October 5, 2025 • 35 mins
The Sounds of Film features an interview with Jeremy Power Regimbal, director of Between the Mountain and the Sky, a powerful new documentary about humanitarian Maggie Doyne. The film follows Doyne’s journey from a young American traveler to the founder of a children’s home, school, and women’s center in Nepal. Her inspiring partnership with Tope, a Nepalese orphan, leads to global recognition when she is named CNN’s 2015 Hero of the Year, and the film explores both her triumphs and unimaginable losses with honesty and grace.
On October 9th, the Port Jefferson Documentary Film Series screens Between the Mountain and the Sky at The First United Methodist Church of Port Jefferson at 7 p.m. Following the screening, three Long Island high school students lead a special discussion on youth volunteerism and global citizenship. Advance tickets are $10 at humanitix.com.
The Sounds of Film is America’s longest-running film and music program, broadcasting for over 35 years on WUSB Stony Brook and streaming worldwide. Past guests include Alec Baldwin, Billy Joel, Dionne Warwick, Chuck D, and Rory Kennedy.
The Sounds of Film interview with Jeremy Power Regimbal is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi, this is Tom Needham and you are listening to the sounds of
film. On October 9th, the Port
Jefferson documentary film series will be screening Between
the Mountain and the Sky, a moving documentary about
humanitarian Maggie Doyne's extraordinary journey from an
American teenager on a gap year to the founder of a thriving
(00:24):
orphanage in school in Nepal. Directed by Jeremy Power
Regimball, the film captures both the triumphs and challenges
of dedicating one's life to others.
Jeremy, thank you so much for joining us on The Sounds of
Film. Thanks for having me, yeah.
Man, this is a powerful film. How did you first hear about
(00:46):
Maggie? Well, thank you.
I appreciate that. How did I first hear?
I mean, we had originally, we was a mutual friend.
I was directing commercials and a woman named Libby Delana that
I worked with in advertising wasalso on Maggie's board and I'd
(01:07):
heard her name through that. And then we ended up at this
kind of conference lectures thing called View Lectures,
which was had a vineyard in California and Maggie was
speaking and we just kind of hitit off as friends to start with.
And then, yeah, I mean, I, I, yeah.
I don't know how deep you want me to go into it, but but, yeah,
(01:29):
we, we met. We met there.
And then, I mean, it took us a while to kind of reconnect again
just because she lives in Nepal and her life is extremely busy.
And then the next time we meet is kind of where the film
portion starts. But yeah.
So you met her. What drew you though to making
this movie? What was it about her story that
fascinated you? It's interesting because I mean,
(01:54):
I've made other films where you're more pitching, you know,
pitching a film and trying to raise money and creating decks
and this just wasn't really likethat.
This was a very organic thing that happened.
I was maybe we're very good friends and I started to, you
know, fall in love with Maggie, but she was also going through
one of the darkest, hardest times of her life.
(02:15):
She had just had like, you know,the worst tragedy that could
happen to anyone just happened. And that was kind of when our
relationship started. And so I, to be honest, at the
beginning, I, I, I felt weird about the idea about filming
anything. But I had a really good friend
who pushed me and was like, I think what you're going through
is really going to resonate withpeople.
And he convinced both of us thatwe should film it.
(02:38):
And Eric too is his name. And so that kind of that kind of
what is what started it. And then it started just as kind
of like these almost therapy sessions, these long drives
together. And we did a lot of Rd. trips
and conversations together. But then as I got into it, I
mean, just the questions of the power of love to heal, whether
it was our love together or, youknow, her love for her children
(03:00):
and just kind of seeing that first hand.
The first one with back to Nepalwas a big life changing moment.
And and I think another questionthat kind of just came down my
mind over and over that kept me going over, you know, 10 years
I've been working on this film. It's just the idea of like, what
does it mean to be a family? I, I came from a family of five
(03:21):
or six siblings, which in my mind was a big family.
And coming into the coming into this family where there's like
at at the time when I got there,there was 150 fifty kids living
in the home all under like 17 years old.
And I expected this kind of chaos.
Wild times, but I got there and it was actually much more.
(03:42):
It's like this its own little society that they had created
and it was just so loving and beautiful.
And I just think, you know, I think my big motivation was I
was in love with Maggie. But I also felt that if I could
capture and tell the story to the world that it could help
people just even, you know, whatever they're going through
(04:03):
doesn't have to be something as big as what Maggie was going
through. But even just on a day-to-day
basis, we were just like, if this could inspire people to
love more or, you know, give, give hope and give hope a chance
in your life, which seems to be hard these days sometimes.
So but yeah, that's kind of keptme going.
But it was, I mean, at the beginning, if someone had told
me it was going to be a 10 year journey, I've heard a laugh at
(04:25):
them. I thought I was just going to go
over there the first time and, like, make a little short piece
for them and capture this. There was this, like, special
moment of all the older kids were about to move out of the
house and Maggie really wanted me to, you know, just capture
that for them. So they always had it, and
that's how it started. And then, yeah, I mean, I kept
coming back and forth through over 10 years.
(04:46):
So it was. That's pretty incredible.
Now, Maggie's story has been told and I'm familiar with her
story, but I, I just realized maybe there are some listeners
who are not that familiar with her story.
Can you just give us like a quick summary of of what the
general person should know abouther and then why you decided
(05:07):
that there was still more that needed to be told?
Yeah, probably. I mean, I think the story that's
in the media quite often with Maggie is that it's like this an
18 year old girl from New Jerseyended up in Nepal in a gap year.
She fell in love with the country.
She met Toph, who's now her Co founder, who was a young orphan
(05:30):
that was taking care of orphan children there.
And so this 18 year old girl dropped everything, spent her
$5000 of babysitting money and partnered with Toph, her Co
founder. And they started at home for
children and that morphed into awomen's center and a school.
And they've like now now like Fast forward 20 years, they were
(05:51):
just awarded like the CNN heroes.
They have won the greenest school on earth.
So I feel like that's the kind of the simplified story that was
often in the media where it's like an 18 year old girl goes to
Nepal and saves hundreds. But I kind of wanted to dive a
little deeper behind that and also just show I I just saw how
(06:14):
hard she worked and, and all themental health and struggles that
came along with this journey shechose.
And so I kind of wanted to go below the surface.
And so the film doesn't do a lotof the IT doesn't maybe tell
every detail of the charity. You know, I really didn't want
it to feel like there was like an ad or a commercial or their
(06:34):
organization, because I feel like that's that's already out
there. I wanted to really focus on the
human story, which I felt like was also relatable to others,
where everyone can relate to grief, everyone can relate to,
you know, being afraid to go allin on something.
And so I kind of wanted to focuson on that more.
And it just again, again, a lot of it was just something that
(06:57):
just happened so organically. Wasn't wasn't like a big master
plan. I was just a filmmaker and I've
I've been like filming everything in my life since I
was a child. That's just what I've done.
That's all I've ever done. And so it just kind of happened
naturally and I just was lucky enough to have great people
around me that I trusted to kindof guide and mentor me to keep
(07:18):
going so. Why do you think it's important
for someone who's so well known as a humanitarian for us to
learn that even someone like that struggles and has ups and
downs? Why is that important for us to
to learn about? Well, I think I think people
(07:39):
often see her story in a headline and it feels almost
like superhero ish or like unattainable or like she must
have rich parents or she must have this, she must have that.
And I think people kind of let themselves off the hook like
that. In some ways.
They're like she had some special upbringing.
But I think I mean, once you meet Maggie, she's just, you
(08:02):
know, I mean, she's an incredible human.
I love her and think she's very special.
But I do think there's a lot of things out about her that are
just very normal and relatable to everybody.
You know, she's just someone whohas a really big heart.
And I think that's important forpeople to see that you don't
have to be, you know, you don't have to have like rich parents
(08:22):
in a special upbringing or something to just, you know,
leave with your heart and try tomake a change in the world.
And I think our, our big missionwith this was, yeah, just to
inspire. You don't have to go 10,000
miles away with a backpack and leave everything your family to,
to do something. You can look in your community
or look in your family or in your relationship and just take
a step every day to make the world better.
(08:45):
Yeah. You mentioned earlier that you
came from a big family and that this movie is really about
family. It's really striking how she
takes on all of these kids and makes them part of her family.
It's it's quite a story. What was it that you'd like
(09:06):
people to take away from this film in terms of the idea of
family and what it can mean in in today's, you know, times?
Well, it's a big, it's a big question.
I mean, I think, you know, on the spot, if I could try boil it
(09:27):
down, the one thing I think the idea of that if we love all
children in the world as if they're our own, the world would
be a much different place. There wouldn't be war.
I mean, you couldn't bomb another place or attack another
place if if you were like if youlove children all over the world
as if they were your own. And I think I see Maggie and
(09:49):
Tope and their whole team doing that on a daily basis.
A child can come in there with the worst possible back story
you could ever imagine. And just they treat that child
just as the same as our biological children or anyone
else in our family. And I think that that alone is
(10:11):
just what will change the world.And I think that it's something
early on that Maggie said to me that really resonated with me
and kind of made me want to change everything.
My life was just this idea of ifwe, you know, love and care for
our children will change the world.
(10:32):
So tell me about how do you go into this film making experience
and you know there is this positive story that you want to
share with people, but at the same time there are some
tragedies that occur that must be difficult to balance in terms
(10:53):
of handling the personal aspect of it, but as well figuring out
how that fits into the story of the film.
What was your philosophy about that?
That, that was definitely one ofthe hardest things of all this,
especially the closer I got to all the children and Maggie, the
(11:20):
more vulnerability it felt to share all this stuff.
I don't know, it was, it was just, it was a fine line to
walk. I, I didn't want to share any of
the back stories of children under 18.
I wanted them to be able to kindof Maggie and I talked about
that early on that I could do whatever I wanted.
(11:40):
But that was the one thing that we both agreed on.
If it counts under 18, we don't want facts about why they ended
up in the home or their childhood to come out without
them deciding to. So I mean, there was that kind
of hard line and then the rest of it was very just nuanced and
kind of navigating as I as I went.
But I think Maggie was very brave and allowing me to be
(12:04):
just, you know, obviously we're,we're in love.
We're now married, we have children.
So like this full access, it wasn't like a filmmaker going in
and showing up, you know, once aweek.
So I have thousands and thousands of hours of very
vulnerable, vulnerable and, you know, intimate stuff.
So it's so hard. But I also, I also felt, I mean,
(12:27):
I think a big problem with our world in general is social media
and how it, it kind of just shows the highlights and the,
you know, the, the best parts ofour life.
And I really didn't want that, this to feel like that.
I wanted it to feel brutally honest and just show, you know,
how hard it is for these children and how dark grief can
(12:51):
get. But I think, I think if people
can see that and say, oh, I relate to that, where if I had,
if I'd pulled back some punches and maybe made the grief not as
dark, then people could the going through something hard
could have easily been like, wow, I mean, what I went through
is much harder. So maybe I will never make it
back. I wanted to show and I don't
(13:12):
think I could even I don't thinkI even get a justice how hard
that was. I mean, it's something they
still struggle with. You know, grief never goes away.
And so I did. I just thought it was important
to be as raw and honest. And I also thought that since
then, because I'm married to her, there's going to be even
more scrutiny of like a whole, like that's not the true story.
So I wanted to make sure that I,you know, put as much raw as I
(13:36):
could be out there. But it was scary.
I mean, that was the scariest thing about making this and
putting it out there. It's one thing to be like
editing and, you know, there waslike a small handful of five or
six people that had seen different versions as it went
through. And then you get to that point
where once it plays its first festival and plays in its first,
you know, theatrical premiere and stuff like that, that it's
(13:57):
like, oh, now it's it's out there.
So it's it was terrifying for sure.
But I mean, just seeing everyone's reactions so far as
just it is just been kind of filled my soul up and just
hearing, you know, like the 75 year old man say, I haven't
cried in 30 or 40 years. That just changed my whole life.
(14:18):
I want to live differently. And then hearing this, hearing
the same thing from like someonewho's like 14 or 15 that that
they really needed this. Like all of our, all of our
generations is in this like trying to, you know, identify
with being really sad and hopeless and like it just like
really dark things that they're going through with social media
(14:40):
and all they see is like hate and bad things on the Internet.
And then seeing this and seeing hope and like being able to feel
hopeful even no matter what they're going through.
So that that's been really inspiring and kind of made,
made, made it feel it was all worth it.
Because I kind of, I mean, I literally dropped everything in
my life for, for 10 years. I was like, you know, I, I grew
(15:03):
up in a tiny small town in the middle of Canada.
And the idea of like living in Los Angeles and directing big
budget commercials or like Nike and, you know, credit card
company stuff was like, like, I was like, I had made it.
I made it. And then and then to be, to be
like, I just, I realized I couldn't do both.
(15:24):
So I quit that and for like 10 years I worked on this film that
was so intimate and like felt impossible that, you know, no
one's going to want to watch this.
It's too. And you know, if you do this,
it's too that and all those thoughts that go with maybe
anything. So, yeah, I mean, it's been this
last year, it's been really magical and like kind of, you
(15:44):
know, I think that's just the biggest lesson I've learned.
If anybody is out there has something that seems like seems
scary, but you really believe init, I think it's definitely
worth it to do it because no matter what happens, I I knew
that this was something that even if nobody watched it, it
was something that I really believed in.
(16:04):
And it was, you know, hearing Maggie at the end say that it
was actually really therapeutic for her to share it with people.
And each time she shares it withsomeone, it feels like there's
other people carrying that burden and that energy with her.
And I mean, that's kind of made it all worth it.
So. Yeah.
Well, I maybe I should have madeit more clear to our listeners,
(16:25):
but you kind of have explained it.
Jeremy has a relationship with Maggie.
And you said your story is actually told through this film.
And over the course of the 10 years when you were making it,
you grew closer. And did you ever imagine that
you would end up as part of the story yourself?
(16:48):
Definitely not in the beginning.I mean, I mean, it's, it's like
any relationship or documentary or anything that you never know.
I mean, that's the magic of loveand that's the magic of
documentary filmmaking. Why I love it as you never
really know if you're truly justmaking a better take on a style
documentary. You don't know where it's going
to go. And like the best documentaries
(17:10):
out there in my mind are the ones that started one way and
then something crazy happens andthat whole thing changes.
And so I, I had no idea at the beginning.
I mean, I did know that. I mean, I felt the film aside, I
felt like a connection I've never felt with someone.
So I, Maggie and I really early on, I think both felt we had
(17:34):
found our partner in person. And that's why we took the risk
of, you know, me going back to Nepal because I mean, me going
and meeting the kids and coming back to Nepal, especially at
that time was no, no small feat for sure.
But we felt really good about it.
And then honestly, the first time we went back there, I was
just like the, I was the friend that was a filmmaker, which
there's a joke in the film wherethey say brought him, brought
(17:56):
back a fan friend, turned out tobe a lover.
But but yeah, I mean, no, I had no, I had no idea.
I mean, I, I honestly thought the first time I went over, my
brother came with me. It was just the two of us and I
just, I, I just wanted one of the person there just because I
wasn't sure what I was getting into, like how much grief and
(18:18):
sadness and all this there was going to be.
And I didn't want to be just like, I wanted to be there for
the Maggie and the kids and not just be holding a camera
pointing at them. So I brought my brother with me
and he's a cinematographer. And I think that first trip we
didn't know. We're just kind of like, oh,
maybe we'll go once and make theshort thing and then just, yeah,
it just kept going and going. And then, I mean, after a year
or two, we did like this. We did a Kickstarter that did
(18:41):
really well. I think like 18 million people
or some crazy amount. It was shared out of control and
it was so good for the charity. And that kind of like was like,
OK, we're we're on to something here.
I should keep going. And honestly, I was looking for,
I think I was at a point in my like commercial career and
(19:01):
advertising that and it was going pretty well.
We were getting jobs, which was great.
But I, I just didn't feel very like fulfilled and satisfied.
And I felt like I wanted to do, I was kind of looking for a
switch in the, in that, in the creative world ANYWAYS.
So it's like this came and foundme and I was just like, OK, here
(19:22):
we go. Yeah, there's always a question
I hear from talking to film makers in terms of objectivity
when making a documentary. And as you grew closer to
Maggie, did you have any fear that that could influence like
the final product of the film? Like what were the the pros in
(19:45):
terms of your growing relationship and and were there
any negatives in terms of makinga film and being so close to
someone? I mean, I mean that is obviously
I think every. I think it's pretty hard for any
film or filmmaker to stay completely neutral.
If you're spending years and years with someone, you're going
(20:08):
to develop some sort of relationship with the subject,
whether that's just a friend or filmmaker rich relationship.
But this is obviously a very extreme, extreme scenario for
that. I think what makes the film
special and unique is it, it is because our love and closeness.
(20:29):
I, I think a million, a million other film makers could have
went and made a film that is, you know, completely neutral,
stayed outside the story and told that, you know, the, the
history and the bigger picture and done, done that.
But I think what to me, what makes this unique is how close
(20:49):
and intimate I, I am in the family.
Like we were there, you know, the cinematographer who came on
to the project after the first shoot, Robert Mentoff.
He, he, he was in Nepal for like3 or 4 years.
So he also became like a Big Brother to the kids.
But it also brought this magic feeling of like, like most of
(21:11):
the kids, all they ever knew me,I, I had a camera from the first
time I made all of them. So it's like it was just this
very natural thing. But yeah, of course, of course.
I mean, there's, I would be lying.
Anybody would be lying to say that.
Oh, no, like my relationship didn't change anything.
But I also was like very cautious of that.
I think if anything, I probably put more real raw stuff in
(21:35):
because I was so worried about people, you know, being like,
oh, you weren't being true and unbiased and stuff like that.
But but yeah, I mean, at the endof the day, it's obviously any
any film. It's impossible to remain
completely neutral. And then this was a scenario
that, you know, these are peoplethat I, I love.
And so it was, it was really, itwas really hard for sure, but.
(21:57):
Can you tell me about your feelings about the kids as the
years went on? My feelings for the kids yeah, I
mean, I mean, I I fell in love with the kids thing the very
first time I went there and I think that's a big part of the
reason that kept me going. Obviously my love for Maggie,
but I mean, like the children are just so special and I just,
(22:20):
I love kids in general, obviously, or else I wouldn't
worked out. But but I mean, yeah.
I mean, I think the first littlebit it was, you know, you're
just like observing. And then as you get further into
it, I remember, I remember beinga few trips because at the
beginning I was just going therefor two or three weeks, come
back working commercials, try tomake more money.
(22:42):
And I was just pumping my own money into this to make it
happen. So I was going back and forth
and, and it was very just, you know, circus level.
I was trying to get attached to the kids.
But then eventually a couple of years into it, I started being
there, you know, full time trying to be there, you know,
between, you know, 7 to 10 months of the year, depending
what was happening in our lives and families and that.
(23:05):
And so I obviously created a really big bond with them,
especially the new kids that arecoming in.
You know, it's there's like at the beginning there, there's all
these teenagers and I feel like I love them all and it's so much
and whatever they want to, you know, call me or label me as
that's, that's their decision. But I mean, I felt like IA lot
(23:27):
of times I in the house, I'm like the fun guy.
So I end up being like, because there's like a team of parents
there. I want to make that clear.
It's not like, it's not like it's just me and Maggie there.
There's a whole team of guardians and aunties and uncles
and people working together. That's the whole magic of this
community. But but yeah, I mean, the older
kids, I when I came in, a lot ofthem were teenagers.
(23:50):
So we have a really good bond. And I feel like they call on me
for Maggie always jokes that they call on me for like
relationship advice and they they call on her for like when
something really complicated or crazy happens.
And then taupe. Taupe is like that Maggie's
partners like the he gets the call when when something really
crazy happens, like someone's inreal trouble, right?
(24:14):
They're like taupe save me. But yeah, I mean, I mean, I, I
it's just magic. I mean, you don't think that you
can love that many people I think in your life.
And that's what I've learned through Maggie and the kids, is
that that love is this infinite resource.
And the more you give it, I thought the more the more you
get. And it's been really special
since all those older kids have moved out.
(24:34):
There's been, I think we're we're at like 93 children now
that have either came through the house or living in the house
now. So this whole new group of 40
kids that are young and it came into the house since in my
lifetime in the in the home. So there's this whole new family
that's not even in the documentary that I I feel really
(24:55):
bonded to because a lot of them I met some of them that you
know, you know, 3 weeks old or six months old or three years
old and they, they've came in and that, you know, I've been
with them for 10 years and seen them grow up.
So it's pretty magical. It's also, I think just scary
being that attached to that manypeople, no matter what the
situation. You know, it's like the more
(25:15):
people you attach your heart andlove to, the more, you know,
chance you have of pain. And I think that's just like a
something that you battle with in in that scenario that that's
hard. Yeah, and you capture that so
well in the film. Listen, this is not in the movie
at all. And I I did not research it.
(25:37):
I'm I'm just kind of curious. One, one of the big things in
the news the past year was all the controversy around funding
of USAID and I I would hear about different charities around
the world being affected and also film makers in some cases.
So I was wondering if you had any perspective or first hand
(26:00):
knowledge of any of the results of the cutting of funds to US
AID either as a film maker or interms of of some of the stuff
that you've maybe seen over there?
I feel like Maggie would definitely be a better person to
answer that I because she's muchmore involved in that.
(26:21):
But I mean, from my limited, limited knowledge of it, when we
were in Nepal, we saw a lot of alot of people losing their jobs
that are, they're doing, you know, really beautiful things to
help other humans. And I think that was just sad.
You know, there was pretty instant and quick that there was
all these different. They've either lost their
(26:43):
funding or they're a government organization that's over there
trying to help. And they've all been kind of
shut down from what I can see. So that side of it's pretty,
pretty sad. I mean, we've been lucky that
we, we find a way to keep going with the film and with, with the
charity and everything. But but yeah, I don't, I don't
(27:04):
know if I'm the the best person to, to speak to that, but I but
I definitely, we could feel it and, and see it over there.
And it's just like things like, you know, vaccination clinics
and all sorts of things that just to help help people survive
and live that the funding disappeared.
And that's, that's pretty sad. But yeah, well, one of the
(27:26):
things that you captured so wellin the film is that on one hand,
you know, throughout her life, Maggie was, you know, like a
mother to these kids. But on the other hand, she's
running this incredible organization.
And I'm just wondering now, like, how do the two of you
(27:46):
juggle everything? It must be even more
complicated. You have your filmmaking career
and and she's doing that. And what's going on with the two
of you right now? Yes, it's very complicated for
sure. I mean, I think for the first
while, especially while I was filming the documentary, I was
just kind of going wherever Maggie was and it was like this
(28:09):
dream scenario. And I don't know if I'll ever
get that as a film maker. It's like I was traveling and
living with someone I love and filming my our children and our
family and it was really magical.
And then I mean, our life is complicated no matter, no matter
how you do it. My family lives in Canada,
(28:29):
Maggie's is in the US and we have our Nepal family.
And Maggie needs to be in Nepal,her work, but she also needs to
be in the US and the Netherlandsand Canada and fundraising all
over the world. So she alone has a very
complicated life. And then you added, you added me
who I I kind of stepped back andwas being the, you know,
(28:56):
whatever you want to call it, the, the parents with our our
children's, the two biological children we have.
But I was also making this film and I was able to do that
remotely. And then now since it came out
in the film festivals and touring, Megan, I kind of need
to be at most of those things together.
So it's been a lot. I mean, we've been on the road
constantly since May of 2024 wasthe first festival.
(29:22):
And so we're already normally traveling a lot.
And you Add all that in and it'sbeen really, yeah, it's been
complicated. But we've also, I've just been
trying to be really grateful andremind myself this is what I
wanted to happen because it's easy to get like overwhelmed and
be like, well, this is insane. What did we get ourselves into?
But but yeah, I mean, I think, Ithink it's, it's been great and
(29:44):
it's been really beautiful to beable to do it together.
And yeah, I'm just trying to figure out what's, I'm still
continuing to push this out intothe world because we're doing
like our own kind of hybrid selfrelease, which takes a lot of
energy and it really relies on other people watching the film
and telling others. So there, there's a lot of that.
That's kind of like a full time job.
(30:05):
I've had to learn a new career of being a distributor rather
than a filmmaker the last two years, which it seems like it's
starting to go really well now. I'm excited.
But then, I mean, Maggie's job alone is, you know, should take
a few people to do it. So yeah.
But it's, I mean, I mean, we're also, we're also, I think it's
easy to get caught up in that. But we're also, I think, very
(30:27):
lucky to be able to do the stuffthat we do.
Filmmaking is like my passion. And nothing makes me happier in
the world than making making films.
And then Maggie's also doing something that she loves, is
passionate about. But yeah, I mean, as our kids
get older, it's going to get more and more complicated with
(30:47):
all the the travels. But luck, luckily enough, like
in Nepal, we have a really greatschool there.
So when we're there with our twobiological children, they go to
school with everyone else. And it's like children's
paradise in so many ways. And we're just about to, we're
actually going back to Nepal in a few days.
We start our tour, we're going to do a little U.S. tour and
(31:10):
then we go back to Nepal and there's a new, a new children's
home that Maggie and Tope and their team have been working on
for, you know, four or five years building this beautiful
round earth children's school ornot children's school, sorry,
children's home next to the school.
And that's going to be really cool because it's this
incredible property that they purchased a long time ago and
(31:33):
it's up in the mountains and back into a National Forest.
And they built, they built the school few years ago.
And then they've been working really hard on moving the home
up there as well. And there's going to be a
library and, you know, all the offices, everything's been, it's
one beautiful property. And that's going to be a big
game changer just because it's just a children's Wonderland up
there. The original home that they
(31:55):
built, you know, 20 years ago, they told her each put $5000 in
it was this tiny little propertyand they built it just with
nothing. It's like, you know, they
literally built one room and they added a room on top of it
and they added a room on top of.And that's what they did
forever. And then so this, this is kind
of in their dream the whole timelong was to build this, you
(32:15):
know, big, beautiful green campus.
And that original home has like,circuit where we live has became
the capital of that area. And it's really busy.
And there's not a lot of development laws there,
unfortunately. So I mean, it developed really
fast and we've kind of lost our nature around her.
So that's the kind of big thing right now.
(32:36):
I mean, our main focus besides releasing the film is Maggie is
getting ready to move everyone in there and get back there.
And we're doing like a big grandopening party in October that's
happening. And a bunch of the donors and
people make it happen are coming.
So it's. Yeah, it's pretty special time.
It feels like life is like this really good right now, yeah.
(32:58):
Well, Jeremy, I'm so inspired byyour story as I I imagine
everybody is who sees this movie.
If people want to learn more about your film as well as the
work that the two of you are doing, where are some of the
places online that people can go?
Yeah, for sure. If you want to, if you want to
learn more about the film, the film is called Between the
(33:21):
Mountain and the Sky. So you can just go to the
website, which is between the mountain and the sky.com or just
between themountain.com. Both go to the same place.
And on there, every every month we announce a window where
people can rent the film. And we also have a list of
places it's screening on there. And then if you've watched the
film and you liked it, the biggest thing with that you can
(33:43):
do to help us is just tell otherpeople we don't have, you know,
the big streamer money behind us.
So it's all like grassroots and impact screenings and hosting
screenings. So we've had some really pretty
cool things. I mean, like, there's like one
organization right now in the fall, American Film Society,
that's doing a whole series of screenings across the US They
(34:07):
just approached us and they werehelping them fundraise for their
charity. And then some of the money goes
to the film and to our charity as well.
So yeah, it's just a big grassroots movement.
So between themountain.com and then for the charity, it's
called Blink Now. So blinknow.org, you can follow
along on there. I've actually over the 10 years
made a bunch of other short films that are on there that
(34:28):
dive a little deeper into the more you know that, you know,
they're kind of like advertisements or explain how
the organization works. All the stuff that I kind of
left out of the film is all up there.
And that is completely run by donations.
So even even if you're able to give like a dollar or two a
month, that makes all the difference.
And that's what keeps all this going.
(34:49):
So yeah. Or, or, you know, Maggie doing
or my name is Jeremy Pyragon Ball.
You can follow along on social media and we post everything
we're doing on there so. Well, Jeremy, it's incredible.
I love this movie between the mountain and the sky.
And I want to remind everyone that if you're local and you're
living on Long Island, you mightwant to go see the screening at
(35:11):
the Port Jefferson Documentary Film Series on October 9th.
Jeremy, it's such a pleasure to meet you and thank you for
coming on The Sounds of Film. Thanks so much for having me, I
really appreciate it.
Hi, this is Tom Needham and you are listening to the sounds of
film. On October 9th, the Port
Jefferson documentary film series will be screening Between
the Mountain and the Sky, a moving documentary about
humanitarian Maggie Doyne's extraordinary journey from an
American teenager on a gap year to the founder of a thriving
(00:24):
orphanage in school in Nepal. Directed by Jeremy Power
Regimball, the film captures both the triumphs and challenges
of dedicating one's life to others.
Jeremy, thank you so much for joining us on The Sounds of
Film. Thanks for having me, yeah.
Man, this is a powerful film. How did you first hear about
(00:46):
Maggie? Well, thank you.
I appreciate that. How did I first hear?
I mean, we had originally, we was a mutual friend.
I was directing commercials and a woman named Libby Delana that
I worked with in advertising wasalso on Maggie's board and I'd
(01:07):
heard her name through that. And then we ended up at this
kind of conference lectures thing called View Lectures,
which was had a vineyard in California and Maggie was
speaking and we just kind of hitit off as friends to start with.
And then, yeah, I mean, I, I, yeah.
I don't know how deep you want me to go into it, but but, yeah,
(01:29):
we, we met. We met there.
And then, I mean, it took us a while to kind of reconnect again
just because she lives in Nepal and her life is extremely busy.
And then the next time we meet is kind of where the film
portion starts. But yeah.
So you met her. What drew you though to making
this movie? What was it about her story that
fascinated you? It's interesting because I mean,
(01:54):
I've made other films where you're more pitching, you know,
pitching a film and trying to raise money and creating decks
and this just wasn't really likethat.
This was a very organic thing that happened.
I was maybe we're very good friends and I started to, you
know, fall in love with Maggie, but she was also going through
one of the darkest, hardest times of her life.
(02:15):
She had just had like, you know,the worst tragedy that could
happen to anyone just happened. And that was kind of when our
relationship started. And so I, to be honest, at the
beginning, I, I, I felt weird about the idea about filming
anything. But I had a really good friend
who pushed me and was like, I think what you're going through
is really going to resonate withpeople.
And he convinced both of us thatwe should film it.
(02:38):
And Eric too is his name. And so that kind of that kind of
what is what started it. And then it started just as kind
of like these almost therapy sessions, these long drives
together. And we did a lot of Rd. trips
and conversations together. But then as I got into it, I
mean, just the questions of the power of love to heal, whether
it was our love together or, youknow, her love for her children
(03:00):
and just kind of seeing that first hand.
The first one with back to Nepalwas a big life changing moment.
And and I think another questionthat kind of just came down my
mind over and over that kept me going over, you know, 10 years
I've been working on this film. It's just the idea of like, what
does it mean to be a family? I, I came from a family of five
(03:21):
or six siblings, which in my mind was a big family.
And coming into the coming into this family where there's like
at at the time when I got there,there was 150 fifty kids living
in the home all under like 17 years old.
And I expected this kind of chaos.
Wild times, but I got there and it was actually much more.
(03:42):
It's like this its own little society that they had created
and it was just so loving and beautiful.
And I just think, you know, I think my big motivation was I
was in love with Maggie. But I also felt that if I could
capture and tell the story to the world that it could help
people just even, you know, whatever they're going through
(04:03):
doesn't have to be something as big as what Maggie was going
through. But even just on a day-to-day
basis, we were just like, if this could inspire people to
love more or, you know, give, give hope and give hope a chance
in your life, which seems to be hard these days sometimes.
So but yeah, that's kind of keptme going.
But it was, I mean, at the beginning, if someone had told
me it was going to be a 10 year journey, I've heard a laugh at
(04:25):
them. I thought I was just going to go
over there the first time and, like, make a little short piece
for them and capture this. There was this, like, special
moment of all the older kids were about to move out of the
house and Maggie really wanted me to, you know, just capture
that for them. So they always had it, and
that's how it started. And then, yeah, I mean, I kept
coming back and forth through over 10 years.
(04:46):
So it was. That's pretty incredible.
Now, Maggie's story has been told and I'm familiar with her
story, but I, I just realized maybe there are some listeners
who are not that familiar with her story.
Can you just give us like a quick summary of of what the
general person should know abouther and then why you decided
(05:07):
that there was still more that needed to be told?
Yeah, probably. I mean, I think the story that's
in the media quite often with Maggie is that it's like this an
18 year old girl from New Jerseyended up in Nepal in a gap year.
She fell in love with the country.
She met Toph, who's now her Co founder, who was a young orphan
(05:30):
that was taking care of orphan children there.
And so this 18 year old girl dropped everything, spent her
$5000 of babysitting money and partnered with Toph, her Co
founder. And they started at home for
children and that morphed into awomen's center and a school.
And they've like now now like Fast forward 20 years, they were
(05:51):
just awarded like the CNN heroes.
They have won the greenest school on earth.
So I feel like that's the kind of the simplified story that was
often in the media where it's like an 18 year old girl goes to
Nepal and saves hundreds. But I kind of wanted to dive a
little deeper behind that and also just show I I just saw how
(06:14):
hard she worked and, and all themental health and struggles that
came along with this journey shechose.
And so I kind of wanted to go below the surface.
And so the film doesn't do a lotof the IT doesn't maybe tell
every detail of the charity. You know, I really didn't want
it to feel like there was like an ad or a commercial or their
(06:34):
organization, because I feel like that's that's already out
there. I wanted to really focus on the
human story, which I felt like was also relatable to others,
where everyone can relate to grief, everyone can relate to,
you know, being afraid to go allin on something.
And so I kind of wanted to focuson on that more.
And it just again, again, a lot of it was just something that
(06:57):
just happened so organically. Wasn't wasn't like a big master
plan. I was just a filmmaker and I've
I've been like filming everything in my life since I
was a child. That's just what I've done.
That's all I've ever done. And so it just kind of happened
naturally and I just was lucky enough to have great people
around me that I trusted to kindof guide and mentor me to keep
(07:18):
going so. Why do you think it's important
for someone who's so well known as a humanitarian for us to
learn that even someone like that struggles and has ups and
downs? Why is that important for us to
to learn about? Well, I think I think people
(07:39):
often see her story in a headline and it feels almost
like superhero ish or like unattainable or like she must
have rich parents or she must have this, she must have that.
And I think people kind of let themselves off the hook like
that. In some ways.
They're like she had some special upbringing.
But I think I mean, once you meet Maggie, she's just, you
(08:02):
know, I mean, she's an incredible human.
I love her and think she's very special.
But I do think there's a lot of things out about her that are
just very normal and relatable to everybody.
You know, she's just someone whohas a really big heart.
And I think that's important forpeople to see that you don't
have to be, you know, you don't have to have like rich parents
(08:22):
in a special upbringing or something to just, you know,
leave with your heart and try tomake a change in the world.
And I think our, our big missionwith this was, yeah, just to
inspire. You don't have to go 10,000
miles away with a backpack and leave everything your family to,
to do something. You can look in your community
or look in your family or in your relationship and just take
a step every day to make the world better.
(08:45):
Yeah. You mentioned earlier that you
came from a big family and that this movie is really about
family. It's really striking how she
takes on all of these kids and makes them part of her family.
It's it's quite a story. What was it that you'd like
(09:06):
people to take away from this film in terms of the idea of
family and what it can mean in in today's, you know, times?
Well, it's a big, it's a big question.
I mean, I think, you know, on the spot, if I could try boil it
(09:27):
down, the one thing I think the idea of that if we love all
children in the world as if they're our own, the world would
be a much different place. There wouldn't be war.
I mean, you couldn't bomb another place or attack another
place if if you were like if youlove children all over the world
as if they were your own. And I think I see Maggie and
(09:49):
Tope and their whole team doing that on a daily basis.
A child can come in there with the worst possible back story
you could ever imagine. And just they treat that child
just as the same as our biological children or anyone
else in our family. And I think that that alone is
(10:11):
just what will change the world.And I think that it's something
early on that Maggie said to me that really resonated with me
and kind of made me want to change everything.
My life was just this idea of ifwe, you know, love and care for
our children will change the world.
(10:32):
So tell me about how do you go into this film making experience
and you know there is this positive story that you want to
share with people, but at the same time there are some
tragedies that occur that must be difficult to balance in terms
(10:53):
of handling the personal aspect of it, but as well figuring out
how that fits into the story of the film.
What was your philosophy about that?
That, that was definitely one ofthe hardest things of all this,
especially the closer I got to all the children and Maggie, the
(11:20):
more vulnerability it felt to share all this stuff.
I don't know, it was, it was just, it was a fine line to
walk. I, I didn't want to share any of
the back stories of children under 18.
I wanted them to be able to kindof Maggie and I talked about
that early on that I could do whatever I wanted.
(11:40):
But that was the one thing that we both agreed on.
If it counts under 18, we don't want facts about why they ended
up in the home or their childhood to come out without
them deciding to. So I mean, there was that kind
of hard line and then the rest of it was very just nuanced and
kind of navigating as I as I went.
But I think Maggie was very brave and allowing me to be
(12:04):
just, you know, obviously we're,we're in love.
We're now married, we have children.
So like this full access, it wasn't like a filmmaker going in
and showing up, you know, once aweek.
So I have thousands and thousands of hours of very
vulnerable, vulnerable and, you know, intimate stuff.
So it's so hard. But I also, I also felt, I mean,
(12:27):
I think a big problem with our world in general is social media
and how it, it kind of just shows the highlights and the,
you know, the, the best parts ofour life.
And I really didn't want that, this to feel like that.
I wanted it to feel brutally honest and just show, you know,
how hard it is for these children and how dark grief can
(12:51):
get. But I think, I think if people
can see that and say, oh, I relate to that, where if I had,
if I'd pulled back some punches and maybe made the grief not as
dark, then people could the going through something hard
could have easily been like, wow, I mean, what I went through
is much harder. So maybe I will never make it
back. I wanted to show and I don't
(13:12):
think I could even I don't thinkI even get a justice how hard
that was. I mean, it's something they
still struggle with. You know, grief never goes away.
And so I did. I just thought it was important
to be as raw and honest. And I also thought that since
then, because I'm married to her, there's going to be even
more scrutiny of like a whole, like that's not the true story.
So I wanted to make sure that I,you know, put as much raw as I
(13:36):
could be out there. But it was scary.
I mean, that was the scariest thing about making this and
putting it out there. It's one thing to be like
editing and, you know, there waslike a small handful of five or
six people that had seen different versions as it went
through. And then you get to that point
where once it plays its first festival and plays in its first,
you know, theatrical premiere and stuff like that, that it's
(13:57):
like, oh, now it's it's out there.
So it's it was terrifying for sure.
But I mean, just seeing everyone's reactions so far as
just it is just been kind of filled my soul up and just
hearing, you know, like the 75 year old man say, I haven't
cried in 30 or 40 years. That just changed my whole life.
(14:18):
I want to live differently. And then hearing this, hearing
the same thing from like someonewho's like 14 or 15 that that
they really needed this. Like all of our, all of our
generations is in this like trying to, you know, identify
with being really sad and hopeless and like it just like
really dark things that they're going through with social media
(14:40):
and all they see is like hate and bad things on the Internet.
And then seeing this and seeing hope and like being able to feel
hopeful even no matter what they're going through.
So that that's been really inspiring and kind of made,
made, made it feel it was all worth it.
Because I kind of, I mean, I literally dropped everything in
my life for, for 10 years. I was like, you know, I, I grew
(15:03):
up in a tiny small town in the middle of Canada.
And the idea of like living in Los Angeles and directing big
budget commercials or like Nike and, you know, credit card
company stuff was like, like, I was like, I had made it.
I made it. And then and then to be, to be
like, I just, I realized I couldn't do both.
(15:24):
So I quit that and for like 10 years I worked on this film that
was so intimate and like felt impossible that, you know, no
one's going to want to watch this.
It's too. And you know, if you do this,
it's too that and all those thoughts that go with maybe
anything. So, yeah, I mean, it's been this
last year, it's been really magical and like kind of, you
(15:44):
know, I think that's just the biggest lesson I've learned.
If anybody is out there has something that seems like seems
scary, but you really believe init, I think it's definitely
worth it to do it because no matter what happens, I I knew
that this was something that even if nobody watched it, it
was something that I really believed in.
(16:04):
And it was, you know, hearing Maggie at the end say that it
was actually really therapeutic for her to share it with people.
And each time she shares it withsomeone, it feels like there's
other people carrying that burden and that energy with her.
And I mean, that's kind of made it all worth it.
So. Yeah.
Well, I maybe I should have madeit more clear to our listeners,
(16:25):
but you kind of have explained it.
Jeremy has a relationship with Maggie.
And you said your story is actually told through this film.
And over the course of the 10 years when you were making it,
you grew closer. And did you ever imagine that
you would end up as part of the story yourself?
(16:48):
Definitely not in the beginning.I mean, I mean, it's, it's like
any relationship or documentary or anything that you never know.
I mean, that's the magic of loveand that's the magic of
documentary filmmaking. Why I love it as you never
really know if you're truly justmaking a better take on a style
documentary. You don't know where it's going
to go. And like the best documentaries
(17:10):
out there in my mind are the ones that started one way and
then something crazy happens andthat whole thing changes.
And so I, I had no idea at the beginning.
I mean, I did know that. I mean, I felt the film aside, I
felt like a connection I've never felt with someone.
So I, Maggie and I really early on, I think both felt we had
(17:34):
found our partner in person. And that's why we took the risk
of, you know, me going back to Nepal because I mean, me going
and meeting the kids and coming back to Nepal, especially at
that time was no, no small feat for sure.
But we felt really good about it.
And then honestly, the first time we went back there, I was
just like the, I was the friend that was a filmmaker, which
there's a joke in the film wherethey say brought him, brought
(17:56):
back a fan friend, turned out tobe a lover.
But but yeah, I mean, no, I had no, I had no idea.
I mean, I, I honestly thought the first time I went over, my
brother came with me. It was just the two of us and I
just, I, I just wanted one of the person there just because I
wasn't sure what I was getting into, like how much grief and
(18:18):
sadness and all this there was going to be.
And I didn't want to be just like, I wanted to be there for
the Maggie and the kids and not just be holding a camera
pointing at them. So I brought my brother with me
and he's a cinematographer. And I think that first trip we
didn't know. We're just kind of like, oh,
maybe we'll go once and make theshort thing and then just, yeah,
it just kept going and going. And then, I mean, after a year
or two, we did like this. We did a Kickstarter that did
(18:41):
really well. I think like 18 million people
or some crazy amount. It was shared out of control and
it was so good for the charity. And that kind of like was like,
OK, we're we're on to something here.
I should keep going. And honestly, I was looking for,
I think I was at a point in my like commercial career and
(19:01):
advertising that and it was going pretty well.
We were getting jobs, which was great.
But I, I just didn't feel very like fulfilled and satisfied.
And I felt like I wanted to do, I was kind of looking for a
switch in the, in that, in the creative world ANYWAYS.
So it's like this came and foundme and I was just like, OK, here
(19:22):
we go. Yeah, there's always a question
I hear from talking to film makers in terms of objectivity
when making a documentary. And as you grew closer to
Maggie, did you have any fear that that could influence like
the final product of the film? Like what were the the pros in
(19:45):
terms of your growing relationship and and were there
any negatives in terms of makinga film and being so close to
someone? I mean, I mean that is obviously
I think every. I think it's pretty hard for any
film or filmmaker to stay completely neutral.
If you're spending years and years with someone, you're going
(20:08):
to develop some sort of relationship with the subject,
whether that's just a friend or filmmaker rich relationship.
But this is obviously a very extreme, extreme scenario for
that. I think what makes the film
special and unique is it, it is because our love and closeness.
(20:29):
I, I think a million, a million other film makers could have
went and made a film that is, you know, completely neutral,
stayed outside the story and told that, you know, the, the
history and the bigger picture and done, done that.
But I think what to me, what makes this unique is how close
(20:49):
and intimate I, I am in the family.
Like we were there, you know, the cinematographer who came on
to the project after the first shoot, Robert Mentoff.
He, he, he was in Nepal for like3 or 4 years.
So he also became like a Big Brother to the kids.
But it also brought this magic feeling of like, like most of
(21:11):
the kids, all they ever knew me,I, I had a camera from the first
time I made all of them. So it's like it was just this
very natural thing. But yeah, of course, of course.
I mean, there's, I would be lying.
Anybody would be lying to say that.
Oh, no, like my relationship didn't change anything.
But I also was like very cautious of that.
I think if anything, I probably put more real raw stuff in
(21:35):
because I was so worried about people, you know, being like,
oh, you weren't being true and unbiased and stuff like that.
But but yeah, I mean, at the endof the day, it's obviously any
any film. It's impossible to remain
completely neutral. And then this was a scenario
that, you know, these are peoplethat I, I love.
And so it was, it was really, itwas really hard for sure, but.
(21:57):
Can you tell me about your feelings about the kids as the
years went on? My feelings for the kids yeah, I
mean, I mean, I I fell in love with the kids thing the very
first time I went there and I think that's a big part of the
reason that kept me going. Obviously my love for Maggie,
but I mean, like the children are just so special and I just,
(22:20):
I love kids in general, obviously, or else I wouldn't
worked out. But but I mean, yeah.
I mean, I think the first littlebit it was, you know, you're
just like observing. And then as you get further into
it, I remember, I remember beinga few trips because at the
beginning I was just going therefor two or three weeks, come
back working commercials, try tomake more money.
(22:42):
And I was just pumping my own money into this to make it
happen. So I was going back and forth
and, and it was very just, you know, circus level.
I was trying to get attached to the kids.
But then eventually a couple of years into it, I started being
there, you know, full time trying to be there, you know,
between, you know, 7 to 10 months of the year, depending
what was happening in our lives and families and that.
(23:05):
And so I obviously created a really big bond with them,
especially the new kids that arecoming in.
You know, it's there's like at the beginning there, there's all
these teenagers and I feel like I love them all and it's so much
and whatever they want to, you know, call me or label me as
that's, that's their decision. But I mean, I felt like IA lot
(23:27):
of times I in the house, I'm like the fun guy.
So I end up being like, because there's like a team of parents
there. I want to make that clear.
It's not like, it's not like it's just me and Maggie there.
There's a whole team of guardians and aunties and uncles
and people working together. That's the whole magic of this
community. But but yeah, I mean, the older
kids, I when I came in, a lot ofthem were teenagers.
(23:50):
So we have a really good bond. And I feel like they call on me
for Maggie always jokes that they call on me for like
relationship advice and they they call on her for like when
something really complicated or crazy happens.
And then taupe. Taupe is like that Maggie's
partners like the he gets the call when when something really
crazy happens, like someone's inreal trouble, right?
(24:14):
They're like taupe save me. But yeah, I mean, I mean, I, I
it's just magic. I mean, you don't think that you
can love that many people I think in your life.
And that's what I've learned through Maggie and the kids, is
that that love is this infinite resource.
And the more you give it, I thought the more the more you
get. And it's been really special
since all those older kids have moved out.
(24:34):
There's been, I think we're we're at like 93 children now
that have either came through the house or living in the house
now. So this whole new group of 40
kids that are young and it came into the house since in my
lifetime in the in the home. So there's this whole new family
that's not even in the documentary that I I feel really
(24:55):
bonded to because a lot of them I met some of them that you
know, you know, 3 weeks old or six months old or three years
old and they, they've came in and that, you know, I've been
with them for 10 years and seen them grow up.
So it's pretty magical. It's also, I think just scary
being that attached to that manypeople, no matter what the
situation. You know, it's like the more
(25:15):
people you attach your heart andlove to, the more, you know,
chance you have of pain. And I think that's just like a
something that you battle with in in that scenario that that's
hard. Yeah, and you capture that so
well in the film. Listen, this is not in the movie
at all. And I I did not research it.
(25:37):
I'm I'm just kind of curious. One, one of the big things in
the news the past year was all the controversy around funding
of USAID and I I would hear about different charities around
the world being affected and also film makers in some cases.
So I was wondering if you had any perspective or first hand
(26:00):
knowledge of any of the results of the cutting of funds to US
AID either as a film maker or interms of of some of the stuff
that you've maybe seen over there?
I feel like Maggie would definitely be a better person to
answer that I because she's muchmore involved in that.
(26:21):
But I mean, from my limited, limited knowledge of it, when we
were in Nepal, we saw a lot of alot of people losing their jobs
that are, they're doing, you know, really beautiful things to
help other humans. And I think that was just sad.
You know, there was pretty instant and quick that there was
all these different. They've either lost their
(26:43):
funding or they're a government organization that's over there
trying to help. And they've all been kind of
shut down from what I can see. So that side of it's pretty,
pretty sad. I mean, we've been lucky that
we, we find a way to keep going with the film and with, with the
charity and everything. But but yeah, I don't, I don't
(27:04):
know if I'm the the best person to, to speak to that, but I but
I definitely, we could feel it and, and see it over there.
And it's just like things like, you know, vaccination clinics
and all sorts of things that just to help help people survive
and live that the funding disappeared.
And that's, that's pretty sad. But yeah, well, one of the
(27:26):
things that you captured so wellin the film is that on one hand,
you know, throughout her life, Maggie was, you know, like a
mother to these kids. But on the other hand, she's
running this incredible organization.
And I'm just wondering now, like, how do the two of you
(27:46):
juggle everything? It must be even more
complicated. You have your filmmaking career
and and she's doing that. And what's going on with the two
of you right now? Yes, it's very complicated for
sure. I mean, I think for the first
while, especially while I was filming the documentary, I was
just kind of going wherever Maggie was and it was like this
(28:09):
dream scenario. And I don't know if I'll ever
get that as a film maker. It's like I was traveling and
living with someone I love and filming my our children and our
family and it was really magical.
And then I mean, our life is complicated no matter, no matter
how you do it. My family lives in Canada,
(28:29):
Maggie's is in the US and we have our Nepal family.
And Maggie needs to be in Nepal,her work, but she also needs to
be in the US and the Netherlandsand Canada and fundraising all
over the world. So she alone has a very
complicated life. And then you added, you added me
who I I kind of stepped back andwas being the, you know,
(28:56):
whatever you want to call it, the, the parents with our our
children's, the two biological children we have.
But I was also making this film and I was able to do that
remotely. And then now since it came out
in the film festivals and touring, Megan, I kind of need
to be at most of those things together.
So it's been a lot. I mean, we've been on the road
constantly since May of 2024 wasthe first festival.
(29:22):
And so we're already normally traveling a lot.
And you Add all that in and it'sbeen really, yeah, it's been
complicated. But we've also, I've just been
trying to be really grateful andremind myself this is what I
wanted to happen because it's easy to get like overwhelmed and
be like, well, this is insane. What did we get ourselves into?
But but yeah, I mean, I think, Ithink it's, it's been great and
(29:44):
it's been really beautiful to beable to do it together.
And yeah, I'm just trying to figure out what's, I'm still
continuing to push this out intothe world because we're doing
like our own kind of hybrid selfrelease, which takes a lot of
energy and it really relies on other people watching the film
and telling others. So there, there's a lot of that.
That's kind of like a full time job.
(30:05):
I've had to learn a new career of being a distributor rather
than a filmmaker the last two years, which it seems like it's
starting to go really well now. I'm excited.
But then, I mean, Maggie's job alone is, you know, should take
a few people to do it. So yeah.
But it's, I mean, I mean, we're also, we're also, I think it's
easy to get caught up in that. But we're also, I think, very
(30:27):
lucky to be able to do the stuffthat we do.
Filmmaking is like my passion. And nothing makes me happier in
the world than making making films.
And then Maggie's also doing something that she loves, is
passionate about. But yeah, I mean, as our kids
get older, it's going to get more and more complicated with
(30:47):
all the the travels. But luck, luckily enough, like
in Nepal, we have a really greatschool there.
So when we're there with our twobiological children, they go to
school with everyone else. And it's like children's
paradise in so many ways. And we're just about to, we're
actually going back to Nepal in a few days.
We start our tour, we're going to do a little U.S. tour and
(31:10):
then we go back to Nepal and there's a new, a new children's
home that Maggie and Tope and their team have been working on
for, you know, four or five years building this beautiful
round earth children's school ornot children's school, sorry,
children's home next to the school.
And that's going to be really cool because it's this
incredible property that they purchased a long time ago and
(31:33):
it's up in the mountains and back into a National Forest.
And they built, they built the school few years ago.
And then they've been working really hard on moving the home
up there as well. And there's going to be a
library and, you know, all the offices, everything's been, it's
one beautiful property. And that's going to be a big
game changer just because it's just a children's Wonderland up
there. The original home that they
(31:55):
built, you know, 20 years ago, they told her each put $5000 in
it was this tiny little propertyand they built it just with
nothing. It's like, you know, they
literally built one room and they added a room on top of it
and they added a room on top of.And that's what they did
forever. And then so this, this is kind
of in their dream the whole timelong was to build this, you
(32:15):
know, big, beautiful green campus.
And that original home has like,circuit where we live has became
the capital of that area. And it's really busy.
And there's not a lot of development laws there,
unfortunately. So I mean, it developed really
fast and we've kind of lost our nature around her.
So that's the kind of big thing right now.
(32:36):
I mean, our main focus besides releasing the film is Maggie is
getting ready to move everyone in there and get back there.
And we're doing like a big grandopening party in October that's
happening. And a bunch of the donors and
people make it happen are coming.
So it's. Yeah, it's pretty special time.
It feels like life is like this really good right now, yeah.
(32:58):
Well, Jeremy, I'm so inspired byyour story as I I imagine
everybody is who sees this movie.
If people want to learn more about your film as well as the
work that the two of you are doing, where are some of the
places online that people can go?
Yeah, for sure. If you want to, if you want to
learn more about the film, the film is called Between the
(33:21):
Mountain and the Sky. So you can just go to the
website, which is between the mountain and the sky.com or just
between themountain.com. Both go to the same place.
And on there, every every month we announce a window where
people can rent the film. And we also have a list of
places it's screening on there. And then if you've watched the
film and you liked it, the biggest thing with that you can
(33:43):
do to help us is just tell otherpeople we don't have, you know,
the big streamer money behind us.
So it's all like grassroots and impact screenings and hosting
screenings. So we've had some really pretty
cool things. I mean, like, there's like one
organization right now in the fall, American Film Society,
that's doing a whole series of screenings across the US They
(34:07):
just approached us and they werehelping them fundraise for their
charity. And then some of the money goes
to the film and to our charity as well.
So yeah, it's just a big grassroots movement.
So between themountain.com and then for the charity, it's
called Blink Now. So blinknow.org, you can follow
along on there. I've actually over the 10 years
made a bunch of other short films that are on there that
(34:28):
dive a little deeper into the more you know that, you know,
they're kind of like advertisements or explain how
the organization works. All the stuff that I kind of
left out of the film is all up there.
And that is completely run by donations.
So even even if you're able to give like a dollar or two a
month, that makes all the difference.
And that's what keeps all this going.
(34:49):
So yeah. Or, or, you know, Maggie doing
or my name is Jeremy Pyragon Ball.
You can follow along on social media and we post everything
we're doing on there so. Well, Jeremy, it's incredible.
I love this movie between the mountain and the sky.
And I want to remind everyone that if you're local and you're
living on Long Island, you mightwant to go see the screening at
(35:11):
the Port Jefferson Documentary Film Series on October 9th.
Jeremy, it's such a pleasure to meet you and thank you for
coming on The Sounds of Film. Thanks so much for having me, I
really appreciate it.
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