Marcus Hart (00:00.877)
Welcome to the Transform You Live show. If you are a Hollywood Titan, well actually you are a Hollywood Titan. 36 years running, Ecovision Entertainment, producing for CBS, Disney, Netflix, you name it, with four Emmys and 14 Telly Awards to prove it. Your book, Eagle Spirit for Sovereignty, is dropping spiritual gems from nature to keep us grounded. I'm hyped to have you on to kick off the series for our Change Seekers, Creatives and Chaos Factors.
Bryan H. Shepard (00:15.585)
Thank
Marcus Hart (00:30.325)
So are you ready to share that Hollywood wisdom with us?
Bryan H. Shepard (00:33.787)
Absolutely, Marcus. Thank you for having me. I'm really looking forward to it.
Marcus Hart (00:39.691)
Yeah, it's definitely a pleasure to have you. So you've been in Hollywood 36 years, know, rocking with icons like Tom Cruise and Taylor Swift, you know, but you said it's rare to see folks from the early days still around for our creatives who's Googling career longevity in Hollywood or how to stay relevant in entertainment. What's the one mindset or strategy that's keeping you, that's kept you driving through industry shifts from analog to AI?
Bryan H. Shepard (01:05.88)
Well, there's been some big changes obviously in the last few years, but I think that I just stayed grounded. I stayed with what and who I was. the person that came to Hollywood, I've just tried to remain in that mindset. I've also tried to ebb and flow with the different changes that Hollywood has seen over the years. And it's quite different.
from the Hollywood that I experienced when I first got here, you know, over 35 years ago. There's been big changes and a lot of the platforms now are different. know, movies were the focus when I came here originally and then TV sort of started to take off. And that's where I pivoted. And when I pivoted, I sort of rode the wave of television. Now everything's going to streaming and...
in the old school ways that we've been pretty much devastated.
Marcus Hart (02:10.956)
Yeah, I agree. You definitely can testify to the fact that you've seen Hollywood change on COVID, streaming, AI, all of it. For those mid-career pros and veterans who searching how to adapt to industry change, what's the biggest lesson you learned about staying flexible without losing your core, especially with a visual disability that you kept under wraps for years?
Bryan H. Shepard (02:22.637)
Yes.
Bryan H. Shepard (02:40.63)
Yeah, I mean, think with the visual disability, I really did keep it under wraps. sort of, I've never tried to let it limit me and who I was. just sort of, you know, do and perform things to the best of my ability. So, you know, I think that I never really used that as a crutch. I just sort of plowed through. didn't let that slow me down. I wanted to be a man.
business and so I've learned from nature in terms of adapting. Nature is one of the greatest adapters and is a lesson there for us all to learn from. And so I just tried to adapt. tried to ebb and flow with the changes that were made. tried to
Marcus Hart (03:12.427)
You
Bryan H. Shepard (03:40.246)
I really used the community of my peers to bounce things off of all the time. were always, even though some of us might have been considered competitors, we really looked at it as sort of a band of brothers. And we really tried to pivot and use each other and what we were learning in the network of where we were. tried to bounce that off of each other and learn from each other.
Marcus Hart (03:51.488)
I
Marcus Hart (04:05.015)
Right.
Marcus Hart (04:09.983)
Yeah, I like that idea. know, nature is a great blueprint for us. And when it comes to maintaining that flow and maintaining the ability to adapt, Hollywood has this youth recession that's really crazy. And they discount the fact that Hollywood itself is a big fraternity. And when you meet awesome people within the network, I can definitely see how, you know, faith in nature.
become timeless you know when it when it comes to like having timeless purpose so you know having worked with like legends like George Cooley and Shaq you know what's the emotional toll of watching peers step back or get pushed out and how do you keep your head up when the spotlight shifts
Bryan H. Shepard (04:43.66)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (05:01.398)
Yeah, I mean, it's funny that we're talking about this today because I just received word yesterday that a show that I had been a part of for 32 years was coming to a close. They decided to cancel the show. That's going to happen at the end of September.
Marcus Hart (05:14.54)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (05:19.744)
And I'm preparing again for another wave of colleagues that will be pushed out, that will leave town, sell their houses, whatever it is that they have to do. It's pretty devastating to watch. Went to a memorial service recently. There's people who are struggling with all types of things that we can't even realize as we sit here, you and I.
Maybe perhaps you can you've you've dealt with PTSD and so it's it's a real struggle for people a lot of identity comes from what it is that they do and You know, I've tried to I've tried to maintain An integrity about my identity is who I am in the non-visible form non-physical form
Marcus Hart (05:47.339)
Alright.
Marcus Hart (06:01.538)
Yeah.
Marcus Hart (06:14.029)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan H. Shepard (06:15.95)
we tend to identify really quickly with physical form, cars, houses, things that are material objects, things that we're able to obtain, careers, those kinds of things, the representations of those kinds of things, whether it be awards or those sort of things. And I've tried to not identify with that. I've tried to identify with who I am from a spiritual standpoint. I tried to always
you know, remember who I am internally and what I bring to the table in a non-physical form. And so it's a real struggle for people. watching the industry be decimated a lot of, just so your audience realizes this, I've worked in entertainment, pretty much like the entertainment news side of things.
Marcus Hart (07:10.55)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (07:11.594)
And that's what's really getting pummeled because a lot of people getting their news from the internet. A lot of people are getting their news in different ways now. And so that's what's being really, really sort of crushed as we speak. There are still shows being produced by Netflix and Amazon and other production companies that are bringing this news. But a lot of the money has
Marcus Hart (07:34.957)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan H. Shepard (07:39.698)
run away in other directions. And when money leaves and when the finances leave, lot of dominoes, and so this entertainment news side of things, whether it be behind the scenes and all these other kinds of things that we do and we produce for these shows, they're all going bye-bye. And they're finding different ways to reach audiences, whether they be social media platforms and
Marcus Hart (08:05.421)
brand.
Bryan H. Shepard (08:10.368)
and through influencers, we've seen a big wave of that happen. Even on red carpets and big award shows that we do, we see a lot more influencers, less broadcast television cameras. So broadcast television has really taken this on the chin. And so I guess maybe back to your original point that, you know, watching all these people tumble and go through this is definitely
COVID, we watched it all, got a glimpse. This tap and this, you know, this beer has really taken it more on the chin because, you know, we had, we did have COVID, which changed everything. People joined platforms like this, Riverside, Zoom, they got all their information this way. And that really changed who was needed to produce these sort of things.
Whereas traditionally we used to be the guys that go in and do these major interviews and get them out to the networks. But now that's all being shared by the internet. so you really have to, I guess the point that I'm trying to get to is that, you know, identifying with these kinds of things that are fleeting, these are fleeting things. These are on the arc of your life.
Marcus Hart (09:24.331)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (09:40.562)
there's careers and these kinds of things are very short in the arc of your life. There's sort of a blip on the radar. It's sort of like zooming out when you look at the stock market. You see the stock market go up and whatever, but if you zoom out and you look over time, you see that the ebbs and flows are much smaller than they seem at the current time. what I think, and getting back to nature, the ultimate adapter,
Marcus Hart (09:48.877)
you
Bryan H. Shepard (10:10.412)
You know, nature will adapt to anything. It will adapt to our destroying it. And so, you know, I think that I use my model. I try to remember who I am non-physically and stay true to that. so that's why I wrote Eagle Spirit of Sovereignty, which is wisdom from
Marcus Hart (10:13.549)
All right, let's do it.
Marcus Hart (10:27.118)
And.
Bryan H. Shepard (10:39.38)
on the natural world or presently feel anything we need to embrace our eternal
know, and preservation.
focus on this idea of spiritual sovereignty, not sovereignty that somebody can take away. Because, as you know, sovereignty can be taken away by your government, it can be taken away by other governments, you can end up in prison like Nelson Mandela. But nobody can take away who you are internally and who you are spiritually speaking. So that's what I'm focusing on and that's why I'm out there.
Marcus Hart (11:11.073)
Mm-hmm.
Marcus Hart (11:22.604)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (11:24.898)
talking to wonderful people like you.
Marcus Hart (11:27.981)
I appreciate that. Man, you're really dropping on truth bombs, Brian, and you're so right on so many levels. And I even think back to when I first started this 10 years ago, we were just talking about this on the other side. The landscape in media has just changed and they call us new media. I look at it like, what? So I've been around for 10 years and I started around the time Joe Rogan did.
You know, and you're right, you know, the landscape has changed so, so much and we didn't have platforms like this when I first started and I never would imagine that like, you know, I wouldn't, you know, like being able to produce things myself. I wouldn't call myself a producer. You know, I got so much respect for the old guard and, know, and, you know, what they call now traditional media and old media. You know, it's one of the reasons that kind of inspired me to do what I do and, you know, and
Just to see things change, you know, but what the book said, your book says, equal spirit for sovereignty. Sovereignty is so important. know, there's so many lessons from nature, bald eagle strength, know, for creative searching, career reinvention after 50, or finding purpose after Hollywood. How's your focus on spiritual sovereignty, you know, staying centered despite stress, help you pivot from producer to author and keep you shaping your legacy.
Bryan H. Shepard (12:52.64)
Yeah, it's been interesting because a lot of what I've done in the past has been behind the scenes. I've been the guy that's producing the interviews or shooting these things or speaking with people behind the scenes. Now I'm sort of out in front and out center. I feel like a bird that sort of was caged and now I'm being let go to fly out there in the wild. This is kind of interesting.
Marcus Hart (12:57.815)
Uh-huh.
Marcus Hart (13:12.737)
you
you.
Bryan H. Shepard (13:20.654)
but yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, Marcus, I think one of the things that I wanted to convey to your audience and why this book was so important is that when I was a young child, I, I really looked to the bald eagle as my mentor. I really used it as a mentor and that that's what the book speaks to is that how
Marcus Hart (13:43.234)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan H. Shepard (13:47.054)
And I was it was discovered very early in my life that I had a visual disability. So what better champion than the bald eagle to teach me how to see. And I really saddled up with that idea. really you know the bald eagle at the time that I was a child was on the endangered species list. I don't know how much you know about the history of the bald eagle, but it was.
Marcus Hart (13:55.265)
Yeah.
Marcus Hart (14:10.989)
Yeah, remember that. Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (14:14.246)
Yeah, it was on the endangered species list and there was, you know, relatively, you know, very few bald eagle pairs in the wild and it really took. So I looked at that, you know, at that symbol that we had sort of in our, as our symbol of our nation even. And what could it teach me? What could it teach me about?
Marcus Hart (14:34.551)
here.
Bryan H. Shepard (14:43.278)
struggle, survival, perseverance, you know, all of those kind of things that and vision, just just having vision, but not not physical vision, vision, vision that would allow you to see the big picture, allow you to see things sort of in a different. I think what we're talking about here now is a spiritual way. How to have that great vision, spiritually speaking. And so I use that
And this book sort of chronicles a little bit of my life and how I was able to overcome some of the obstacles that I had to persevere. And then what it allowed me to achieve and how to this very day, I use that eagle as my mentor. And so I think that that was relevant to sort of bring out COVID and bring to an audience. I really felt that.
I knew that pivot was happening for our industry. I knew it was coming for me. And I think that that's one of the great things and indigenous people really loved about the eagle was that the eagle can see the other side of the mountain. We can only see the front of the mountain as we look at it. But the eagle from its great perspective is able to see both sides. It's able to see around the mountain.
Marcus Hart (15:59.416)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (16:10.53)
And I think that right now, more than ever, we need to remember that and be able to look beyond the mountain. Because a lot of us struggle, even to me, even me these days, you know, as I see my friends and colleagues get dismantled from their positions, it's a struggle and it's a struggle. And I go back to that. It's like, let's remember that we're only able to see this part of the mountain.
Marcus Hart (16:27.447)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (16:40.332)
and it looks inclineable, you know? But the eagle can really show us with its great perspective that there is another side and there will be another side and we just need to stay the course and keep moving in a positive direction.
Marcus Hart (17:04.565)
I love that. That's a beautiful illustration that you painted for us. it makes me think of this biblical verse, know, having to fake the seed of a mustard seed to move a mountain. In this respect, the mountain is what stops people from moving forward. It's what causes people to become complacent and stay where they are.
And I think that's one of the hardest things for people to get over and, you know, to take the eagle's eye and look on the other side and say, hey, you know, there's hope over there. There's something better, you know, than, you know, what I've been doing. You know, it only gets better with time, you know, as they put it. So for our hope seekers out there facing their own battles, you know, what's the hardest truth you've faced about self-preservation?
that now gives you the gas to get on your mission to inspire others.
Bryan H. Shepard (18:08.686)
Well, in terms of self-preservation, like I talked about, is most people think that sovereign is something that is granted to you and given to you by a nation state, you know, whether it be anywhere in the world. And that can quickly be taken away. Your sovereignty can be taken away in a heartbeat. I referred to Nelson Mandela, who lived some 26 years in prison.
Marcus Hart (18:25.421)
Okay.
Marcus Hart (18:33.879)
No.
Bryan H. Shepard (18:36.558)
In a prison cell actually was about seven by eight feet wide and he wasn't even given a bed. He was he slept on a mat And he he persevered right he he sat there for 26 years and when he was democratically elected president He didn't come out and and start to annihilate everybody who put him in prison He dedicated his life towards peace and and
Marcus Hart (18:59.469)
Okay.
Bryan H. Shepard (19:07.566)
spiritual. That's about in the book. was what I said in this book is what makes the individuals superior in the fact that
and not let them change I wanted to double down on that and really say this, is that not only can sovereignty be taken away by your government or wherever you might live in the world, your circumstances, your sovereignty can be taken away by yourself. You can put yourself in prison.
Marcus Hart (19:47.085)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (19:50.25)
You can put yourself in a mental prison. You can put yourself in unhappy scenarios, unhappy circumstances. You can live that life and you can take away your own sovereignty. And so what I try to outline in this book is how you can save yourself. Save yourself from that prison. Save yourself from
Marcus Hart (20:15.2)
and
Bryan H. Shepard (20:18.444)
that aggravation, no matter whatever your circumstances are, you might find somebody, friend in a wheelchair. You might be like myself, which is you're trying to persevere in a visual art with one eye when everybody else has too. And don't take yourself out of the game. Maintain your spiritual sovereignty.
Stick with who you are and don't let the world or circumstances change you. Remember what it is that you're here to learn and to achieve. Try to get in touch with that. Try to get in touch with who you are on a spiritual side and stick with it and stay with it and don't let it change you just like Nelson Mandela.
Marcus Hart (21:13.899)
I love that, you know, that's a real good legacy to lead to, you know, and embracing that into your daily walk now. know, speaking of daily practice and daily walk, you know, this would be the last question I have for you too, you know. So like, what's one daily practice, like a question or ritual that you lean on to stay spiritually grounded and to keep your career sore like that bald eagle?
Bryan H. Shepard (21:42.69)
Well, think one of the things that I try to do is I try to get out into nature. Of course, if I spend too much time indoors, I really feel like I want to go outside. in nature is, you know, I live in a part of the country right now, Los Angeles, which has struggled to regain its bald eagle population. They are out on the coast.
Marcus Hart (21:58.871)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (22:07.79)
They're in Catalina and they're of course in Big Bear because everybody sees the Big Bear eagle camera, which is wonderful. But so I don't get the fortunate experience. I have to actually travel a little bit to get to see them. I try to go out in nature all the time and it doesn't matter if there's a bald eagle outside my window like it used to be when I was a kid. But there are other birds and there are there's a tremendous, you know, wonderful
you know, tapestry of nature. And I try to get out into nature. That's one of my rituals is to try to get out there because nature is ever-changing. And as you well know, and everybody well knows, there's climate change and there's things that are happening out in nature where, you know, a lot of us, you know, we enforce this sort of parasitic relationship that we have with Mother Earth.
Marcus Hart (22:39.978)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (23:06.432)
It's not just this endless supply of natural resources. It's something that we need to be stewards of. It's something that we need to honor, that we need to kind of maintain. And we need to go out and appreciate. And it doesn't matter if you're nature journaling, which is one of the things that I endorse. The other thing is just walking, leaving your phone in your pocket, leaving your headphones out of your ears, but just enjoying nature and enjoying the...
Marcus Hart (23:13.773)
Yeah.
Marcus Hart (23:26.253)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan H. Shepard (23:33.25)
because there's every sense that you have is enforced and reinforced with being in nature, whether it be from sight, sound, smell, you name it. All of your senses are stimulated in nature. And I think that that will allow us to develop this greater sense of intuition and peace and inner harmony, you know, without going into all the studies that are done with
Marcus Hart (23:52.877)
Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (24:01.558)
with how nature really affects us in a positive way, I think that we all know it inherently.
Marcus Hart (24:08.941)
Yeah, we do. It's the best way to get grounded too, know, whenever you need to be grounded, just going out in nature, putting your feet in the grass, putting your feet in the dirt. you know, it really, you know, balances the things that's really out of whack within you. And it helps to develop that intuition that you're talking about. I really love how you put that forward and put that out there for us. And, you know,
So like, man, know, this has been a great conversation. Your wisdom was straight fire. You know, if we were to put it on a tape, you know, that tape and send it over to Hollywood, we'd have a best full feature movie. You know, get the Golden Globe and Grammy. You know, Oscars, yeah. Yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (24:54.702)
Well, I appreciate that. I know that these things are quick and they're hard for us to sort of really get too in-depth for people, but I appreciate those kind words.
Marcus Hart (25:03.573)
Yeah. Yeah.
Marcus Hart (25:09.355)
Yeah, yeah, whenever you want to spin the block again, man, and have another conversation. I'm definitely open to it. I know our fans would appreciate it out there. You know, like, because there's so much we could have touched on so much we could have got deeper on. You know, I really, you know, hate that like, time is limited on what I'm doing right now. So yeah.
Bryan H. Shepard (25:29.622)
Yeah, for sure. For sure. And I mean, your audience is welcome to reach out. If anybody, you know, I do a lot of other work in terms of like speaking and I'm writing more. I'm, you know, relaying messages, you know, to people. I'm working with people individually and in small groups. I don't mind.
Marcus Hart (25:49.346)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan H. Shepard (25:54.498)
people reaching out, they can reach me at brian at eaglevisionla.com if they want to reach out. There will be a book website that comes out the end of this week, I believe it is. But the book is on Amazon, Eagle Spirit for Sovereignty. Brian H. Sheppard is the name. And I encourage your listeners to reach out. encourage you as well, any friends or family that want to reach out.
Marcus Hart (26:09.087)
Okay.
Bryan H. Shepard (26:24.974)
I love talking and exchanging these ideas with people and connecting with them in a deeper way. So yeah, if there's ever another spin you want to take, if there's something you want to double click on that we talked about, that would be fabulous. you know, first of all, I want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you because it's an honor and a pleasure.
Marcus Hart (26:50.957)
Same here, brother, it's much more of an honor for me than you may know. So it's definitely a privilege to have people like you around to exchange with. So with that said, ladies and gentlemen out there, I wanna give it up one more time for Brian H. Shepherd, who's an incredible person. Check out his book, as he mentioned, it is on Amazon.
You know, so that you can grab that book there and we have his, you know, contact and direct link to the Amazon in our episode description. So until then, thank you guys. Thank you, Brian.
Bryan H. Shepard (27:28.792)
Be well.
