January 19, 2022

Everyone has a story, why not share yours? 

Sharing our stories helps to bring us together, feel more understood, and realize that we all have common bonds that unite us. That’s one of the ideas behind Chapter X — to create a community where we feel comfortable sharing our experiences in order to explore our past, present and future lives.

My guest today is Ken Mandel, who made his career as a professional storyteller. He’s known as an Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. Now retired he calls himself a “serial volunteer.”  He serves on the board of the Ensemble Studio Theater, the West Orange Arts Council, and created the West Orange Classic Film Festival, now in its 16th year.

In this episode, Ken joins me for a conversation about his life, career, and the art of storytelling. We discussed:

• How an industrial engineer discovered his calling as a filmmaker
• The emotional side of editing (and why it matters in good storytelling)
• How the extraordinary stories Ken told impacted him as a human
• The reason why he slipped easily into an unplanned retirement
• A powerful relationship habit that he developed during the pandemic

Links

https://www.youtube.com/user/moghulini
https://www.youtube.com/user/HickelMovie