EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ECKHART & BARNET

We’re excited to share with YOU this new video featuring Eckhart Tolle and Barnet Bain discussing their vision for Transformational Entertainment. Thank you for you kind and generous contributions – let’s keep the momentum going to turn Eckhart & Barnet’s vision into a reality!

A dramatic feature film based on the book by Eckhart Tolle and Robert S. Friedman. Milton’s Secretis a coming of age story about an 11-year-old boy growing up in an economically depressed suburb, and the elderquest of his grandfather. Milton’s troubles seem to be coming from every direction. His mother and father are workaholics with marital and financial problems, and he is being bullied at school. Fear and dread are everywhere. When his unconventional grandfather visits, Milton learns that rehashing bad experiences and worrying about the future are preventing him from finding true happiness in the Now.

Author: ECKHART TOLLE # 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Now and A New Earth, two of the most influential spiritual books of our time.

Co-Author: ROBERT FRIEDMAN – The visionary co-founder of Hampton Roads Publishing, and the publisher of Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch.

Scriptwriters: DONALD MARTIN and BARNET BAIN

Director: BARNET BAIN

Producers: BARNET BAIN, STEPHEN HUSZAR, RYAN LOCKWOOD

Attached Cast: Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner PETER FONDA

“This is a surprisingly strong script. Admittedly, I had preconceptions about a script based on a book by Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual author. Instead of a didactic piece, Milton’s Secret is a well-written, slightly absurdist coming of age dramedy written with wit, emotional resonance, and some pathos.”

                                                           -Astral Network’s Harold Greenberg Fund *

“I like the way in which it has grown from the original foundation of the book, and how it in a way has become more contemporary than the book. The screenplay is really directed to this time period – it reflects the challenges that so many people go through. It shows that ultimately the true resolution of these challenges do not lie at the external level, the true resolution lies on the inner level.”

-Eckhart Tolle

* Our award-winning script was developed with the support of Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund

We decided to turn to crowdfunding to reduce our dependence on traditional film business interests, to build valuable awareness for our project and to offer fans the opportunity to become involved and co-create this project with us, while protecting the integrity of the subject matter. Director, Barnet Bain explains it in his own words below:

LETTER FROM BARNET BAIN: 
Over the years, no matter where I went, I’d always hear the same question: “Why aren’t there more movies for people like us, people who are interested in spirituality, healing, green issues, and personal development? We like entertainment too.”I’ve made a career focused on creating transformational movies, and they have trickled out; oh, so slowly including… What Dreams May Come (Oscar Winner), Homeless to Harvard (Emmy Nominated, Best Picture), The Celestine Prophecy (Milan Festival Award Winner), The Linda McCartney Story, The Lost & Found Family, and Quantum Project.

The hard truth is that transformational entertainment has not been on the radar of the big companies who need to reach the most possible people with the least amount of time and resources expended. No movie studio or financier believes there is a profitable business case for our brand of movies, so it has always been a struggle to make them.  

Then, not long ago, things began to happen that made me think it could be different.  Oprah Winfrey started her own television network. A few exceptional corporations – Whole Foods, Patagonia, IKEA, Toyota, and others – started practicing conscious capitalism. Meanwhile, authors like Eckhart Tolle, Jack Canfield, Neale Donald Walsch, and Deepak Chopra sold more than a billion books. Spirituality was going mainstream.

So, I made the industry rounds again with my pet project, Milton’s Secret. Although everyone was very supportive, I found that their same old requirement to make it appeal to the broadest possible audience would totally change what our movie is about; its characters, plot, who could be cast in it, and, yes, especially all that “power of now stuff”.

There was a time when I would have found this terribly discouraging. Now I realize it is a Godsend. Maybe I am growing up. We want to make this movie exactly as our transformational audience wants to see it, without anyone insisting on changes so it can be shoehorned into their worldview.

This movie is no tutorial. It is an entertaining family drama, one where people of all ages will walk away with coping skills for keeping curiosity, compassion, and enthusiasm alive. It is a story infused with practical tools that enable children and parents alike to manage stress and to pay attention to what really matters amidst the frantic pace of life… to be captivated by what really matters.

It is about the power of Now.

In a very tangible way, Indiegogo is about the power of Now, too. And it’s about the power of co-creation…

That’s why we are taking the leap! This is scary. If we fall flat, we fall flat big and publicly. Yeah, I have those issues. On the other hand, we could show that making feature films about love and transformation is an idea whose time has come. We could send the world a message.

So with your help, we can be off and running.

To paraphrase the great man, “We can be the message we wish to see…”

So let it be!

Love,

How we create this movie is as important as what we are creating. Crowdfunding offers an opportunity to consciously create the world around us – to support projects that matter to us. If you feel that it’s important for transformational films like this to be made, then we invite you to BE THE CHANGE and co-create this project with us! Share this with your friends, your networks and communities – and if you feel compelled to jump in as one of our financial co-creators, please check out all the amazing rewards we’re offering on the sidebar, and find the level that feels right for you. Then, all you have to do is “click” and we begin this creation together, right… Now.

The more support we receive from you, the more effectively we can co-create this movie in a way that holds true to it’s values and core messages.  Our goal is to raise $1,000,000, though less than that is sufficient to meet the shortfall in our finance plan. All monies raised through this campaign will be supplemented by a combination of private equity, government tax credits and other funds. This is enough to produce the movie at a budget level of approximately $2M – $3M. What if we raise more than our initial goal? We may proceed independently of third party participation, as well as increase production value and attention to detail. In other words it will look better, sound prettier, and most important, reach more people and screens.

We would love you to spread the word about our campaign through social media.  Indiegogo makes it easy to share this campaign with your friends by clicking on the social media icons on this page. You may also visit our social media and community web pages directly:

Facebook Page is: Facebook.com/Milton’s Secret
Follow us on Twitter: @MiltonsSecret and use hashtag #MiltonsSecret
Check out our website www.MiltonsSecretMovie.com