We recently connected with Pamela Peak and have shared our conversation below.

Pamela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

I come from a line of showgirls. My grandmother Josephine wanted to be an actress but she had serious heart trouble and in her day no heart transplants were available. She was supposed to die when she was 18 but lived on sheer will until she was 55. She died when I was 5 years old, but before she died she instilled a love of showbusiness and acting so strongly in me that it became a flame that led my life through the darkness.

My grandmother Josie would stand me up at two and three years old and give me lines to say! And if I didn’t say them truthfully, well, you bet I’d have to say them again and again until I did. She knew already that I loved acting and being an entertainer. It was in her blood and in mine.

She raised my mother Vivian Peak who was so bright, artistic and talented. My mother sang on the radio and literally devoted her life to helping me become an actress, help me study in New York at The Neighborhood Playhouse (where I learned the Meisner acting technique that I coach and direct with today). My mother made sure my sister and I had money to take dance lessons with with top Broadway teachers in New York City. She was my mom, my buddy and my biggest fan. And we had such fun together on this incredible journey together.

My mom became a top realtor in Detroit just to make sure I had what I needed to study my craft in New York City. And I did well! I got on a soap opera at the age of 21 and produced my first stage shows too. And my mom was always there for me. She helped me make decisions along the way too – decisions that were sound.

And when I made movies that took off and soared on television, she was right there with me. She would even come and do craft services for the entire large casts and crews of my independent films.

To have that kind of love and support from a parent gave me great confidence to take risks and try new things. Each award I won for my films was shared with my mom. She taught me strength and she taught me courage.

And the night she passed away (sadly from COVID) I was on stage with my acting troupe, The On Impulse Actors. She even told me, “Pamela, even if I’m dying, you go out on stage because the show must go on! I expect you to do that .”And I found it within myself to carry out her wish the night she passed away.

And I feel her with me on every show and film I produce, direct and act in. I feel her there within my heart. Her bright spirit lives on in me and has helped me uplift millions of people through my inspirational films. How I thank her. And how I realize how lucky I’ve been to have had a mom who gave

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an inspirational filmmaker. I know I’ve accomplished my mission when I touch my audiences hearts and souls deeply – and get them back in touch with their humanity.

I’m most proud of some of my documentary films and some of my feature screenplays. I’ve won a lot of awards and even a Michigan Emmy-nomination.

My signature work is called Colorblind – a story filled with love – the love between an amazing black grade school teacher named Mr. Bell and my almost all-white grade school classmates (a very special group of kids) during the violent Civil Rights Days in Detroit. A timeless story of love that has persisted and lived on despite the discord and violence of those days. And that’s something to be proud of.

It was a reunion of those wonderful grade school “kids” when we were all in our forties that sparked a news piece on Good Morning America and it was then, after that piece touched so many people, that I knew I had to make a documentary film about our story.

Colorblind won film festival award after film festival award and then went on to air to some 56 million people on PBS throughout the US and Canada over a four year period. And the screenplay has won 7 awards in screenwriting contests and I’ll be producing and directing it within the next couple years as a feature film. And all because of a teacher named Mr. Bell – a very special man who cared enough to teach us to love our fellows despite the color of their skin.

I’ve produced and directed other Indie films as well. One of them was my grandfather’s WWI story called Voices of a Never Ending Dawn. It’s another story from my hometown of Detroit. We shot that film in honor of my grandfather and 5, 600 Midwest soldiers who’s bold mission was swept under the rug by the U.S. Government. Why? Because these brave men were left in Northern Russia fighting the first Communists for 7 months AFTER WWI had ended (and before the world even knew what Communism was!) And these brave soldiers were left there to fight in 60 degrees below zero weather. And when we shot this film WE WERE BLESSED! We shot some of the most moving scenes in a 5-day blizzard near Northern Michigan.

It was as if the spirit of these brave men sent us that storm to tell their forgotten story. It was visually stunning. And the film was nominated for a Michigan Emmy Award. And it was one of the most challenging and amazing film shoots I will ever do in my life. Each time it aired on PBS I’d hear from the relatives of these brave soldiers. Almost one hundred years after they fought so valiantly, these men finally got their acknowledgement for all they had sacrificed and I’m proud to say my grandfather Guy Campus was one of them.

The hallmark of my work is to hold a mirror up to people and touch their hearts and help them remember they are part of the human race – that they can love one another despite all our differences.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Having resilience as an artist is a must on this planet. When you look at it, our society was not built to welcome artists or their work. We are not “invited in” to voice our message. And there are way too few opportunities for artists to get their work and their message out there, to touch people’s hearts and minds, to hold a mirror up to our humanity so we can learn. So often, artists are swept aside, their voices stopped or not heard and they go off and get “a day job” – which is actually a crushing invalidation to an artist.

I’ve learned to keep getting up after one has been knocked down. And that’s one of THE most important lessons to learn.

One example comes to mind when it comes to resilience. During this incident I knew I needed to find resilience inside me, study the scene and go beyond anything I’ve ever had to do before. It was when I was creating a film that I knew I could get on PBS. I had promised all those investing in my film that I could definitely go back to PBS and get my film picked up nationally – I knew the ropes, I had been majorly successful before, so I simply made that promise.

But low and behold, a decision maker at one of the PBS distributors didn’t like something in my documentary trailer. It was a statement about the crushing evils of Communism that came directly from one of the soldier’s, diaries that I had featured in the trailer and the film. This decision maker was actually asking me to change the words coming out of this dead soldier’s mouth because they didn’t like an observation he made about Communists! As a historian I knew I couldn’t change someone’s words he left purposefully for future generations to read! But the decision maker was firm. Thus, my film was rejected! “Oh well,” I said, “I’ll just go to the other distributor”. And I did. But to my shock, that distributor rejected it too for the same reason!

Now, what was I supposed to do? I had my own integrity as a documentary filmmaker. I couldn’t change history. That wasn’t right. And I also have a reputation for always coming through on every project to the people that invested in it. But I was now faced with the fact that two PBS distributors didn’t like a remark one of the dead soldiers had left in his diary! And that was a key scene within the movie and the trailer. I couldn’t see how to change it.

So, after licking my wounds for about 72 hours, wondering what the heck was I going to do. (And that wasn’t a very good 72 hours for me, let me tell you), I remained calm, studied out the scene and realized I could literally PURCHASE MY OWN SATELLITE!! Yes! I found out, for not as much money as I thought, that I could purchase satellite time and have my own film beamed at a specific time to all the PBS stations who wanted to pick up my film!

This didn’t mean I didn’t have a lot of marketing work ahead of me to directly go to all those stations and remind them to pick up my film at a specific time. But I was known for having beautiful and moving promotional materials for my films throughout all the PBS programming departments. Thus, I purchased that satellite time and I had my own film beamed from that satellite across the airwaves. And 62 PBS stations picked up my film. And that was the film that got an Emmy-nomination!

Had I not gotten back up after this crushing challenge and found a way forward, I would have never gotten that Michigan Emmy Nomination. And that’s a significant credit.

So I learned to never allow a “no” to stop me. Study out the scene, calm down, figure out a way forward, get up and keep going.

I once heard a quote that said, “There’s no such thing as failure. Failure is simply an unwillingness to go on!” So we must always be willing to go forward. Does a “no” on a project sting? Of course it does. But we don’t have to let life stop there.

I always believe in coming through for those who invest in my projects, and I have and will continue to do so every time. Being resilient is one of the most important qualities we artists need to possess. It might not feel good when we’re scraping our hearts up off the floor. But we do it anyway for the integrity of our work and our message. And when we do, our voices and our message are heard by the masses. And that’s how artists change things. We are the dream builders, the visionaries. Our voices are important.

One thing an artist says or one great work can change the world. An example of this is the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe during the Civil War days in America. It was an anti-slavery book that touched the hearts, minds and conscience of a large part of American society back in the mid 1800s. That one book laid the groundwork for the American Civil War. It galvanized the anti-slavery movement in America. It changed history. It was a huge force in setting America’s slaves free. And to think that there was no electricity, no internet, TV or radio when this touching story was written. Wow! That speaks a lot for how powerful the writing was.

One great message can change history. So artists must have resilience because the greater the message is, the more it can be opposed . . . and the more that message should be out there and put out there with great courage.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

What is the mission that drives my creative journey? The answer for me is to get people back in touch with their hearts again; to realize the power that love has within each and every of us.

The world is a loud, noisy and sometimes cruel place. But I truly believe, as did Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King that there is love at the core of all people’s hearts,

It’s like in the book The Diary of Ann Frank: In spite of young Ann Frank and her family about to be killed by the Nazis, she still had the courage, heart and vision to say, “I truly believe all people are basically good at heart”. And my work demonstrates how this is true – that underneath it all, all people are basically good at heart. Our true power comes from following the love in our hearts. People may act badly but those that do are lost and broken souls. Finding their way back to their heart can right their ship!

Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be strong and stand against evil. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King sure did. But they did it in an ingenious way using something called: The Doctrine of Non-Violence. And that is based on the teachings of Christ.

Gandhi won his entire nation back from the powerful British army using The Doctrine of Non-Violence and Dr. Martin Luther King made historic, sweeping and positive changes in Civil Rights in America using the same thing.

Each story I tell as a filmmaker, each action I take as a director is with this mission in mind. And when people are brought back to their hearts again and can find the love they possess underneath mountains of pain, this can make profound changes in each one of us and our society as a whole. And that is the mission of my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pamelapeakproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peak_pamela/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.peak
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelapeakproductions/
• Other: Information about my coaching with artists: https://www.pamelapeakproductions.com/igniting-your-inner-artist

Image Credits
Pamela Peak