WTF is on my Mind?!
Author, Speaker, Whistleblower and award-winning Director Mark Vicente was behind the sleeper hit “What The Bleep Do We Know?!” Several books have been written about the film’s remarkable grassroots marketing campaign, which led to its unprecedented success.
Mark was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1965. Taking his first photograph at age four, he quickly discovered his passion for being behind the camera. After attending film and drama school in South Africa, he began working his way up the ranks of the camera department, from Assistant to Operator to Cinematographer. His first big break came as Director of Photography on the musical “SARAFINA,” starring Whoopi Goldberg. In 1992, he set his sights on Hollywood and relocated to Los Angeles to shoot his first studio picture for Disney; “FATHERHOOD,” starring Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry. At the age of 26, he became one of the youngest cinematographers to shoot a big-budget studio picture.
Over the next few decades, he went on to shoot an additional 14 feature films and numerous documentaries, music videos and commercials. Mark soon found there were in him, untold stories he desperately wanted to express as a Director. He was driven by the conviction that tales of greatness, nobility and introspection could be exciting and financially successful.
Perhaps because of the very obvious race and class iniquities in South Africa, he found himself propelled to question certain fundamental assumptions at a very young age. Beliefs about human behavior, cosmology, religion, existentialism and mysticism. Along the way, he stumbled into a few situations where leaders with malignant pathologies (masquerading as saintly philosophers) spoke the talk of self-improvement but did untold damage to their followers... and him.
Looking back, he can now say he has been in at least two cults. His last foray into personal growth and his defection from NXIVM was chronicled in the HBO series “The Vow”. Mark and a few plucky whistleblowers exposed the criminal activities of the organization, resulting in multiple arrests and indictments. He doesn’t consider himself a cult expert, but by his own admission, “I’m an expert in being screwed over, waking up, and knowing how to spot them.” He’s got a pretty salty approach to most things and is fascinated by the myriad patterns in the human psychodynamic that create the best and the worst in civilization.
Join Mark as he unpacks a whole range of topics to do with: Psychology, Consciousness, Morality, Narcissistic Abuse, Spirituality, Cults, Propaganda, Science, Filmmaking, and Philosophy.You never quite know what you’re going to get, as it really does depend on… WTF is on his mind?!
WTF is on my Mind?!
Adrenaline, Predators & Documentaries w/ @thatdocumentarygirl
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She watches up to fourteen documentaries a week! Not for school. Not for work. Because she’s obsessed.
In this episode of WTF Is On My Mind?, I sit down with Christie Boschman, known online as That Documentary Girl. Her platform has grown to over 4.5 million followers because she does one thing exceptionally well. She talks about documentaries with real passion.
But this is not just a conversation about movies.
We get into why audiences are drawn to dark stories, the psychology behind cult and crime narratives, the disturbing patterns around Epstein and powerful men protecting each other, and why so many great independent documentaries struggle to find distribution.
Christie watches up to fourteen documentaries a week. She has become a bridge between indie filmmakers and the public, helping projects go viral and, in some cases, helping them secure distribution.
NARCISSIST'S PLAYBOOK TRAILER
We also discuss:
• Why dark stories travel faster than hopeful ones
• The ethics of covering trauma and predatory behavior
• Narcissism and how predators operate
• Online backlash and the psychology of keyboard warriors
• Why streaming platforms play it safe
• Whether social media is becoming the new proof of concept for truth
00:00 The reel that sparked this conversation
02:05 Falling in love with documentaries and Sharkwater
05:15 Why making documentaries is brutal
07:50 The documentary industry is struggling
10:15 Why dark stories perform online
12:40 Watching darkness without losing yourself
15:30 Epstein, power circles, and why people look away
21:10 Kumare and how cult leaders are made
23:00 Adrenaline documentaries and survival stories
27:00 Why great indie docs can’t find distribution
31:30 Going viral and building a platform from obsession
34:45 Online backlash and calling out bad behavior
38:20 Unauthorized documentaries and controversy
45:00 The Narcissist’s Playbook
47:00 Stutz and the power of the twist
51:45 Christie’s family documentary and The Honey Children
56:00 Why documentaries deserve to be seen
59:00 Finding awe and the antidote to cynicism
Films and series mentioned in this episode:
The Vow
What the Bleep Do We Know?
Sharkwater
Kumare
Filthy Rich
Corey Feldman vs. The World
Peter Nygård: Unseen
Allen v. Farrow
The Deepest Breath
The Last Breath
Touching the Void
I Shouldn’t Be Alive
Free Solo
The Alpinist
The Final Member
Beyond Utopia
Maya and the Wave https://youtu.be/44ElZ_dqgMA?si=qBAh18a3eWsd2a1F
Norman & Norman
Stutz
Between the Mountain and the Sky
The views and opinions expressed on WTF is on my Mind?! do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast or Mark Vicente. Any content provided by guests are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything.
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