Ep 153: Gratitude Revealed with Louie Schwartzberg
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Ep 153: Gratitude Revealed with Louie Schwartzberg
Episode 153: Show Notes
The natural world has so much to teach us, and the different ways we are able to interact with it in the modern context, offers endless inspiration.
Today on the show we welcome documentary filmmaker, Louie Schwartzberg, to talk about his intriguing life and career, and what has inspired his amazing films, such as Fantastic Fungi and Gratitude Revealed.
The child of Holocaust survivors, Louie felt the impact of his family's trauma acutely, and in our chat, he talks about how this shaped many parts of his upbringing, in both positive and negative ways. He shares his recollections of his early fascination with plants and film and the events that led up to his exploring early time-lapse photography.
Louie underlines his prioritization of learning through watching and doing, and his desire to tell different kinds of stories. We also get into the practical steps that allowed him to build a career and reputation. Louie remains hopeful of building a movement that can change the world and believes that our gratitude is central to this project. So to hear it all from this amazing guest, be sure to tune in!
Key Points From This Episode:
Louie talks about his family history and his parents' story of surviving the Holocaust.
The parental role that Louie took up in his home from a young age.
Thoughts on success and ambition, and why Louie chose to study film.
The impact of an image and telling a story with film.
How Louie fell in love with spending time outdoors and documenting nature.
Bringing time-lapse photography to the mainstream!
Selling and leasing pieces of footage and moving to LA.
How gratitude relates to all of Louie's work and its connection to his idea of resilience.
Louie talks about the success of his film, Fantastic Fungi.
Reflections on the challenges that filmmakers face with issues such as distribution.
The steps that Louie took to promote Fantastic Fungi.
Louie's natural psychological disposition, and how he uses gratitude to overcome some of these hurdles.
The process of getting a film onto Netflix's platform.
Considering the way plants are able to communicate with us through chemicals and ingestion.
The chronology of Louie's films and the theme of uncovering mystery that runs through all of his work.
The filming philosophy and process of Gratitude Revealed.
Louie talks about his forty-year time-lapse!
Thoughts on the connection between gratitude and making things visible.
The end of Louie's parents' lives and their understanding of his profession and success.
Louie's hopes when creating, and a little about his new platform, The Louie Channel.
Our guest shares his current thoughts on success and satisfaction.
The goal of creating a movement and changing the world!
Tweetables:
“Telling your story is the most powerful way to fight back.” — @LouieFilms [0:07:43]
“I was able to spend a lot of time filming beauty, things that hadn't been captured before, which really filled my sense of wonder.” — @LouieFilms [0:19:59]
“I always had the desire to be an independent filmmaker and to be able to tell my own story.” — @LouieFilms [0:23:48]
“I think, bringing forth what you're grateful for is a way to become present.” — @LouieFilms [1:07:57]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: