HEART FORCE ... creator notes

o Selby

... further reflections on making the film

HEART FORCE the cable series, along with HIGHER FORCES and HIGH HEART the twin novels, and HIGH HEART the audiobook, have emerged from my considerable involvement in brain-stimulation research - and also a nearly-deadly year I spent down on Guatemala's Lago Atitlan. All the bio-tech is realistic, and the main characters of HEART FORCE are drawn from real people I encountered both down on the lake and back home in California. This is a story very close to my heart.

When I was 30 I quit my therapy practice in San Luis Obispo, separated from my wife and sold most of my possessions. Hungry for something entirely new, I took off headed south in my VW camper. When I got down to Lago Atitlan I dropped into the local native revolutionary scene - and met the real-life woman who would eventually morph into the mythic Mahalena Bernhardt.

Following some thrilling near-crazy shamanic stuff and then a near-death trauma, I broke away from the lake scene and came home to Los Angeles – with a poorly-written Atitlan novel that Warner Books grabbed anyway and published. I also came home with some deadly parasites in my gut, hepatitis in my liver, and agonizing pain in my heart – the latter because that remarkable larger-than-life woman at the lake had been shot dead by Guatemalan army guys.

FERMENTING SPIRITS

But ... Mahalena's spirit continued to live within me as her presence evolved into a new type of female hero – a very real woman sporting a budding mystic vision of how we might open up to a more balanced and fulfilling approach to living and loving. With my essential co-author B Budd Smith's keen fiction support, Mahee has emerged as the sublime powerhouse of these six hour-long HEART FORCE scripts.

As an author and therapist, I've continually dealt with the core human theme of how to better integrate our male and female, yin and yang, dominating versus nurturing human impulses. I’ve often been called a 'male feminist' and I stand proudly with that label – because all things considered, our species at this point must quickly shift in the direction of our feminine qualities and strengths, if we're to avoid exterminating ourselves. Hopefully this series will help in provoking this shift.

HEART FORCE here and there does dip into some edgy spirit zones, but without being at all sectarian or occult. The plot packs esoteric and shamanic undertones without being cultish. The visuals in the series do at time portray a very slight edge of shamanic tingle. Running parallel, the cinematography will be beautifully erotic where appropriate, but never pornographic. The plot aims to merge the science of quantum physics with the mystic undercurrents of our inner lives, but this is mostly subliminal. In short, this is a very realistic modern-day odyssey ... a daring adult fable.

Mahalena represents a raw, sometimes flawed expression of this science-spirit merger. She's deeply grounded in both – she's someone who actually walks the talk and challenges her lover (and all of us) to do the same. Played just right, she will be a new positive life model for younger viewers, and someone even deeper for more mature viewers. Her 'a la nueva' dedication to bringing a more balanced feminine quality into our overly-macho human affairs rings more and more urgent with every news cycle.

A possible contender for the role of Mahalena might be Alicia Vikander who looks like she could be German/Mayan, and will have a good mixed-accent. Mahee must be a brave warrior when required – but she's also a sensitive intimate lover with a bright sense of humor. She maintains a bright sexy flair even while delving into esoteric or action realms.

And Jack – right in the middle of a radical sci-fi action plot he must somehow take the challenge Mahalena hits him with – to be her mystic equal even while battling her genius brother. Mahee remains mostly a mystery to Jack in the series. He is our likeable every-guy California sceptic with whom we can readily identify, a successful young neuroscientist hungry for something more. His inner narrative, trauma and growth lie at the heart of this story.

THE GOOGLE SUBTERFUGE

Even though at first Jack isn't aware of it, there are loads of plot complications in this tale that we keep cutting to. Both the CIA and Google are simultaneously plotting to locate and abscond with Bernardo's bio-tech inventions. The CIA and NSA crave the mind-altering technology to zap terrorist brains – and Google wants to launch a massive new mood-management pharma industry to conquer patient depression and anxiety worldwide.

Each of the six HEART FORCE episodes weaves in these Silicon/Washington elements to heighten the suspense. Several tough corporate players in San Francisco, including Jack's mother Danielle and her high-up Google lover Larry Bish, add a nasty corporate edge to the plot. In ten years or less the pharma industry will be rolling out retail versions of the mood-management technology that drives this series, so we've done our best to make the science of HEART FORCE entirely realistic.

We've now completed 3 of the 6 hour-long HEART FORCE episodes, and have the final 3 episodes in rough format – so we feel ready to put out feelers to connect with an inspired production company, director and funders who are capable of taking on this project and fulfilling the vision.

ANIMATION or LIVE ACTION

As a final note – this series can be shot in seriously-divergent styles. Originally we saw this film as a mixture of real-life and animation. After all, it's a modern-day fable - but it's for adults, not kids. The mix of reality and imagination will need to be very subtle. The heroes are at times larger than life, caught in an adult lucid dream. To manifest this visually, HEART FORCE will require its own break-out quality of real/mythic visuals, absolutely beautiful, realistic and yet transformed ...

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