A Talk With Stephan Simon, Producer Of What Dreams May Come

Say to me,

Freud,

Do you know you sound like Richard Dreyfuss?

Well,

Speaking of that,

That's so weird.

I noticed that you graduated from Beverly Hills High School a year before I did,

And Richard Dreyfuss was in the class I was in.

Yes,

He was.

I didn't know you went to Beverly.

I did.

And I didn't know you went to Beverly as well.

Well,

I didn't graduate from there.

I went my first two years and then my parents sent me to Reform School in Northern California.

Oh,

Really?

I didn't graduate there,

But I was there for a couple of years.

And yeah,

And I definitely knew Richard.

Yeah.

And then I went to Northern California after I got into radio,

Started a station in Santa Rosa,

KVRE,

Which I love very much.

And the first film I worked on when I got into the film business was The Goodbye Girl.

Yes,

Yes.

And Richard won his Academy Award for it.

Anyway,

It's wonderful to talk to you.

And thank you.

This is going to be the first interview I've done about our book.

Well,

I hope everyone has heard about this.

Stephen Simon,

Of course,

You've been one of my very,

Very favorite persons in the film industry.

And,

You know,

I grew up around the film industry.

In fact,

I housed that for Henry Fonda for about three years there.

But so,

You know,

When you're in Hollywood,

That's the kind of thing you do.

But you did the film Smokin' the Bandits,

The Goodbye Girls,

Somewhere in Time.

I love that film.

And also What Dreams May Come.

And when I still talk to people about what it's like after death,

When they're trying to understand that,

I tell them all the time.

The film that most is like what I have experienced in meditation and in what I've gone through when I'm inside is What Dreams May Come.

And,

You know,

You didn't write the play,

But you sure did an amazing job producing it and somehow conveyed such a beautiful job conveying about life.

Going on after death.

And thank you that Dreams was a 20 year odyssey in my life.

It was the book of What Dreams May Come was written by Richard Matheson,

Who also wrote the book and the screenplay of Somewhere in Time.

So when we were prepping Somewhere in Time,

Richard handed me the galleys of What Dreams May Come and he said,

This is my next book.

Do you want to do it?

Do it.

And I remember reading it all in one night.

I was completely blown away by it because it was so emotional and such a challenge.

You know,

When you're doing a love story,

You go back to Romeo and Juliet.

The key to a love story is the obstacles between the lovers.

That is always the key.

And what bigger obstacle than one on this side of the veil and the other one on the other side of the veil.

And it was a challenge for years for us to be able to figure out how to do that.

That's a several hour story in and of itself.

But by the time we actually got the film financed and then set for production,

It had been almost 17,

18 years of me trying with every director that you can imagine.

So it's a film I'm incredibly proud of and thank you for your kind words about it.

It is not a film that people have lukewarm feelings about.

I can tell you that.

That's a film that people either love or they really don't like.

I can't even imagine someone not liking it unless they'd gone through losing someone to suicide.

That's one of the aspects that was difficult for people,

Even though we took great pains to say that Annie was not forced to be in this place.

It was her choice to do that.

But I understand.

I understand.

Anyway,

Thank you for your kind words about that,

Because dreams is a very important time in my life.

Well,

And it was actually a prelude of sorts.

And I just finished this year,

I just finished what dreams have come,

Not what dreams may come,

What dreams have come,

Loving Through the Veil,

Written by you and Lauren.

And it's a tribute to love,

Really.

It is totally a tribute to love.

And I get when I read it that,

Of course,

I've always believed my whole life path.

I started when my father died when I was 13.

My father came after death to my mother,

Kissed her on the forehead and said,

There is a forever.

And that's what started my spiritual path.

And I had been following this my whole life.

So when I read this book,

I went,

Thank God.

Someone is actually talking about the fact that life goes on after death and their loved one is there with you in spirit,

Helping you along and supporting you.

And was this kind of,

Did you think,

And it seems like when I read the book,

You're feeling that this whole movie ties into what was meant to be meeting Lauren and then also experiencing her spirit right now.

You know,

That's very,

That's very perceptive,

Cindy,

And very true.

You know,

Having gotten into the business,

I mean,

I actually got into the business to make Somewhere in Time.

I read the book and met the author and we had a handshake deal and then I begged my way into a job in the film industry so I could make Somewhere in Time.

And the films that I am the most proud of are Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come.

So it seems like I was,

The universe was setting me up for what was to come and that was meeting my soulmate at the age of 57 and having the love that I always dreamed that I would have in this most amazing woman.

And we actually met,

Lauren and I actually met at a screening of What Dreams May Come in a vintage theater up here outside of Portland,

Oregon in Gresham.

And she had felt drawn there and we literally met in the lobby.

And I took one look at her and she looked at me and that was it.

I mean,

She went home,

Called a very dear friend of hers,

Her surrogate mom,

And said,

I just met the guy.

And I knew I had met her and we got married and had an amazing time together.

And it was.

And she is and always will be the joy of my life.

And on January 3rd of 2018,

I came into our bedroom after having been at the gym in the early morning and found that Lauren had transitioned in her sleep.

And I tried to revive her and I couldn't.

She'd been gone for a while.

And it put me into a very,

Very,

Very dark space for.

Oh,

For quite a long time,

It was really hard for me.

I,

Like anyone else who loses a loved one,

Was in tremendous grief.

Kept desperately trying to be in touch with her because we had talked about this a lot.

I mean,

Lauren is a very,

Very spiritual being and an intuitive.

She was a reiki master.

I mean,

She was very,

Very much on a spiritual journey as well.

And we talked about our life together after this life and how we would be together.

And we realized that we had had so many lives that we had shared together in the past that we were interwoven souls.

So this is not something that was foreign to me or foreign to her,

But for six weeks.

I couldn't.

And then all of a sudden and I this is described in detail in the book,

There was a night in which she made her presence very,

Very clear to me.

And I heard her now.

I did not hear her voice because that's from her body and her body was obviously gone.

But I felt her and I felt her words.

And a dear friend of ours just actually explained this to me the way that she thinks that actually worked,

Is that Lauren put a piece of her energy,

A small piece of her energy in my heart.

And it allowed us to communicate.

And that set us off on the journey of writing this book together.

And for a lot of different reasons,

Including the fact that I was kind of barely getting along for a while.

It took two years for us to do this.

And so we published it last week.

And I'm very excited about the response to it.

It's a very vulnerable thing for anyone to talk about the fact that they are actually communicating through the veil,

Which we are.

And,

You know,

It is the joy of my life.

And the reason that we actually really did the book is because there are so many people who have that communication,

But are afraid to talk about it because they're afraid that their friends or their family will think that they're crazy,

That,

You know,

They've lost touch with what we call reality.

And,

You know,

It's not an easy thing for people to talk about.

And one of the things we wanted to do is just say,

Look,

This is.

A lot of people do this.

This is not that unusual.

You know,

We're not that unique.

This happens a lot.

And people should not be hesitant to talk about their experiences because it's an extraordinary thing.

So that's how the book came about.

And you know what?

I am so thankful for you for doing that because you not only did that,

But on your Facebook site,

You allowed yourself to be out there to the point you said to people is if anyone else has had an experience about that,

Let me know.

And you asked.

And I,

Of course,

Did respond.

That's how I reached out because of yes,

Of course,

I have.

In fact,

I wrote a book myself,

Angel Blessings,

Talking about how I've gotten so many messages from people who passed on.

And this year,

You know this,

Stephen,

More people have died this year.

And there are so many people I see just going through what you went through,

Losing a loved one.

I don't want to use that word.

You say not to.

And I agree it's not losing,

Having a loved one pass on and then being heartbroken about it.

But at the same time,

Not even giving themself a chance to realize that that person still with them in spirit.

And so I'm sure you probably got some very interesting people responding to your Facebook post.

We have.

And the website that you're talking about is what dreams have come dot com.

What dreams have come dot com.

And first of all,

There's a small synopsis of the book and a link to Amazon to be able to buy it.

But we there is a section where I do ask people if they want to share those experiences with me to please do.

And,

You know,

The email comes directly to me.

No one else sees it.

And everything else is kept in complete confidence.

I would never reveal any of this to anybody in the world unless at some point or another somebody wants me to.

And that'll be a different issue.

But I want people to feel like,

You know,

That they have someone that they can share this with that is going through it,

Has been through it.

And it's incredibly comforting to know that Lauren is here and that she's with me a lot.

Now,

It's not the physical Lauren.

And that is an adjustment.

I mean,

There's no question that was that's tough because,

You know,

When you're with someone 24 seven,

Which Lauren and I were when we when she was still physical and they're suddenly gone physically,

It is an adjustment.

But what I have now realized now,

It's been almost three years.

So I have had time to be able to adjust as best I can.

And I'm just incredibly grateful that she and I are still connected in every way other than physical.

And again,

This like you have this experience,

Millions and millions and millions of people have had this experience.

But what I'm hoping and what we're hoping is that because I have made these films and this has been the focus of my life and founding the spiritual cinema circle,

Which we operated for 16 years until this year,

It's kind of prepared me for this.

And I'm hoping that people will then say,

You know,

Look,

I need to feel more comfortable about talking about this because it's happening all over the world.

Absolutely it is.

And and I do feel this was a bold move on your part.

I've written a couple of books and I know whenever you write a book,

You go through another experience.

It's very,

Very deep.

And I find that even in meditation,

When I'm getting messages like from my sister who just passed away,

These beautiful,

Beautiful songs,

I never would have thought of writing the kind of songs that came through.

I know I know they were from her,

Came through when I get messages from other people.

Each message I get from a different person has a different tone.

I call it their soul tone coming from their soul,

Direct soul to soul communication on a higher level.

And and I think people can do that.

And sometimes I suggest to people writing a letter to your loved one as if they were thinking of them as if they were on a long vacation somewhere,

If they took a journey somewhere,

What would you say to them if you were on a phone call?

What would you actually think to them and connect with them that way for you?

How did you find once you initiated and actually Lauren initiated the contact with you when you were ready?

Right.

Did you then once that thread of communication was open,

Were you able to to call upon her to be with you?

Or was it always still her initiating being with?

Oh,

No,

It's been there are times that that she's just makes her presence known and that she has a very specific way of doing that,

A very individual way for the two of us,

For us,

For her to make that presence known to me.

And then there are a lot of times in which I just need to talk to her.

She's not just my wife and my best friend,

But she's my interwoven soul.

And,

You know,

She is the major factor and driving factor of my life.

So that communication has become incredibly important to me.

She also communicates with other people in our family.

This is it's a matter of faith.

And,

You know,

I say in the book,

You know,

Look,

Can I 100 percent guarantee to people that this is not just me making it up out of my grief?

No,

I can't.

I can't,

Because it's a matter of faith.

It's a matter of belief.

Now,

In my mind and in my heart,

I absolutely know this is happening.

But there are people who say,

Well,

You can't prove it.

And they're right.

I can't.

You can't prove it scientifically.

You can't say,

Well,

You know,

This is,

You know,

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

And this is no,

It's a matter of faith and it's individual to everybody.

What we're hoping that will come from this is that people will be more attuned to the possibility,

Because when it happens,

You need to trust it.

You need to know that it is that person.

And,

You know,

With me,

Lauren has a very specific sense of humor and I know how she phrases things.

And when I heard those phrases and when I realized the things that she was saying to me early on,

I would,

The way I described this is that I said,

You know,

I lost my wife.

Which wasn't true,

But that's what I said.

And when Laura started communicating with me one day and it's in the book,

She said,

And honey,

Seeing that I'm right here,

Maybe not tell people that you lost me because you didn't.

OK,

Cupcake.

Yes.

And that was a phrase she used a lot.

So,

Yes,

It is a vulnerable thing to say this to people,

Because there are people who think,

OK,

He is really.

Several tacos,

Short of a combination plate,

Several egg rolls,

Short of a combination plate,

Whatever kind of food you want to use,

He's delusional.

And I know that I know that there are going to be people who feel that,

But it still is something that I know in my heart is happening with us.

And I want other people to know that when it happens to them to trust it and to embrace it,

Because it's extraordinary.

Now,

The thing that is interesting is that once you do get that feeling,

Because I've been through the realms of heaven and it's there's a bliss and there's a light and a love there that isn't present here and it's harder being here than it is there.

And what keeps you centered enough to be here?

And it seems like the book may have,

But it would seem like you'd want to be there a lot more now than here.

Well,

I think I am there with Lauren at night in our dreams.

I do think we are together.

I have snippets of memories of that,

Of dreams,

And I think that's true.

But I go into a lot more detail about this in the book and so does Lauren.

We've been at this together for a very long time and not just centuries,

Millennia,

Millennia.

I know that my purpose here,

Other than being Lauren's husband and our kids,

We have five adult kids,

It was a combined family,

Although we don't see each other that way because there is no differentiation between who Lauren brought into the relationship and who I brought into the relationship.

We have five adult kids and four grandchildren that I adore,

That we both adore and love and they're very important to me.

Lauren is the driving force of my life and has been since we met.

So for me,

I know this is something that we planned together.

There is no way this book could have ever been written if Lauren hadn't transitioned.

And there just would have been no way because it's about our conversation about that.

So the way I'm continuing to be able to be here is that I know that it's still my journey to be here,

That there is a date at which time our dear friend Peggy said,

And Stephen,

When the time is,

Comes for you,

You know Lauren will be right there with you if you're in bed,

She's going to be standing or kneeling over you and grabbing you and saying,

OK,

Honey,

Let's go.

And I look forward to that moment enormously,

But I still have my life to live here and to be a dad and to be a friend and to put these things out into the world.

So it keeps me grounded here until such time that I get to be with her again on the other side.

Are you thinking of doing an audiobook and possibly a movie or some kind of other film?

These days,

Movies aren't happening that much,

But are you thinking?

You know,

I have a couple of people have asked me about that.

I honestly I cannot see a movie being made out of this.

And I don't not really sure that I would ever be comfortable with that.

I just I don't see that happening.

It's not impossible,

But I just don't see it.

And as far as the audiobook,

Yes,

I do want to do that.

We self-published this book.

There was no way that I was going to get us a publisher.

I mean,

I just the way the publishing business today for us to have to deal with that and to deal with people having a different idea of how to present this book is way too personal for anybody to make those decisions except for us.

And it will take a little while for me to do an audiobook.

A dear friend of mine has volunteered to do Lauren's part of this.

And if we do it,

I know that that would be wonderful and I know it'd be wonderful with Lauren for her to do it.

But the audiobook,

Yes,

A film.

I really doubt it.

Well,

You have it out on Amazon and it can be as an e-book or a hard soft copy.

And the website again is what dreams have come dot com.

And you can also get the link to Amazon there.

And if you do have a story,

An experience that you want to share,

There is a way for you to do that.

And I will read it and I will respond.

And I thank you for that.

I'm really touched by you taking the time and the fact that you were able to call in and share your story.

Very touching.

And I am just very grateful.

Big,

Big gratitude,

Deep gratitude for you taking the time and courage to write the book.

It's fun for me.

Thank you.

As I said,

This is the first interview I've done and I wasn't quite sure how I was going to be able to talk about it.

But you've made it very comfortable for me to do that.

Well,

I'm very,

Very honored to be able to have that time with you.

And you take care of yourself and keep us posted.

OK,

I will.

Thank you so much,

Cindy.

Aloha.

Aloha.

Aloha.

This is Ron Guess at PWC.

The people who clean.