Research

The research for the documentary is really coming along and I am only excited to learn more. The story behind Heavenly Mountain is more complicated then I thought it would be. At first I was worried that we wouldn't be able to talk to anyone who knew the real story. All the information online was so jumbled and limited. Then I got in touch with Joe Furman, the director of the Watauga County Planning and Inspections Department, and he gave me a much clearer explanation. He was involved in the resort's entire planning process, since 1993. He provided me with maps and several files. Joe Furman agreed to do an on-camera interview for us as well, so now we have our first key interview.

Katy and I have also discovered the file in the Appalachian Collections section of the library. There is an entire file of newspaper clippings with anything related to Heavenly Mountain, ranging from 1993 to today. We have been going through the clippings extensively and have been learning a lot about Transcendental Meditation and the Spiritual Center of America.

We need to figure out who our other key interviews will be for the project. I am hoping that we can get in touch with a former resident of the resort, when it was still the center of Transcendental Meditation. It would be really interesting to understand how it was to live there during the height of its time. Joe Furman told me that it was rumored that George Harrison visited the resort, he was an avid TM practitioner. It would have been awesome to live where a Beatle visited.