By Ann Baldwin
One gift of a great storyteller is the ability to take the
common treads we all share and weave them into a unique design that gives us a
new perspective on life. Michael does exactly that and more as he travels
inward and abroad, as a filmmaker, writer, and spiritual seeker, in search for
the ‘secret of life.’ His enthusiasm, wonder, and humor about life connect with
the child in all of us and make for fun and interesting adventures in his
stories.
Ann: You’ve travelled
all over the world; which place did you find the strongest connection that
spoke to your heart and why?
Michael: I first
went to Bali in 1970 and lived in a remote village for
nearly a year. I was in my early twenties and felt like I’d found a people
that exemplified the best in what it means to be human. Spiritual
practices made up half of their daily activities and they have a deep
relationship to the invisible, unseen world of the spirits. Only after 20+
visits over 40 years was I able to scratch the surface with my film Talking with Spirits.
Ann: You’ve worked
with so many talented artists; which ones did you learn the most from and who
was the most fun?
Michael: That
would have to be philosopher/architect Bucky Fuller because I am still learning
from him. He was the first person that I’d ever met who said that the world’s
population could be brought to a very high standard of living by employing
Nature’s principles and design science. He was very inspirational in getting me
to think big.
Ernie Fosselius is the funniest man on the planet. I
probably had the most fun when we made Hardware Wars, a short parody of Star Wars.
Audiences clearly shared in that fun because for the last 35 years it has been
the world’s most popular short. Even George Lucas liked it and gave it an
award.
Ann: What was your
experience like working with actress Shirley MacLaine and what did you gain
from it?
Michael: I
directed and produced Shirley’s first video called Inner Workout which essentially is a meditation on the
chakras. Shirley is very demanding and is a perfectionist. We worked
together for several months on the video then went into a second audio project
on the same theme. She is curious about everything and on her own spiritual
quest and very brave. She was one of the first celebrities to talk about
spirituality and she got a lot of unwarranted flack although she is sincere
about discussing the deeper meanings of life. My work with her came at a
time when I needed to get my own life on more of a spiritual track.
Ann: You’re a very brave
and humorous soul. Can you share with us your creative pitch to filmmaker,
Francis Ford Coppola?
Michael: “Brave”
maybe, but “inappropriate” is probably more like it. To demonstrate let’s
take an excerpt for Onward and Upward:
Steven Arnold and I attend the San Francisco Film Festival. The Godfather has just been released and
director Francis Ford Coppola attends a question and answer session after the
film. A young filmmaker asks, “If I want to pitch you a project, how should I
do it?” Francis thinks for a moment and then says, “Do something different, show
me some slides, surprise me.” Steven and I look at each other. Different?
Slides? Come on, you want something different? We’ll give you different.
By the end of the next week we had put together a
synopsis of our Monkey film,
storyboards, and a four-foot-high foam-core cutout of Kaisik Wong in his Monkey costume. It’s folded in such a
way so that when you open the large envelope, out pops a large smiling monkey
holding the script (and color 8" x 10"s) in one hand and an
invitation card in the other with our phone number.
How to get it to Francis? Turns out we know a carpenter who
is working on
Francis’ house in Pacific
Heights. We give him the pop-up
with explicit instructions. We knew exactly where he should put it for maximum
effect.
We go back to Steven’s apartment and raise our glasses in a
toast. This can’t
fail. We wait. One day. Two days. We have pizza brought in.
Nothing. No call?
Impossible. He wants “different.” We gave him “different.”
Why don’t we hear from him?
Flash forward two years later; my bookkeeper Rohanna takes
me to her house in Mill Valley.
When I walk in, there on the wall are the 8" x 10" color glossies of Monkey! “Where did you get these!?” (She
previously worked at Zoetrope as Francis’ personal assistant.) She says, “One
day Francis storms in and flings these photos on my desk, ‘Some freaks broke
into my house and put these in my bed! Get rid of them!’”
Ann: What was it like
swimming with wild dolphins during the shooting of your film Dolphin
Adventures?
Michael: Another
excerpt from Onward and Upward:
We were thrilled that playing music underwater to dolphins
paid off with such a magnificent response from the dolphins. Our approach was
to let the dolphins choose to be with us or not. It was the first time to our
knowledge that anyone has recorded a human/dolphin encounter in modern times.
Being with these magnificent creatures brought out the best
in everyone. Maybe it’s the incredible light on the water or the feeling in
your brain from floating in the ocean, or the harmony of being with the
dolphins, or succeeding in our mission, but whatever the reason, the experience
opened our hearts and created a love for one another that sustains to this day.
Maybe the dolphins were showing us our own potential for love and compassion as
human beings. It is an incredible life-changing event and our film conveys that
experience.
Ann: What was the
greatest gift you received from your journey inward when you were in Peru with the Amazon Shamans?
Michael: The gift
of myself and a Ph. D. in ecology (laughs). Ayahuasca, the plant teacher,
taught me that I am bigger than I ever imagined. I am connected to the
whole cosmos. She taught me this experientially which dumped my previously
held beliefs in the trash bin and totally changed my world view. It was,
by far, the most difficult and the best experience of my life.
Ann: What has been
the most rewarding experience in your career as a filmmaker?
Michael: Making
the four films that comprise the Sacred Journey Film Festival. Each film
took me to a different power spot (Tibet,
Bali, Peru)
and pulled back the veil into other worlds and dimensions, both for me and the
films’ audiences. I feel blessed that I was able to take these journeys
and return with the elixir of insight.
Ann: Who was one of
the most inspirational people you’ve met and/or worked with and what can you
share about that experience?
Michael: Salvador
Dali. He held a premiere in New York
for my thesis film and invited several of the city’s most celebrated artists of
the day, like Andy Warhol. He took me under his wing knowing full well the
surrealistic stamp of approval he was granting me. Because of his generous
attention, the film went on to a sell-out run in San
Francisco and an invitation to Cannes. He
taught me how to make something out of nothing!
Ann: What is the best
advice and/or encouragement that you can give aspiring filmmakers (whether
writers, directors, producers, or cinematographers)?
Michael: Don’t be
in a hurry. Follow your own instincts. Make what only you can
make, that which comes from inside you (and is not derivative). Avoid “being in
development”. If you can’t raise your budget, redesign your film so you
can make it for no budget. Keep working. Longevity counts and builds
experience. What you plant today, will bloom in time.
Ann: If you had one
insight to share with those seeking enlightenment and/or higher-consciousness,
what would it be?
Michael: Listen
and look within.
Ann: Do you have any
current or future projects you can share with us that we can look forward to?
Michael: Watch
this space!
To connect with Michael Wiese you can visit his website at http://www.mwp.com/ and purchase a copy of Onward
& Upward at Amazon and MWP.
Ann Baldwin is a screenwriter (The Power of Dreams, Scent of
a Trail, Dream Catcher) with
several spec scripts in development. She reviews books on screenwriting and
filmmaking, writes articles, interviews, and has several books (fiction &
non-fiction) in-progress. Prior to launching her writing career, she was a
special event coordinator and manager in the hospitality and entertainment
industries for over 25 years.
