Life Changes Show, July 3, 2023
Life Changes Show with Filippo Voltaggio and cohost Mark Laisure, with Executive Producer Dorothy
Guests: Téana David, Executive Director of the “ILLUMINATE Film Festival,” and: Nic Jackson, Singer / Songwriter / Performer / Musician, Ep 744
Featuring Interview Guest, Executive Director of the “ILLUMINATE Film Festival,” Previous Co-Director of the, “Shift Your World Film Festival,” and Director of Deepak HomeBase, Téana David; and Performance Guest, Singer / Songwriter / Performer / Musician, Nic Jackson on The LIFE CHANGES Show Episode 744
Interview Guest: TÉANA DAVID; and Performance Guest: NIC JACKSON
Guest, Téana David
With a passion for creating at the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and social justice, Téana David is the Executive Director of the ILLUMINATE Film Festival in Santa Barbara, California. Prior to that, she was Co-Director of the Shift Your World Film Festival and also served as Director of Deepak HomeBase in New York City, where she designed and curated a year-round event series with authors including Brené Brown, Byron Katie, Zainab Salbi, Robert Thurman, Marianne Williamson, Mark Nepo, Deepak Chopra, and Thich Nhat Hanh monastics.
Growing up on Vancouver Island, Téana was drawn to protect the natural world from an early age. As a young actor and activist, she co-starred in an environmentally-focused children’s television series and was active in community efforts to preserve local old growth forests.
Today, Téana is a founding member of Artists for Amazonia, an entertainment industry initiative that addresses critical issues impacting the Amazon Rainforest. Through her production company, Wise Planet Media, she has produced many short films to support this important cause including Weave of Life, narrated by Morgan Freeman and The Time Is Now with Txai Surui, Ziggy Marley, and Barbra Streisand. Other media projects include serving as Impact Producer for the Amazon Prime docuseries Changing of the Gods and as an advisor on the Sundance award-winning documentary, The Territory.
Téana is also a teacher of Somatics and Pilates and has led retreats in both Costa Rica and British Columbia incorporating these modalities with sitting and walking meditation practice in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh.
Téana holds a B.F.A from The Boston Conservatory and an M.F.A from Naropa University where she was introduced to the practice of Dharma Art – “art that springs from an awakened state of mind” – which continues to inform her personally and professionally.
Guest, Nic Jackson
Multi-talented recording artist and songwriter, Nic Jackson, is based in Los Angeles, California. After studying at the prestigious Musicians Institute, he soon began performing at some of the most iconic venues in LA. Musically, his vision is focused - to create a distinctive sound blending elements of soul, funk, R&B, and pop. Warm and organic, his music channels the perks of the old-school scene, while going forward with creativity and innovation.
Jackson recorded the theme music for "Is That Black Enough For You" (Netflix) in 2022 just before performing at the White House. He was featured on "Motown Magic," a Netflix animated series, voicing the characters Uncle Rod and Brand. Nic has also performed live, opening for Mint Condition and Blackstreet at the prestigious Nova Theatre in Los Angeles.
In 2020, Jackson released a studio album titled "Waiting for the Day," with eight standout tracks. This album captures the intensity of his live performance, but with more emphasis on the lyrics.
Jackson's music has been favorably compared to Al Green, Marvin Gaye and Leon Bridges. Nic Jackson has a sound you already know and love...from the first time you hear it.
Life Changes Show
Come and join the conversation about what's going on and what we can do together about it, with it, and for it. We have the choice, we have the power. We can do magic if we just believe!
A show about the changes going on in us, to us, around us, and because of us. Therefore, it's technically a show about "Everything," only with a how to make it better, see it better, be better.
In the show, there is talk about, and with, people who have either been through major changes, are helping others with major changes, or people who are changing the world for the better in a major way.
The show is a one-hour talk show format with a monologue by the host, a 30 minute interview with a guest of note, capped by a "Producer's Wrap" segment, in which Filippo and Co-Host Mark Laisure, and sometimes surprise guests, bring it all home for the listeners in a sometimes humorous and sometimes touching, but always entertaining conversation.
