Films that inspire

By Marilyn Jones Senior Writer

In January 1993, author and movie producer Stephen Simon had an experience that changed his life. He recounts that experience in his book, The Force Is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives: "[The movie I produced in which Madonna starred, called] Body of Evidence, ... was received [at its press screening] very poorly; in fact, people even booed. It was a defining and humiliating moment" (p. 190).

Later, his friend advised him, "Get back to your heart, Stephen." And that's what he did. He returned to making the movies he deeply cared about—movies with a spiritual theme. Earlier in his career he had produced Somewhere in Time (a love story that (transcends time) and What Dreams May Come (a love story that transcends the grave).

Simon is passionate about this genre—films that seek to inspire rather than just to entertain. It was Simon's love of movies, combined with his commitment to spirituality, that prompted him to write about the history of spiritually based movies, and the increasing interest in them.

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