Imagination Documentary

[sean]

Hello Group,

My name is Sean Welch and I am a documentary film producer in Los Angeles.  In doing research for a possible documentary on imaginative thinkers, I was pleased to discover the Wild Minds Network.

I am writing to ask/invite members of this group if they would feel comfortable sharing with me, via email, their daydreams.  I am particularly interested in daydreaming that includes vast imaginary worlds, or world-bulding.  To be clear, I would like to begin an email dialogue with people; I am not asking for a commitment for participation in the potential project.  Please contact me if you are interested.

My first feature, the Oscar-nominated Spellbound, focused on children who compete in the National Spelling Bee.  My second documentary, Lucky, about the live of lottery winners, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to air on HBO as part of their summer documentary series.

Thank you for your consideration,

Sean Welch

[Evalesco]

Hallo Sean. I have Maladaptive Daydreaming and I would like to answer any questions that you have regarding this. How would you like to contact me or how do I contact you?

[sean]

hello group,

yes, i have been out of town and am just now catching up on the continued discussion here regarding the potential documentary.

i appreciate the concerns that some people have voiced and would like to attempt to address them.  first, i am in the very initial stage of research for this potential project.  i am in the process of gathering information from people with extraordinary imaginations.  there is no specific shape to the potential film beyond that right now.  jeffrey blitz (director, and longtime friend of mine) and i will discuss all the information people are willing to share with us, and then he and i will begin to try to figure out if we believe there could be a creative way to shape these stories into a documentary.  there are many steps to making a documentary.  research is the beginning.

in the documentary world, building a relationship of trust is vital.  this is especially true for our first two documentaries - kids competing in a national spelling bee contest - and people who have won tremendous jackpots in the lottery.  at this time, i am asking people who feel comfortable sharing their imaginations with us to do so in email form.  if people are not comfortable sharing information, i certainly appreciate and accept that.

 

again, i thank you for allowing me to post on this website and for taking the time read, learn, and respond about this possible documentary.

 

please let me know if you have other questions/concerns and i will similarly attempt to address them in further posts. 

 

sean

[sean]

hello evalesco,

please feel free to send me a message directly.  thanks!

sean

Evalesco said:

Hallo Sean. I have Maladaptive Daydreaming and I would like to answer any questions that you have regarding this. How would you like to contact me or how do I contact you?

[Abigail Gault]

I would love to be a part of this!

[roxanne]

This project can only help all of us, in bringing the subject out in the open and hopefully learning more about it.

[Cordellia Amethyste Rose]

It's ok.  We all do things when we're ready.  However, it sounds like you have a lot of pent-up things you want to say.  Why not just try writing it all down somewhere and then if it feels better, and you want to, you can email it to him.  You can start a blog on here if you want.  If you don't want others to read it, you can make it a private blog.  It might feel good to get it all out.  

 

I've felt the same about my daydreams for many years.  I participated in Cynthia's study, but I didn't actually tell her about my daydreams.  Her study is with its publisher right now, but you never know.  She might do follow-ups in the future.  To me, my daydreams are kind of embarrassing because a lot of it's sappy, silly, emotional stuff.  However writing it all down wasn't as painful as I thought.....a little boring, but that's about it.  I hope this helps.  Again, no pressure.  You don't have to do anything you're not ready to do.  

Marka said:

I would love to try and participate in this if I could get past my nervousness. 

I know it isn't as if any harm could come from spilling out the stories of my imaginary lives, but the thought of doing so always makes me feel a bit uneasy. I honestly feel as if my daydreams are the most private and personal thing about me, and to express them, even anonymously, is going outside of my comfort zone.

In the past, this worried attitude of mine prevented me from participating in the Cynthia Schupak study, which I now regret. It seems crazy to me now, that I was so stressed over it, but being faced with the question asking to describe one of my fantasies had me on the verge of tears. I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out where to begin, or what I would be comfortable with saying, trying to word things so that the people viewing my answers could follow along easily, and being worried about what they would think of me. Everything was no-name and anonymous, yet I still couldn't do it. Honestly, I must have filled out the survey a hundred times in my head, but in the real world, I kept putting it off until it was left completely alone and undone. Hah, crazy, indeed!

I really do regret not finishing that survey, which I'm pretty sure has ended by now, so maybe this could make up for it?...I may still be a bit hesitant, but perhaps I've grown just a bit more confident with myself within the past year. Maybe it is time for me to stop being so reserved, and to just let some things out into the open...?

 

I'll stop my ramblings, and admit that I do find this idea to be rather intriguing. :]

[thetxbelle]

I know I said I would try and send some specific details about my dreams but I'm too embarrassed :( good luck though!

[Cordellia Amethyste Rose]

I had the great pleasure to meet Sean this morning for coffee.  We had a lovely conversation, and it's very clear he has a heart of pure gold.  We talked about this project, and I am certain that he would treat this issue with nothing but love and respect.  I wish you all could meet him because he would put your fears to rest in an instant.  If anyone feels comfortable sharing their stories, I urge them to do so.  This sounds like a great project.  

 

Anyway, I just had to share my impressions since some of you were a little unsure.  Again, no one should do anything they don't feel comfortable doing.  This site will always be a safe place to open up and be yourselves as anonymously as you choose.  

[sean]

yes, i had the honor of saying hello to cordelia in person and to discuss the possible documentary as well as this wonderful site that she created for people to share their experiences.  i truly admire and respect cordelia for continuing to provide this safe site. and i admire and respect all of you for your contributions to this site.  i am learning a lot in this process.  some of you have shared with me (in email form) your personal experiences and i am thankful.  this helps me to begin to understand the extraordinary imaginations that exist.  i welcome the opportunity to learn about more experiences, if people feel comfortable sharing them.

[Nicola]

Hiya Sean

Yes I'd love to help. Maladaptive Daydreaming is still fairly unknown. It needs to be recognised more in society, so creating a documentary about it would be fantastic in raising awareness. 

Nicola :-)

[Swiss]

Haha! Yep, I've been the subject of a documentary in one of my fantasies as well. Turned out to be a bit of an unexpected underground hit but, ummm, that's another story.

 

I was thinking of trying to contribute something to this but trying to explain in some sort of lucid way  all the layers and intricacies you build up when you're "in the zone"  seems like an almost impossible task (if you have a 2 minute attention span before you wander off into your own crazy world again). Or maybe that's just my excuse for being too lazy.

 

thetxbelle said:

 I have built a crazy extremely detailed world, and strangely enough, it contains a documentary film maker...

 

 

[Cordellia Amethyste Rose]

I had the same issue writing mine.  I wrote about 9 pages, over several sittings and then sent it to him.  It only covered about a year of daydreams, but it's a good start.  I did it in a Word file and then just kept going back to it as I felt like it, working for a few mins at a time.  You can try that, and then perhaps later you can set up a time to meet in chat.  I was thinking that it might be easier in chat, but it's just a theory.  

Swiss said:

Haha! Yep, I've been the subject of a documentary in one of my fantasies as well. Turned out to be a bit of an unexpected underground hit but, ummm, that's another story.

 

I was thinking of trying to contribute something to this but trying to explain in some sort of lucid way  all the layers and intricacies you build up when you're "in the zone"  seems like an almost impossible task (if you have a 2 minute attention span before you wander off into your own crazy world again).

 

thetxbelle said:

 I have built a crazy extremely detailed world, and strangely enough, it contains a documentary film maker...