We recently connected with Jonathan Bogner and have shared our conversation below.
Jonathan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
When I was in the hospital getting my heart transplant, I came to the realization that everyone had their own story, and my story happened 16 years ago when I came back from selling my movie at Sundance and had two strokes, heart failure, and aphasia (can’t speak). The Cardiologist was telling my wife, “he needs a heart transplant.” But I was 45 years old then, and most transplants lasted between 10 and 15 years. I was not ready. So, I ran out the clock on the old heart and got a refurbished heart at 62. In the ensuing years, when I was diagnosed that I needed a heart, I got an implanted defibrillator in my heart called an ICD. When my heart is out of rhythm, it sends a massive shock to my heart to bring it back to life. But it takes a toll on the heart. My heart was a ticking time bomb. It was just a matter of time. I couldn’t longer travel to film sets, so I reinvented myself as a reality producer. I have produced ten reality shows and worked as an executive producer for Fremantle Media, Relativity Real, Critical Content, and All3 Media. All the while, I have my ICD companion right above my heart. In the last few years, I have been getting frequent shocks. I was listed for a heart transplant. But my condition worsened. Eventually, I couldn’t breathe and got pulmonary edema. When the Paramedics rushed me to the hospital, I needed to get a heart. I went into the hospital after 30 days and got a woman’s heart. While in the hospital, I realized that all these patients had their own stories to tell. I got my new heart on August 8, 2022, and I started a website called www.personalstories.net to tell my story along with other people’s stories. I want to do more than a website, so I went on 25 podcasts and developed my philosophy of life called the 3 R. I realized many people did have a caregiver. Luckily, my wife was my full-time caregiver, and I created a show called Caregivers This Week. I developed a promo reel called a sizzle reel and a deck for sponsors. As a producer, I need a narrator and a host. But who knows more about this subject than me? I was an expert in my health and could interview caregivers and patients because that is what I did as a reality producer. So that brings us full circle. I am looking for a platform for distribution and looking for sponsors. It is a massive market for Caregivers, over 53 million people, so I am determined to succeed and host and produce my new reality talk show.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up in London, England. My family were all in the music business. My mother managed the world’s first supermodel, Jean Shrimpton; my aunt managed a singer called “Lulu (To Sir With Love); my uncle managed Culture Club (Karma Chameleon), and my cousin managed Wang Chung (Everyone Have Fun Tonight). So, when I moved to LA and went to UCLA, I chose to go into the film business. But there is no school to be a movie producer, so I became a Music Supervisor (Cosmos, The Doors, Men at Work), then a film executive (Ghoulies, Re-Animator, Puppet Master), then a Producer (Hansel & Gretel, Supercross, Red Riding Hood) then a Reality Producer (Kim of Queens, The Boonies, My Five Wives). But most of all, I’m a survivor. I have survived health obstacles, including 2 strokes, heart failure, aphasia, an implementable defibrillator, removal of my para-thyroid, pulmonary edema, removal of my gall bladder, and a heart transplant and depression. We all have problems in our lives. Most of mine are due to health problems. I have developed my own way of seeing forward using the 3 Rs: rigorous optimism, rugged flexibility, and creating resilience. If you can change your mind, you can change your life.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Everyone has more resilience than they think. I have had many life lessons, such as business and health lessons. It is one thing to say you are resilient, but it is another to be challenged to see if you are resilient. So, people give up on life and their health. It is often called “confidence” and a will to fight. We all know the fight or flight dilemma.
Throughout my life, I have had to fight physically and emotionally. My disappointment in business is when you want your TV show to get picked up for another season, but it doesn’t, or your movie doesn’t succeed at the box office, and your song that you produced doesn’t make the top forty. And you get canceled in business, and you must reinvent yourself again.
As far as my health, I should have died many times; I honestly can’t believe I am still here. I had two massive strokes that resulted in brain damage called aphasia. Having aphasia is a problem that is the worst experience of my life. The inability to speak is one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. I had to relearn English and Math. I still can’t do the alphabet. I should have died many times. But for my ICD, a Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) was implanted in my chest, which saved my life eight times. I could have given up when I was going through major depression and suffered from PSTD, when I went to bed at night, wondering if I would walk up in the morning. And for the woman that died that gave up her heart so I can survive. When your youngest son loses his colon, you cannot get along with your other son. The son you don’t get along with, you love him as your son, but you don’t like him as a person. Yes, I have had many disappointments.
Yes, I have a lot of resilience. It is called a will to live and to fight another day. Most people have a will to live and have more resilience than they think. Life is hard. It is not how hard you can hit and keep getting up but how much you can and still get up. That is a true champion. Confidence and resilience are your cornerstones in life.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I have done a lot as a creative person. I have been a music supervisor, a film and reality executive, a producer, and a salesman, and all that goes with being a producer. I have developed materials, produced shows, and sold shows, including marketing and selling my shows. I was never in front of the camera. Now, it has all changed. My last creative endeavors are different. I am passionate about my new creative role as a writer and host of my show, “Caregivers This Week.” I am using what happened to me as a heart transplant patient and giving voice to a need in the marketplace. I now have all the tools ready to activate my journey. I am using my expertise as a generalist with the knowledge and experience to make, produce, and sell something that distributors and sponsors want. I have a vision but will bend and work with my partners to fulfill their needs. That is my mission that is driving my creative journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bognerentertainmentinc.com/
- Instagram: jonathan_bogner
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.bogner.90
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanbogner1/
- Twitter: @jsbtv8