O.F.F. #9 “DREAMS ARE ANOTHER ART!” New Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche Video / Binger Lab Amsterdam / 10K to go!

I grew up with the model: “no pain, no gain”. These values came from my hard working Jewish parents and also, of course, from sports. The basic idea is that survival is a struggle and you have to be willing to suffer to get what you want. It’s a great model to have if you want to succeed as an independent filmmaker. My thirty years surviving the film business is a testament to how well this…

“Permission to Fail” in Amsterdam / Only 10K to go! Almost There!

As I mentioned in my last letter, I am now in Amsterdam on a three-month fellowship to develop my fiction film directing skills at the BINGER LAB for my new film. The last time I directed fiction was during my one glorious year at NYU Film School in 1980 where I made two fiction shorts, before dropping out to make documentaries (which in itself should tell you something). The main thing I learned…

Third Auction Success! / Important Update About MY REINCARNATION On Public Television

Thanks to all of you who participated in the auction this week for the American TV PR Campaign for MY REINCARNATION! Our most recent item sold for $2,000 making the total we have raised $30,762! Exciting news: I have just moved to Amsterdam for three months on a fulltime filmmaking fellowship at the Binger Lab. It is for my new project, which believe it or not is a fiction feature! But don’t…

Auction SUCCESS! / Your Creativity needed! / 4 Days Left Last AUCTION

Thanks to all of you, our auction this week for the American TV PR Campaign for MY REINCARNATION was a huge success! Khyentse Yeshe’s words of wisdom – that ‘we fail until we succeed’ – were in full operating mode the last days. Both precious auction items sold in a last minute bidding frenzy. The Tara Statue donated by Rinpoche sold for $6,501and the Vajrasatva Thangka donated by…

“Never Too Old to Fail”/ Another Video OFF with Rinpoche! / 2 Days Left Auction!

I remember when I first met Khyentse Yeshe, the son and protagonist in MY REINCARNATION, he said to me in an off handed way, “Whenever you try to do something difficult, you fail and fail and fail, until you succeed.” At first I didn’t relate at all. The word “failure” is very un-American. In fact it is something almost extinct from the American business and political vocabulary. But…