We have a new partner, The Foundation for Global Inspiration.
Together, we’re working toward gathering and generating for the greater good.

After meeting and talking throughout 2008, we discovered that we truly share a love, vision and passion to tell this story about the last Buddhist Kingdom and the promise of hope that Bhutan brings to the world.

Dara and Darin joined forces in 2009 in co-production. Our combined vision and stewardship for this project continues to not only create a breathtaking
film, it is also opening doors and multiple dialogues about new ways of education, public policy, environmental awareness, conscious business and other ways of simply being in the world!

We are deeply honored, humbled and grateful to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity. We are thankful for all the people and support that we have received and continue to receive. And, we extend a special thanks to the people and country of Bhutan and its remarkable Royal family.

Dara In Thimphu

In 1997, when National Geographic Television sent me on a location scout to pre-interview Sherpas in Nepal who had climbed Mount Everest, I found the people and the beauty of the Himalayas astounding. As a westerner, living for a short time with a Sherpa family forever changed my life. Watching their gentle, peaceful interactions and their accepting open demeanor opened my eyes to Buddhism and the ways in which all life is interdependent.

It’s not surprising then, that I would ultimately be drawn to Bhutan and the country’s philosophy of Gross National Happiness, an idea rooted in a simple Buddhist message, that happiness lies in the middle path.

After years of trying and failing to both visit and film in Bhutan, I finally made it there in 2008. I felt privileged to be able to film the Grand Coronation of the 5th King, but more importantly, I felt that I was given an honor that I might share Bhutan’s perspective with a world that needs to hear its message that happiness is indeed possible.

Bhutan is a model for us. Now, more than ever, in these times of global economic turmoil and re-evaluation of social and financial values, Bhutan has much to share and say about the ways in which we can be happy.

My hope is that viewers will be inspired by Bhutan’s courage and, as I was in 1997, somehow transformed.

Dara Padwo-Audick
Enlightened Media LLC

Darin and Sonam Dorji

In 2006, a distinct group of Bhutanese came to the US on a scouting mission to open trade between the United States and Bhutan, for the first time in history. I was exhilarated when they contacted me to get involved with their mission. Having traveled extensively throughout India and many other countries, herbal hunting (my other day job) and filming documentaries, I was both astounded and honored that I was a witness to the unfolding of an extraordinary story of this precious and unique hidden kingdom that was saying hello to the rest of the world. The more I learned about Bhutan, its people and its ways, the more I fell in love with the country.

Later, in 2006, I co-hosted over 25 Bhutanese individuals who were visiting Los Angeles to conduct further trade discussions. By the next year in 2007, I had gathered a film crew together for our first adventure in Bhutan.

Bhutan’s unique geography (surrounded by 23 of the highest virgin peaks in the Himalayas), its extreme environmental diversities, and its wonderful Buddhist culture and philosophy of Gross National Happiness combine to make this an intoxicating story and film.

For me, Bhutan demonstrates that individuals, organizations and governmental agencies alike, are able to make choices from an expanded awareness that consists, not only of ourselves and of our country, but also, of the world as a whole. What would it be like, REALLY, to make choices for Happiness!?

Darin Olien
Darin’s Naturals LLC and Generative Planet LLC