERS). I guess I can now call some of it STE. All I know is, amazing things happen when a person commits to taking the risk to doing their art.

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