spiritual-cinema

Movies based on true stories really touch our hearts. The new Spiritual Cinema Circle feature film Red Like the Sky tells the true story of Mirco Mencacci, who is one of the most talented Italian sound editors working today — and happens to be blind. Here’s a preview with introduction by What Dreams May Come producer and Spiritual Cinema Circle co-founder Stephen Simon.

You know the kind of person who always seems angry at or disgusted by the world? He’s the kind of guy who seems to wear a big sign around his neck that says, “Don’t bother me for any reason at any time.” Ever wonder why he is the way he is?

Many years ago (1976), my first job in the film industry was as the assistant to a legendary film producer named Ray Stark. Ray produced such classics as “Funny Girl,” “The Way We Were,” and “The Goodbye Girl.” Even though I went out on my own in 1980 to produce “Somewhere in Time,” Ray and I stayed in touch and, from time to time, he would invite me to his home to watch films with him in his projection room. One night, in 1984, he invited me over to see a new film called “Splash.” Ray was particularly interested in “Splash” because, for years, he had been developing a remake to a dramatic film from the 1940’s entitled “Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid,” in which a man found a mermaid, put her in a pond near him, and fell in love with her. When we had finished watching “Splash,” Ray turned to me and said. “Well, that’s the end of developing “Peabody.” There are some issues that audiences just respond better to when they’re presented in comedies than when drama is involved. An audience will give you a lot more leeway in a comedy with their willingness to suspend disbelief than they will in a drama.”