ManyPathsOneSourceDocumentary

"Directing a documentary about a conference involving thirty-six spiritual leaders was such a mind-numbing thought of a task that I almost refused the role of director to focus on the job of producer. However, once I realized that finding another director who would truly take the job for all of the right reasons was equally daunting, I inhaled deeply and assumed the responsibility. The result has been perhaps the most rewarding experience of my life.

As a director approaching what is a truly unique subject matter, even for a documentary, I knew that this film would absolutely be a two-step process when determining what the direction and vision would be for the project.

Normally, as I see it, editing is merely an extension of shooting – one goes into the shoot with a clear idea of what they are going to shoot and how they are going to edit it. In the case of “Many Paths, One Source” I found myself confronted with as unpredictable a situation as one could fine oneself in as a director – a round table with over thirty speakers sitting at it whom will be able to technically speak on any topic they wish, with only the gentle nudging of the moderator to keep the flow of conversation flowing in a constructive direction. So, during the shooting half of this production I found myself at the mercy of the group’s collective intellect and quick responses to one another. Sitting in the control room, simultaneously watching through the eyes of four cameras, I was merely, at times, a spectator trying to capture everything that was spoken so that I could later collect as much wisdom as possible out of their words like a condenser capturing as much humidity from the air as it can. Thus began my real job as director, an editing process that would hopefully result in a concrete storyline that would bear forth the speakers’ words in an interesting and moving fashion. It involved piecing together a story from the five-day event – a process which required reviewing the footage dozens of times to figure what and whose words most contributed to the evolving (and revolving) storyline of continuously unanticipated events that transpired during the week of the conference.When considering “Many Paths, One Source” one must understand two things:

First, the making of this documentary was never a for-profit venture. If any profit is ever made, it will benefit The Memnosyne Foundation:

Secondly, this film is intended to teach people. Not in the made-for-cable educational programming sense, but in the sense that the coming together of these speakers is a story that must be seen and heard. There is tremendous wisdom to be found in the words of these spiritual leaders and theirs’ is a message that this world so dearly needs to hear – every man, woman, and child. I would like to say that if my film can affect the way just one person thinks then it has been a success, but that would be untrue. The purpose of this film is to open as many eyes and minds as it can. If it plays at least some small role in a world-wide paradigm shift that this world so desperately needs, if I have successfully captured their wisdom

in a manner people will want to listen to and can relate to – then and only then will it have been a success."