Photo credit: Jonny Marlow - Makeup/Hair: Kurumi Schulz for MAC cosmetics - Styling: Anna Schilling
As someone who has traveled to over 40 countries, what are some of your favorite destinations? Any lesser known gems that you would recommend to our readers?
I would say Bhutan is my most favorite country for the peace, spirituality, uniqueness with architecture and style. It's also the most remote to travel to. I really think you cannot miss Luang Prabang, Laos for its rich architectural and artistic heritage. This World Unesco heritage site has a beautiful fusion of Loa urban structures along with those that were built in the European colonial time in the 19th century. It's so easy to ride your bike around the town and right next to the Mekong River with the stunning mountains in the background. Plus, the food is an outstanding combination of French and Asian cuisine. The people are beautiful and if you are lucky to go during their New Years celebration you will see the parades with traditional tribal dress, and you may get into a fun water balloon fight with the locals.
Given our Brazilian audience, can you tell us about your experience in the country and what you took away from your travels?
I wish I had spent more time in Brazil. Years ago, I visited when I was on a spiritual retreat with my meditation teacher to a place right outside Brasilia. I will say the coffee exported to the USA is great, but nothing like having a fresh cup of coffee in Brazil. It was truly the best coffee I have ever had, and I love trying coffee around the world! I heard the place we went to was mystical and that crystals below the area created a spiritual vortex. The meditations were so profound I came back with some gorgeous artifacts that I swear are mystical in their energy. I love traveling the world to sacred, spiritual places, so that was the mission with this trip. I can't wait to return to see the exciting city of Rio. It's on the top of my bucket list.
What is something that you always do when visiting a new country?
I always hire a local guide so I can find the local restaurants and artists. I am an artist so finding the small and big artists of the country I am visiting is most important. I always try to watch a film from the country I am visiting. I have to say one of my all-time favorite movies (which by the way has made my top ten movie list on my Kimpton travel and film app https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kimpton-travels-and-films/id6446698640) is the brilliant film "CITY OF GOD". I watched it three times. It definitely influenced me as a film director. Granted, I wasn't in Brazil to explore the slums of São Paulo, but because it was a true story I did get a certain fascinating perspective on Brazilian life.
How does traveling inspire your creative process as a filmmaker?
Every film I do has a reflection of the culture, and the backdrop of the city becomes a character in the movie. My movie BARDO BLUES was inspired by my visit to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in Thailand. I wrote the story about a man visiting Thailand looking for his mother but ends up finding something completely different. I loved how Thailand has the contrast of the spiritual Buddhist light and the dark, unsavory, sex shows. The movie is a mystery, so it needed to find the heavenly and hellish parts of Thailand. I found that northern Thailand was the perfect back drop for this movie.
Many of your films give back to the causes or issues that the film is about. What are some causes that you are passionate about, and how do you incorporate them into your films?
BARDO BLUES is a personal story about me and my brother's mental health issues, so the profits go back to finding a cure to mental illness, as well as helping prevent sex trafficking since we filmed at a real brothel. My next movie called TANZAN is about the real human-elephant conflict going on in many African countries. The plan is to give back a portion of the profits to the countries we film in. This includes Tanzania, Namibia and South Africa, to help prevent the elephants from getting killed and the towns people not getting hurt by the elephants. I hope to change the paradigm of filmmaking where it isn't always about the greedy profits and more about finding solutions to problems in the stories I write and direct.
Kimpton's Kosmos Retreats will be taking groups to amazing places such as Hawaii, Lake Tahoe, and Bhutan. What can guests expect on these fabulous getaways?
I am making them very small so they are curated to the group. I am only allowing 8-12 people per retreat so I can ask in an intake form: "What do you want to feel when you leave my retreats?" I have spent years mastering yoga and meditation to find peace, but not everyone wants a retreat that makes them do these things. I can guarantee there will be organic food. In Hawaii and Lake Tahoe there will be water sports, beach/lake days, hiking and the option for yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and massage. I have this amazing astrologist, Tara Almondin, that could do a reading for guests. In Bhutan, since I have been twice, I will get access to the most magical temple called Tiger's Nest. Bottomline is I want to have retreats that are very affordable in Hawaii and Lake Tahoe. I will also have some retreats in Hawaii and Bhutan that are more expensive depending on the clientele.
Your app Kimpton Travels and Films blends your love of travel with your passion for films. What can users of the app expect?
If you are like me and having a difficult time finding great films then you'll love my app. I spend so much time navigating all the streaming platforms, watching trailers, reading reviews, and because I am in independent filmmaker I am looking for those gems you may not find. My movie BARDO BLUES didn't get a huge marketing budget and thus wasn't promoted a lot. My heart is in finding those special films from all around the world that are great and that no one has heard of. I hope over time I have the app become the number one curated independent film list and I get these films distributed everywhere. In regard to travel, I list the gems that I have found over the last 30 years traveling to over 40 countries. My goal is to have roving reporters traveling to tell you where the latest cool boutique hotel or restaurant is because I want to make finding a film and having fun on your travels special!
When did you come up with the concept for your late-night travel show Bright Lights Late Nights?
When I was 12 years old, I had a dream that I was the host of a show. It took me until 38 years old to finally see that dream be realized in San Francisco, where I was on local ABC channel. It was short lived since there are not a lot of female late-night hosts, so I decided many years later to fund my dream again. It would be kind of rock n roll, but it would be more about featuring different cultural artists, such as a painter, an architect, a fashion designer, a chef, a band, and a wine maker from whichever country I am in. I love South Africa and had been there many times and knew there were so many great artists there. I filmed in in February 2024 and launched the late-night show in December 2024 on my app.
What inspired you to write your book Escaping the Hollywood Bardo?
It was the most painful, artistically difficult thing I have ever done in my entire life. I wanted to figure out why Hollywood was so hard and make peace with all the rejection I got over the years. I am updating the last chapter now to talk about forgiveness being the key to happiness. I found at the end of the book it wasn't just about making my film "Bardo Blues" and explaining the odds against women directing, but the book was about alchemizing my life and all the painful chapters into joy, peace, and happiness. I guess until I wrote all the stories down, I didn't realize I could alchemize my life from suffering to joy. I found happiness after so much suffering, not just in Hollywood, but in life. I am grateful I wrote the book. I guess I would highly recommend that if you want to change your life then write everything down, look at it, and find all the beautiful life earthly lessons you learned, and forgive those who trespassed against you. With a daily practice that connects you to your higher self or God you can find peace. If I did, anyone can! I do have difficult days, but they don't last long and I can immediately get back to gratefulness and the present moment.
As someone who rarely stays still for long, where can our readers expect you to jet off to next?
My goal is to have my next BRIGHT LIGHTS late night show filmed in Amsterdam in 2025. I was a resident for two years in this magical town. I also hope to be filming "Tanzan" in Tanzania and Namibia by 2026, along with a retreat in April 2026 in Bhutan. I'm going back to a country I lived in and have visited more than any other country in the world--and that is France-- in May 2025. The real big adventure is touring the USA this summer by driving town to town to do small, intimate film screenings of my new film called "AN AMERICAN ABROAD." It's a romantic comedy about the main character (played by me) dating a younger man (by only 10 years) and traveling as a travel reporter to Greece, Turkey, France, Portugal, and South Africa. How did I make up this story? Go figure? I basically fictionalized my life and made it into a film to bring joy and laughter. I found while filming in these countries there are so many beautiful people around the world that want to help you. We got so much assistance with beautiful locations at zero charge because people knew we were on a limited budget. Lastly, I simply must plan a film in beautiful Brazil for 2027!
