Indigo

Yes, Indigo is a movie that falls short in terms of being a polished film experience, but it was never touted as being a top notch Matrix-like super deal. If you zero in on that, you miss the point. To salvage the mess this planet is in, we need to pay attention to each other, thru the drug deals gone wrong, thru misguided money grubbing values, thru all the life experiences that bring us down to the ultimate reason we are on this planet--> to love and support each other through our hearts--that is what this film is about. Our children know this. It is high time we as adults begin to see it, feel it and LIVE it. Yes, maybe you see this as a syrupy sweet pap view of the world, but guess what? This planet needs more of these messages until we get it. As for the commercialism for the Spiritual Cinema, again, we need a place where people can create films that laud the values of Love and Acceptance and Compassion. My fervent hope is that each and every one of the people who took part in this community event took away just even a hint of what we can be to each other if we just put aside all our bravado of what this world should be and get down to what it needs to be--> a circle of LOVE. Happy Valentines Day to you all.

So, what did you think of "Indigo"? Personally, I think it was one heck of a marketing achievement. Imagine, a film that would otherwise go straight to video and sit on Blockbuster's shelf, selling millions of tickets and being shown in thousands of theaters, churches, etc .... all on one night. And, no worries about bad word-of-mouth killing sales. Also, what about that shameless preshow commerical for the "Spiritual Cinema Circle"? I noticed the flyer in the lobby for the SCC didn't mention price.... only if you hurry and sign-up now, you get a free book worth $15. Wow! I want their Marketing Director for a buddy.

Next to "Indigo," most student films I've seen ain't half bad. Certainly, the script, cinematography and acting wasn't much better... if any. In the interviews in the beginning, they said they "didn't water the story down so it would be acceptable for a wide audience." Right! That's why the script was about a drug deal that went bad... with an Indigo kid thrown in. I didn't connect with or feel anything for the characters. And, I certainly didn't come away with a better understanding of Indigo kids or feeling spiritually up-lifted... or any of the things the Producer, Stephen Simon, said the film was going to do. That's perhaps their biggest mistake... creating an expectation they didn't deliver on.

Also, if Stephen had used the adjective "extraordinary" one more time (I counted at least 6 times) to describe the film, I would have puked on the spot. Even the interviews were shot badly... bad lighting and composition, distracting background, etc. And, weren't they were all just too "cute" the way they touched each other? How about that bit after the film? Did everyone join hands and pray at your showing? It didn't happen at the showing I went to Saturday night.... and it was at a Unity Church, where they do that all the time. Somehow, I can't imagine people joining hands at the AMC Theater in Los Angeles?

The subject is definitely material for a good movie.... but Indigo ain't it. However, Inidgo does prove or confirm a number of things: 1) lame dialog and script - authors do not necessarily make good screen writers; 2) terrible acting - acting and directing should be left to professionals; 3) where there's a marketing strategy, there's hope.... for all filmmakers.

Let's face it, we've been had by a marketing phenomena... and it's just started. Think about it. What if only 100,000 people become part of the "extraordinary" spiritual movement, and sign up for the Spiritual Cinema Circle at $29 per month? That's $2,900,000 coming in each month!!

It's the "Blair Witch" phenomenon for 2005... where selling the sizzle is what counts. As a filmmaker, I hated the movie, but love their marketing savy. I will be submitting my most recent documentary to them. So, sign-up now for the Spiritual Cinema Circle and watch for my film on an upcoming offering.

I visited the showing of Indigo in Amsterdam and I invited six friends to join me. Stimulated by the emails, the announcements from the Spiritual Cinema Circle and a trailer-DVD that was sent to me, I had high expectations. That was my first mistake and it reminded me not to expect anything in life. I agree with most of the negative comments about the movie and I am not going to repeat them. I would like to add the following:

1. The indigo child was turned into a super child by combining several rare but proved traits in one character. That made her as unrealistic as Raymond Rabbit (Dustin Hoffman) in Rain Man. The negative effect of this mistake is that viewers can no longer identify themselves with indigo children. They would think "they are definitely not me" rather than attempting to discover aspects of indigo children in themselves.

2. All interesting story lines came to a happy end when Ray (Neale Donald Walsch) prevented the indigo child Grace from being kidnapped by her father. Helas, that already happened after 10 minutes! The rest of the time was killed by driving to a safe place and smart answers of the super child.

3. In one of the last scenes a police agent showed up who appears to have stolen the money. Was that a coincidence too stupid to be true, the work of the super child or a failed attempt to correct a mistake in the script?

I don't mind the bad casting and acting. After all this is a low budget movie. But if you take that out, it is still a bad movie, technically and spiritually. Therefore I don't think it serves the producers to continue the one-sided promotion of the movie on their website and in their press releases. If they are lucky, this might only help them financially in the short term. But it will definitely ruin their reputation in the long term, which would be a pity for the spiritual community and the society as a whole.

The good things I see in this movie are the raising of awareness for indigo children and the learning experience.

Hopefully, the stakeholders are more critical privately than they demonstrate publicly. Only then their new project, a film about Neale Donald Walsch, can become successful.

But I could be wrong. Let's see.

I was really psyched to see this movie. I had heard so much about it (SO MUCH) and had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Simon, who was extremely compelling in his presentation of his mission, and the film. I took my daughter with me to see it, at a benefit. Cost me $50. Had it not cost $50, I would have been out of the theater in no time. Dismal acting, deadly plot, laughable dialogue. Great mountain shots, though! Actually, those shots were jarringly good; what were they doing in this movie? We were sold a bill of goods. Over-hyped, underachieving, preaching to the choir claptrap. I AM THE CHOIR! And I don't care to be patronized. So, let the good IL' boys do their thing, but count me out.

I heard this movie was made for only $500,000 and shot in only 3 weeks or so. Keeping this in mind I feel on a technical level they did the best they could with such limited resources. I know if they had more money and time they could have gotten better actors or at least better performances out of the existing ones (i did notice most of the smaller roles seemed to have better actors than the major roles hmmm).

My biggest concern about this film is that it sets unrealistic expectations of the capabilities of indigo children. The girl in the film professes that she is actually at the lower end of the ability scale and that there are others much more gifted than herself.

I feel it would have been more fair to say she was more gifted than most and that the gifts of most indigo children actually center around having a more general deep intuitiveness and spiritual knowledge.

I worry that most people will now dismiss or overlook the indigo phenomenon when they don't see children running around predicting the future, healing the sick and communicating telepathically with other indigo children around the world via the etheric web.