A lot of people thought I was a little crazy to make a feature film, let alone a Southern period piece with musical numbers (I’m not Southern, and we filmed entirely in Colorado). Luckily, I had no idea how difficult the process would be when I started! That’s the great thing about ignorance and not knowing that something is (in other people’s minds) “not possible” —this can give you the courage, focus and determination necessary to attempt what other people won’t even consider attempting. I found depths in me I had not tapped into before, to carry this through. It was intense!

I met Ramtha when I was a young child, and through the years I applied those first teachings, the earliest form of “calling things fourth,” that was taught by Ramtha, before RSE even existed. He gave me a basket of flowers when I was still in grade school, and told me that one day ‘the world would know my face’ — a statement that inspired, haunted, and, I admit—troubled me…because it seemed mysterious and out-of-reach.

I was never an ongoing student at RSE, per se, though I’ve done some streaming events and continued to practice and apply what I had learned in those early years, and attended an event last summer. I also attended a beginning workshop in 2001, where I cleaned toilets in order to afford the tuition! Lol.
I was a struggling artist, so this made it possible for me to attend.
When I was at RSE, I carefully made a card in order to manifest a long-cherished dream — I drew a movie screen with a heart and wings, and wrote on it: ‘Starring: Katharyn Grant.’ I focused on this card deeply, imagining the circumstances and details, picturing myself acting in a movie.

I’d tried to make it as an actor in L.A. when I was first out of college, and I even studied with top teachers from The Actor’s Studio and The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, L.A., and London. I had a few fleeting opportunities, but nothing really great. People not involved in “show business” don’t realize how hard it is to get in the door, let alone get roles, because it’s so competitive. They say you should give yourself 6 years just to get an agent in Los Angeles! After a few years of this, I came back to my hometown in Colorado to help with a family emergency and ended up staying. I joined a comedy group and started doing interactive shows that were a lot of fun for audiences.

It was then that I realized the only way I’d have any really good opportunities in my chosen art, was if I created them myself. To me, this really speaks to the core of Ramtha’s teachings—that we are called on to think and act outside of social consciousness, in order to make known the unknown and do something new. In other words, you have to get outside the box!

‘Failing”’as an actor in Los Angeles gave me the resolve to make it happen for myself in a different way.

I had never been to film school, but found a few people to collaborate with me. First I made a couple short films, one of which was selected to air on IFC (Independent Film Channel), as part of their “Media Lab.”

Then in 2009 I was taking a screenwriting workshop, and my teacher gave me a script called Swinging Down Home. He asked me to read it, saying I was perfect for the lead role. It had been his calling card when he arrived in L.A. in 1986, written as a love letter to his hometown of Sumter, South Carolina and his Aunt Mary. Like me, the lead character goes back to her hometown after having failed as an artist in the big city. I could relate to the struggles of the lead character, and I knew I could breathe life into this story.
Once I joined forces with the writer, we enlisted my previous DP (director of photography), who’d worked with me on some short films. The three of us formed our core production team.

The script had been optioned by Faye Dunaway’s production company, but had never been produced. And while in Hollywood, the writer had also created spec scripts for Diane Keaton that she optioned, though they never went into production either. He’d had some brushes with greatness that hadn’t panned out.

We updated the time period of the script from the 1960’s to the 1970’s, because I felt I had the resources to recreate the look on the 1970’s, though recreating the 60’s would’ve been too challenging. We also changed the music from Swing to Country and dropped the name “Swinging Down Home.”

I would manifest one thing at a time, including clothes, props, vintage cars, locations, a singing teacher for myself, and a million other details, including a vintage bus that took me three months to find (though it’s only in the film for about 30 seconds!). I would write down whatever it was that I needed, call it fourth, and then let my instinct guide me through focus and determination.

At one point I walked around my neighborhood, knocking on every door with a vintage car in the driveway, asking people to bring their retro cars to our shooting location, Gold’s Grocery, at 7am the following morning. And we had a fairly full parking lot the next day! I also asked the seniors in my neighborhood, who hadn’t changed their décor in years, if we could film in their homes—many said “no,” but a couple said “yes”! And it’s that one “yes” out of a hundred “no’s” that get’s the job done!

Making the film forced me to come out of my shell in ways I never thought were possible. I would hold a focus for what I needed to manifest, then I would go after what I needed. It didn’t matter if I was met with a hundred “no’s”—I would just keep going.

The collaboration itself was also quite challenging, as one of my co-producers was very difficult to work with. But this strengthened my resolve as well.

I did most of the scheduling for a total of 74 shoot dates, including re-shoots. And when you have a low budget like we did—scheduling people is like herding cats—not easy to do!

There were more challenges than I can even begin to talk about here. Once I showed up the night before filming at a bar, and found a poster on the wall saying there was an all day concert there the next day! They hadn’t even told me! So I had to decide whether to find a new location or reschedule. A rock band also canceled just before a shoot, and I had to replace four musicians on short order.

I made things happen simply through perseverance and not taking “no” for an answer.
It was a matter of continually focusing, continually maintaining a positive attitude, continually calling things forth, and keeping people enthusiastic and involved over a period of about two and a half years of shooting, and then an over-lapping year of post production.

Traveling with the film and sharing it with audiences has been the fulfillment of a long-held vision, as well as the realization of my card, which I made while a student at RSE!

And recently, through talking with audiences, I’ve discovered that this film is also a story about leaving behind fantasy and illusion, and, through adversity, learning to find your real, authentic strength. This is the plot of the film, and it’s actually the story of how I made the film as well!

I put my heart and soul into creating this project that in ways parallels my own struggle as an artist and as a person. So being able to connect with audiences in a deeper way, through sharing it, and having audience members tell me that they are moved by it, inspired by it, or that it reassured them in some way, has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.

My character, Gloria Bethune, is a struggling singer/songwriter who eventually goes to Nashville… and a couple singer/songwriters from Nashville have even said they could really relate to the film and to this character!