Pull up a chair! The Lighthouse is growing
A place to connect (and go with the “Flow” 😻)
Can we take a moment to appreciate how much the 2025 Oscars celebrated indie film? Anora wasn’t my favorite of the year - I was rooting for The Brutalist - but it’s exciting to see a scrappy $6 million feature win the night.
Sean Baker made history by becoming the first director to walk away with four Oscars for the same movie (producing, writing, directing, and editing).
“I want to thank the Academy for recognizing a truly independent film,” he said. “This film was made on the blood, sweat, and tears of incredible indie artists.”
Also how cool that Flow won Latvia’s first Oscar, for Best Animated Feature! It was made entirely in Blender, which is free and open-source software, for just $3 million. There’s no dialogue… Just a moving parable that follows a Cat surviving a flood.
The film reminded me of my Cat, Dino, who passed away while I was living in The Netherlands. I really felt like I was watching a reincarnation of Dino shepherd me through a story about life’s constant change and movement:
The Lighthouse Is Growing!
Case in point: The evolution of this publication, The Lighthouse.
Since launching last fall, it’s grown into something bigger than I first imagined. What we’re building here is more than a newsletter.
It’s a gathering place for all 15K+ of us to connect… To explore how stories shape us, and how we shape stories, through cinema, travel, and our day-to-day lives.
Stories aren’t just entertainment - they’re how we make sense of the world. Historian Yuval Noah Harari describes them as humanity’s “superpower”.
They help us navigate change, uncertainty, and transformation.
And they’re meant to be experienced together.
Think about the last time you watched a great film… The urge you had to discuss it. Or when something remarkable happened in your life - a trip you took, an explosive sunset you saw, a creative breakthrough you achieved - the desire you felt to share it.
Which is why I’m creating more opportunities for us to meet, learn from each other, and exchange ideas - maybe even in-person one day.
For now, it’s happening online through interactive events, including:
🎬 Our Movie Club for live film discussions.
✍️ Guided writing exercises to strengthen your storytelling.
🔥 Conversation prompts to spark your creativity, cultivate your curiosity, and broaden your thinking.
How to Connect
As a platform, Substack makes these connections possible.
It’s about more than sending you emails - it’s where we can actually talk.
With tools like Chat, Notes (where I share additional content), and even live video, Substack turns The Lighthouse into a space for real conversations.
That’s far more meaningful to me than just a one-way newsletter! I don’t just want to share my thoughts on story. I want to learn from yours. I miss the community spirit that infused Lights Film School, and I’m keen to bring it back even better.
💬 You can read The Lighthouse in your inbox or on the web, but if you want to connect more deeply, the easiest way is to join us in the Substack app:
It’s quick, it’s free, and it makes it easy to connect with each other.
So come pull up a chair!
Let’s swap great stories - and inspire each other to live them.
Woah, haven’t seen it yet, but I had no idea it was done in Blender!!
woohoo for substack! also Dino was the cutest🥹🐈⬛♥️