Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Schlesinger.
Hi Thomas, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was on a pre-med scholarship at the University of Illinois when I first saw Midnight Cowboy, The Godfather, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. These transformational films astonished me; they spoke to something deep inside and changed my life direction. I had found my purpose: the magic of storytelling.
With a Master’s Degree in Film from UCLA. I optioned my first two screenplays on a fantastic early ride, sharing my scripts with Warren Beatty, Steve McQueen, and Clint Eastwood. But I went into despair when the scripts weren’t made into films.
Next thing I know, I’m wearing a brown and orange polyester uniform, working as a bellman in a downtown Chicago hotel. I confessed to a fellow bellman at the Billy Goat Tavern that while I loved storytelling, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to follow my dream and make movies. He suggested I come with him to a lecture.
The speaker was mythologist Joseph Campbell. That night triggered a lifelong passion for the power of stories to affect positive change in society. Also studying with Jean Houston, I began teaching human potential workshops at UCLA, the Esalen Institute, the California Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, and the American Film Institute.
I began writing, teaching, and consulting in Europe, Canada, and North Africa. My first two collaborations with filmmaker Carolin Link in Germany resulted in nominations for two Academy Awards, with ‘Nowhere in Africa’ winning the Best Foreign Film Oscar. And I’m grateful to have taught over 10,000 students and industry professionals at Pixar, Lucasfilm Ltd., Constantin Film and film schools internationally.
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?
Learning the road to successful transformational storytelling is like learning martial arts: you often get beat up until you learn how to turn concepts into practice.
I co-wrote a film for Columbia Pictures that had the full studio machine behind it but was a box office disappointment. I sunk into depression and finally realized it was time to go deeper into my craft.
I started my journey into documentary films. I teamed up with renowned filmmaker Paul Saltzman on “Prom Night in Mississippi,” featuring Morgan Freeman, and “The Last White Knight,” featuring Harry Belafonte – and both are still having a significant social impact internationally.
I began to understand that the creative journey was not about whom you know, what you know, or how talented you think you may or may not be: it’s about knowing what questions to ask and reaching out for help.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
THE STORYTELLER’S JOURNEY IN FOUR SEASONS
Structuring a screenplay or novel using the four seasons can creatively organize your story through visual storytelling.
In the fall, temperatures start to cool, days get shorter, leaves on trees change color, and fruits and vegetables ripen for harvest. Act One, or Separation, sets the stage for the story by introducing characters and establishing the central conflict. Fall imagery can be used to create a visual atmosphere.
During winter, the temperature drops, and snow and ice may cover the ground. Trees become bare, and many winter sports are enjoyed. Act Two, or Descent, takes a darker turn by reflecting isolation and hardship through the characters’ challenges. This creates a sense of danger or urgency and reflects the bleakness of winter.
As spring arrives, temperatures warm, plants and trees grow leaves and flowers, and animals emerge. Many birds migrate back, rainfall is typical, and farmers start planting crops. Act Three, or Initiation, turns towards resolution and renewal, reflecting growth and rebirth. Characters’ fortunes change, and a sense of hope and optimism is created.
During the summer, the temperature is high, and people enjoy outdoor activities such as swimming and camping. Many fruits are harvested, schools have a summer break, and families take vacations. Act Four, or Return, reaches the climax by reflecting warmth and abundance. The central conflict is resolved, and the characters experience growth or transformation. This creates a sense of catharsis and closure.
There are many other ways to harmonize with the seasons, like choosing local seasonal fruit and vegetables. The key is to use the seasons to create a thematic and visual arc for your story and to allow them to influence the tone and atmosphere of your screenplay.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I facilitate Storytelling Constellations, a method of applying the fundamental principles of Systemic Family Constellation therapy to the multi-dimensional realms of transformational storytelling.
Story Constellations are a solution-oriented experiential story development method that integrates modalities of Eugene Gendlen (“Focusing”), Jean Houston (“The Possible Human”), and Keith Johnstone (“Impro”). Through Mr. Gendlin’s “bodily-felt experience”, Ms. Houston’s “kinesthetic body” and Mr. Johnstone’s time-tested improvisational techniques, story constellations reveal the “patterns that connect” you with the surrogate family of your characters and, ultimately, your audience.
What’s remarkable about story constellations is that past wounds impacting both the storyteller and the characters are often transformed and healed by receiving information from the future: receiving becomes an act of creation. Storytelling constellations also chart how story forms evolve as we receive new archetypes, like your Future Self.
Through an introductory lecture followed by a demonstration, participants and observers will learn the key to facilitating storytelling constellations: the essential nature of how stories function. This includes identifying archetypal triangles of characters; how the dilemma is at the creative core of all great storytelling; how meaning comes through contrast and opposition; and how you, the storytellers, are the midwives of the story beneath your story that demands to be told.
The “miracle” aspect of the process is that the representatives standing in for the storyteller, characters, and audience do not need to know anything about the story except for their character’s name and age but will somehow magically act out as players connected in the emotional landscape of the solution-oriented three-act drama.
Weekly story constellations for individuals and teams will begin in late April 2023.
Pricing:
- Story Development: $5000/month for individuals; $7500/month for studios, production companies
- Script Consulting: $2500 for two weeks, creating a powerful step outline
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tomschlesinger.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/tom_schlesinger
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storytellersacademy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/studentstorytellers/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeqwhlVBnUdSCwPM5oLNr1g
Image Credits
Portrait by Hugh Kretschmer
