The skill visually evident in a work of art was once the main reason for appreciating it. Later, the signature of the artist became the main factor in its value. The artist’s name, however, is a myth not captured in the artwork, and is often not based on real life. What is real in art appreciation, then?

For his first podcast of 2020, Francisco examines our contemporary obsession with acceptance and rejection and encourages fearlessness and unconditional devotion for the sake of creativity that arrives through inspiration and selfless generosity.

Francisco closes out 2019 with cautionary skepticism toward documentary films depicting human drama but which lack explanation, leaving us in worlds of fragmented suffering. Political documentaries should explain how global interests operate, and be realistic about whether individuals living in democracies can influence events in international crises.

Francisco discusses the challenges of making documentary films, and his next project on what a friendship with the world’s most notorious art forger, the genius painter Elmyr de Hory, says about art.

Recently the legendary composer, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, and author David Amram celebrated his 89th birthday with his usual youthful love of music, memory, and friendship at the Zebulon Cafe in Los Angeles and our cameras were lucky to capture the evening magic. Here is a small tribute to the great Arturo Sandoval, whom David met in Dizzy Gillespie’s historic voyage to Havana in 1977. David plays a composition he had written while on the voyage from New Orleans to Cuba, and here dedicates it to Arturo. Enjoy!

Amram Video

Francisco reviews the Tom Hanks character study of Fred Rogers, whose work in Public Television transformed children’s learning about life, and defines what “great” means as a descriptive term for film.

Legendary film director Martin Scorsese’s recent N.Y. Times Op-Ed essay explains why he said that Marvel Movies aren’t cinema. Francisco clarifies the definition by illustrating two criteria that only cinema possesses.

Of all the qualities that audiences enjoy from film, character transformation is rarely considered, even though it is what marks all great films. Francisco discusses how the destruction of vulnerability is the chief feature of a great film character’s arc.

Francisco provides a rare follow-up to his last podcast about success and fulfillment. In this podcast, he examines the cross-disciplinary definition of success beyond mere financial attainment. The socio-historical content of success in the end is not as important as the potential to reach the public and connect with them in a way that resonates and provides value. Whether it is Kim Kardashian, Walter Benjamin, or Galileo, the resonance of the work has served as a kind of Cassandra, even if the tragedy of success is that it might be for posterity and not for the present day.

Francisco compares two very different persons on how they visualized success and the contrasting degree to which accomplished it.