Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabe Golden.
Hi Gabe, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was fortunate to grow up in Lake Tahoe and enjoy the natural beauty and playground it offered. But eventually I was seduced by a calling to work in film. This took me to Scottsdale, AZ where I attended film school and studied production with a focus on screenwriting and theater.
Two years later, in 1999, I moved to Los Angeles and started working as a production assistant. I thrived on the energy of a set and savored the experience of a variety of aspects of film-making, though this also included getting coffee, running errands and carrying a lot of heavy objects. But I enjoyed the collaboration of a film set, an extraordinary synchronicity must take place for the production machine that is the movie business to create content.
I learned that networking within this community and fully dedicating myself to production would lead to larger producer roles over time. But my passion was with writing and acting so I turned my focus in that direction. Which meant I became one of many bartenders certain the work was just a bridge to bigger things.
Over the next year, I pursued acting, made some short films with friends and wrote a few screenplays, but was then haunted by the return of the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis which I’d been diagnosed with at 14. This caused swelling and pain in nearly every joint. I had managed the condition with a lot of medications but they were no longer working while offering plenty of side effects.
Mainstream physicians offered no answers so I dove into diet and alternative medicine, beginning what would become a decade of searching with steps forward and back as I sought the underlying cause. I moved home to have the support of family and over the next year entered a phase of feeling well enough to get around with a cane.
My father and I also connected further during this time and we began producing documentary projects for the Nevada PBS affiliate. So, with a cane in one hand and camera in the other, I hobbled my way throughout the rural west shooting a variety of projects on drought, endangered species, wildfire, ranching and farming. Thankfully these projects earned some Telly awards and led to additional work.
While my health had improved it also continued to be a challenge. So through my ongoing search for answers, I began filming my own journey as well as those of others I encountered along the way. This led to some incredible friendships and connections with people who inspired me beyond words. I also met some truly remarkable integrative and biological medicine physicians that are redefining what a doctor is. They treat your entire biology and actually teach you how to build true health. Thankfully this led me to the finish line on my healing as well as an inspiring ending for my documentary “Lighting The Path”.
With this return to full health, I’m seizing every moment by producing projects I deeply care about, writing screenplays and am honored to be part of the MC2 Actors Studio Ensemble taught by Mario Campanaro.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As I mentioned, living under the limitations that an illness presents is no smooth road. But adversity builds strength and a broader perspective if we choose to dive into the potential it holds. When you are given any kind of significant obstacle, you can bitch and pout or you can look at it as something to climb to get a better view of yourself. While this is not original advice, it is important enough to be repeated and remembered.
In addition, the ongoing struggle of self-doubt is something most everyone faces and how much you listen to it will determine your future. It took me a long time to realize self-doubt was simply a by-product of my conditioned self, the version of me that imposes my own limitations. A regular practice of meditation, self-exploration and keeping company with those who fuel me has quieted that voice of limitation and continues to expand my perspective of potential.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love many aspects of film and media production. Acting, voice over work, screenwriting, but I also still produce documentary films, and a variety of media that entertains and inspires transformation. I believe documentary work is one of the most important aspects of journalism today providing the context for full exploration of a subject, essential in this age of clickbait and political news mud-throwing.
My documentary feature film “Lighting The Path” and the ongoing 12-part series offers anyone facing a so-called incurable illness, an inspiring and educational perspective of what may be possible beyond what mainstream medicine has offered.
In addition, I’m currently producing a series called “Awakening” which tells the stories of a variety of spiritual luminaries, how they found their philosophy and who they are because of it.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
It’s easy to say determination, but what is behind that? I believe we have a calling if we listen for it. But we have to consistently get quiet and feel into our intuitive knowing about what we truly want and who we want to be. Nurturing a relationship with our deepest nature, (which to me is whatever you call the power that keeps your heart beating) will diminish the self-doubt and fuel your determination.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lightingthepathfilm.com
- Instagram: gabegolden310
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thebiomedcenterscottsdaleaz
