A beautiful and free flowing conversation with the great filmmaker and artist Pen Densham on his fascinating creative path. He also shares some wonderful wisdom for anyone in the creative world as timely life notes on how to be more fully yourself.

Pen Densham is a fine art photographer whose work blends realism and abstraction, transforming the natural world into immersive, almost cinematic experiences. Beginning his artistic journey in England, where he captured nature in the New Forest and early portraits for the BBC, Pen has consistently used photography as a way to process emotion and celebrate beauty. After rediscovering his passion through his daughter’s playful use of his old cameras, he developed an intuitive style that treats the camera like a paintbrush, capturing koi as water spirits, streams as sculptural flows, and kaleidoscopic mirrored reflections he calls “Organic Mandalas.” His images—entirely created in-camera—evoke Monet’s lyricism, Pollock’s spontaneity, and Freeman Patterson’s reverence, yet remain wholly original. Exhibited internationally from Los Angeles to Monaco, his art has been praised for its color, rhythm, and spiritual immediacy.

Equally accomplished in film, Pen is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director, and producer whose career was mentored by Norman Jewison and launched with the global success of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Through Trilogy Entertainment, he produced films such as Backdraft, Larger Than Life, Moll Flanders, and Houdini, and revived both The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. His collaborations include icons like Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, and Jodie Foster, and he recently executive produced the Oscar-nominated Harriet. Pen also authored the bestselling screenwriting guide Riding the Alligator and is a sought-after speaker on creative authenticity. His archives are being acquired by the University of Toronto, cementing his legacy as a multidisciplinary artist who unites photography and film through a shared vision of intuition, renewal, and reverence for life’s impermanence.

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Paul Samuel Dolman, author, podcaster, and speaker, presents What Matters Most (the book!) a series of interview transcriptions from more than twenty inspirational Nashville and Tennessee residents, including special guest the journalist and author Bill Moyers.

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, former Governor Don Sundquist, Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal, Grammy Award-winning entertainer Wynonna Judd, and many more share intimate and inspirational aspects of themselves.

This twentieth anniversary edition also features bonus material from thirty more notables from Tennessee, including local business owners, spiritual leaders, coaches, radio personalities, authors, and educators.

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