LINK: Read the interview with John Raatz
Nearly three thousand seats will be filled with professionals from the entertainment, media and arts communities, and others on February 4, when GATE – the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment – presents GATE 2 and the GATE transformational Story Conference in Los Angeles.
GATE is a new, non-profit membership trade association founded by transformational marketing pioneer John Raatz, and two honorary co-founders, internationally bestselling author and teacher Eckhart Tolle and actor/activist Jim Carrey.
“We are living in extraordinarily transformational times,” Raatz says. “Everywhere you look, you see countries, governments, companies, organizations and individuals in dramatic transition. For many people, this reflects a shift in values and world views, underlined by a deep fundamental questioning about the direction we are headed as human beings.
“GATE was formed to support people in the entertainment and media industries who are, themselves, asking these deeper questions and wanting to contribute to the solutions that will become the new structure, the new paradigm, of a sustainable world. GATE sees the role and responsibility that entertainment, media, and the arts play in creating and illuminating this global transformation, and in supporting how each of us can contribute to a successful outcome for everyone and the planet.”
GATE 2 will be a celebration of the emerging genre of transformational entertainment, media and arts, featuring a lineup of top-level presenters, performers, and content developers. These include Carrey, Tolle and Raatz, plus scholar/philosopher Jean Houston, visionary/educator Barbara Marx Hubbard, actor/activist Edward James Olmos, author/researcher Paul H. Ray, internationally bestselling author/teacher don Miguel Ruiz, filmmaker/iconic photographer Norman Seeff, internationally bestselling author/teacher Marianne Williamson, physicist/author Fred Alan Wolf aka Dr. Quantum, and others.
At the event, GATE will present its first Imaginal Awards to honor the best works in the transformational entertainment, media and arts field. Since the competition does not begin until 2012, these first awards are being presented to pioneers in the field, including Bernt and Fritjof Capra, creators of the seminal film, Mindwalk; filmmaker David Lynch, for his worldwide humanitarian efforts; and Justine and Michael Toms, for their iconic radio series New Dimensions.
The GATE Transformational Story Conference will take place that morning and afternoon at the same location. GATE StoryCon will examine the role of story in promoting personal, social and global transformation. Story will explored from a variety of perspectives, with special emphasis on the human transformational journey — the Transformational Arc of life-death-life. Many of the GATE 2 presenters will also deliver programs at GATE StoryCon, plus writer/story consultant James Bonnet, writer/teacher Catherine Ann Jones, author/script consultant Dara Marks, memoirist Mark Matousek, writer/producer Marta Mobley, award-wining documentary filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg, and others.
Tickets to the two events and more information can be found at www.GATEcommunity.org. Proceeds from both events will help fund GATE’s operating expenses for the coming year.
Beginning in 2012, GATE will be awarding its GATE Seal to exemplary works in the field, bringing greater awareness of the genre to audiences worldwide. Recipients of the Seal will automatically be entered in the Imaginal Awards competition, with presentation of the first competitive awards scheduled for early-2013.
The impact of the GATE vision/mission is already resonating worldwide.
“People from over 70 countries have connected with GATE regarding membership,” Raatz says. “The impulse to engage with and spread transformational content is a global phenomenon. For more than 20 years, people have asked why isn’t there more content of this type. I respond by saying transformational content has always existed. A great example is the classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life. More recent examples are Tom Shadyac’s I Am and the hugely successful, The Blindside. We simply want to expand these kinds of offerings because we know there is a massive, global audience ready for them, and they will make a positive impact on society at large.”
