Leonardo DiCaprio - (Please Read First Post Prior to Posting)

[Veronika]

Trauma And being wounded makes people do crazy things  Love is to innocent to do that. How They say. If u do not heal your trauma And Shadows It will effect your romantic relationship 

[Jade Bahr]

14 hours ago, Mirella said:

A random Twitter post a few years ago that asked people what they were thinking about a man answered: I am thinking about that Romeo and Juliet could have handled things differently.

It's not only Romeo and Juliet who were more or less just two horny teenagers in a world full of hate desperate looking for some love. They probably just didn't know better because they had zero role models.

 

Capulet and Montague: how did this happen? where did they get poisons? why are they in a crypt?

Friar Laurence:

 

 

@YouNoMe I wouldn't consider myself as the romantic type actually. I'm too cynical. But I like watching so called romantic movies with hot people. I also like movies about violence and/or toxic relationships (for example). Does that mean I'm self destructive? I don't think so I just enjoy movies especially the ones with Leo lol

 

Beside from this I wouldn't consider Romeo & Juliet as very romantic neither. I mean kids are killing kids and ending their own lifes because they think that's the only way out. Can't really see the romance in there.

 

Just some funny memes. #like I said #cynical #lol

 

 

#cats edition

 

 

 

[Mirella]

46 minutes ago, Jade Bahr said:

Not only Romeo and Juliet who were just two (horny) teenagers

 

Capulet and Montague: how did this happen? where did they get poisons? why are they in a crypt?

Friar Laurence:

 

 

@YouNoMe I wouldn't consider myself as the romantic type actually. I'm too cynical. But I like watching so called romantic movies with hot people. But at the same time I like movies about violence or toxic relationships (for example). Does that mean I'm self destructive? I don't think so I just enjoy movies especially the ones with Leo lol

 

Beside from this I wouldn't consider Romeo & Juliet as romantic neither.

 

 

#cats edition

 

 

 

 

😂 Be careful who you listen to. They can have some complicated solutions to simple questions.

 

[SexyLeo91]

Thanks LuckyGirl, YouNoMe and Jade for the posts! 

[Jade Bahr]

 

Quote

Leonardo DiCaprio Invests in Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms to Advance Development of Sustainable Cultivated Beef

DiCaprio joins two innovation powerhouses, as an investor and advisor, in growing global movement to transform the way meat is produced.

 

Today, Aleph Farms and Mosa Meat, two companies leading the emerging field of cultivated meat, announce an investment from environmental activist and Academy Award winning actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. Both companies have demonstrated the ability to grow beef directly from animal cells, with the unveiling of the first cultivated hamburger by Mosa Meat in 2013 and the first cultivated steak and ribeye by Aleph Farms in 2018 and 2021 respectively.

 

"One of the most impactful ways to combat the climate crisis is to transform our food system. Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms offer new ways to satisfy the world's demand for beef, while solving some of the most pressing issues of current industrial beef production. I'm very pleased to join them as an advisor and investor, as they prepare to introduce cultivated beef to consumers." said Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

With global meat consumption projected to grow 40-70% by 2050, cultivated meat offers a solution to greatly reduce the current negative impacts of industrial beef production. Additionally, cultivated meat will enable diners to enjoy the qualities of the meat they love, eliminating the need for any major behavioral change. Analysts have projected the cultivated meat market could reach $25 billion by 2030, as part of the broader protein transformation.

 

Maarten Bosch, CEO of Mosa Meat says:"Leonardo DiCaprio's work to bring about positive change is closely aligned with our mission at Mosa Meat. We are thrilled to bring him on board as advisor and investor and work together to feed current and future generations sustainably."

 

Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms says: "As a committed environmentalist, we welcome Leonardo DiCaprio to our advisory board and family of top tier investors. Our team is committed to improving the sustainability of our global food systems and we're thrilled to have Leo share in our vision."

 

According to an independent Life Cycle Analysis study, cultivated beef production is projected to reduce climate impact by 92%, air pollution by 93%, use 95% less land and 78% less water when compared to industrial beef production. Cultivated beef production offers the opportunity to use the spare land for re-wilding habitats which would naturally reduce emissions or for producing more food for people. Moreover, the automated process through which cultivated meat is produced, and the sterile environment of its manufacturing, will eliminate the use of antibiotics and greatly reduce the risk for pathogens, contaminants, and foodborne illnesses associated with concentrated and intensive animal farming.

 

Source

 

[Jade Bahr]

Because of the slow content lately here some fresh Leo fashion lol code: king of casual 👟

Source

 

Pawhuska is saying goodbye to good ol' KOTFM shooting days. (though reshoots of some scenes are still being scheduled)

Source

[Jade Bahr]

^But how? She looks kinda weird 😅

 

[YouNoMe]

Noted, Ms. @Jade Bahr. But if you will allow it, through my experience, I have found cynics to be frustrated romantics. They are usually meticulous lovers with lofty (forgive the term) expectations or perhaps better stated, possess expectancies and hope far up in altitude than commonly experienced. More often than not, a cynic will forfeit the opportunity to explain their position because they may have pre-accepted high probability of misquote, misunderstanding, misreads, and mistakes concerning their point and need. Not to mention the perceived inability to acquire satisfactory result of their uniquely blended demand. 

 

@Mirella a pianist and an intuitionist. Impressive. I must say. Love is immaculate as @Veronika proclaims, but its light and purity can be broadsiding, obstructing logic, which is often portrayed as loveless, making love and common sense enemy?

 

I'm unsure if this article has been posted previously. The forum is comprehensive, but I thought I might add this 👇. Please forgive me if previously posted!

 

Winslet Finally Reveals The Truth About ‘Titanic’

By Meagan Nantwich - July 11, 2019

 

When Titanic hit theaters in 1997, it was an instant hit. The epic romance is still one of the most successful films of all time, but there were many moments that made us rethink everything.

Taking It Off With DiCaprio

When Kate Winslet discovered how she would be dressed in the famous portrait drawing scene, she wasn’t uncomfortable, but was unsure about Leo. To lighten up their first scene Kate, introduced herself by giving DiCaprio a  glimpse of what the future held…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Taking It Off With DiCaprio

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Gut Wrenching Finish

On the last night of filming, the cast and crew became the victims of a vicious prank. Someone decided it was a good idea to spike the soup that everyone was eating, but it caused far more damage than fun. Over 80 people got sick after eating the soup, and more than 50 were hospitalized with hallucinations. James Cameron made himself throw up in so the substances wouldn’t absorb into his blood stream. They were never able to catch the perpetrator.

Gut Wrenching Finish

 

Lizo DiCaprio

The Titanic set was a hotbed of injuries, but the saddest casualty of them all was probably Leonardo DiCaprio’s pet lizard. Somehow, the lizard got loose on the lot and was hit by a truck. Leo was devastated to find his battered lizard. However, with a lot of extra care, he was able to nurse his pet back to health. He was probably much more careful about keeping him safely caged after that, or only took him out in enclosed spaces.

Lizo DiCaprio

 

Cold To The Bone

Kate Winslet refused to wear a wetsuit under her costume like all of the other actors who were spending days on end submerged in water. Though James Cameron insists that he had the tank warmed to a comfortable 80 degrees, Kate came down with pneumonia anyway. Her illness almost caused her to quit the production, so Cameron scrambled to find a reason that would convince her to stay. Pneumonia was far from the only bodily injury suffered during filming.

Cold To The Bone

 

Relieving A Burden

During the many hours spent filming in the water, James Cameron wanted to make sure none of the cast members left the tank in the middle of the shoot. Cameron even went so far as to threaten to fire anyone who considered asking to take a bathroom break. Many extras therefore just relieved themselves in the water because of that policy, though Kate Winslet shared that they weren’t alone in that regards. It wasn’t just hours spent submerged in frigid water that made the film difficult.

Relieving A Burden

 

Wrecking The Past

The film was almost overly committed to historical accuracy, to the extent that some original clothing was used for the time period. It took the costume department nearly a year to build up the wardrobe they needed for all of the extras, and complicating matters further, the pieces often would get wet. On a certain day, James Cameron needed more extras in the water, so he took a boatful of them, who were all wearing vintage, and dunked them in anyway.

Wrecking The Past

 

A Sinking Ship

As production for the Titanic progressed, the only buzz the film was getting was negative. Due to a number of delays, sky high expenses, and reports of repeated injuries, the press was sure that the movie would bomb. Executives at both the original studio, Twentieth Century Fox, and Paramount were ready to come to blows over the disparity between the film’s budget and the actual costs. At one point, the situation was so bad, nearly everyone was convinced the film would bomb.

A Sinking Ship

 

Heart Won’t Gone On

The hit song played over the film’s closing credits hit a number of speed bumps before it was allowed into the film. For starters, James Cameron never wanted a pop song in the movie in the first place. However, it likely wouldn’t have made the cut if Celine Dion hadn’t performed the vocals. Even she had to be convinced of the song’s merit by her husband, René Angelil, who was a friend of the composer, James Horner.

Heart Won’t Gone On

 

Freezing The Extras

For the film’s ending sequence, the make up department had a lot of work to do in order to make the scene convincing. In order to make it appear like the actors were actually freezing, they were coated in a special powder that would form crystals when it made contact with water. In order to make it look like everyone had wet hair, the make up arts coated their hair in wax. The only problem was the chemicals in the water kept washing off the powder.

Freezing The Extras

 

Keeping The Gaff

It’s no surprise that Leo might have made a few mistakes his first days on set. In the iconic portrait drawing scene, Jack tells Rose to lie, “Over on the bed…the couch.” The scripted line was supposed to just have Jack telling Rose to lie on the couch. Leo genuinely forgot the line, and was correcting himself mid-sentence for saying “bed.” Cameron liked the effect of the slip, and therefore left it into the final edit of the film.

Keeping The Gaff

 

Getting On His Good Side

James Cameron is a notoriously stubborn person to work with, which is no surprise considering he micromanaged the epic film. For all of the complaints the cast and crew had about his directing style, there was only one person who managed to soften his demeanor. Gloria Stuart, who played Old Rose, managed to charm the director. As a joke, Stuart often called him “Herr Director” in an ode to his near German levels of efficiency and precision.

Getting On His Good Side

 

Bumps And Bruises

Kate Winslet found herself pretty battered while filming the movie. At a certain point, the make up artists wanted to take pictures of her extensive bruises, so they could refer back to them later. On top of that and her pneumonia, Winslet also chipped a bone in her elbow, which led to her saying, “You’d have to pay me an awful lot of money to work with James Cameron again.” We guess the price was right for Avatar 2.

Bumps And Bruises

 

Bowing To Tyson’s Complaints

Famed scientist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, was just as pedantic about details then as he is now. When the movie was released, he wrote a letter to Cameron to tell him that the configuration of stars in the final scenes wasn’t correct. Tyson complained again in person the first time he met Cameron, and then a third time when Cameron did an event at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. Cameron got the hint and had Tyson send the correct configuration for the re-released film.

Bowing To Tyson’s Complaints

 

Thorn In His Side

Winslet was utterly convinced that she was the best choice for Rose. The production saw a massive number of well known actresses for the part, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, and Jennifer Aniston. Winslet was persistent, constantly calling and writing to Cameron about choosing her. At a certain point she even said to him, “You don’t understand! I am Rose! I don’t know why you’re even seeing anyone else!” It’s almost as if she was channeling Rose before she got the part.

Thorn In His Side

 

Hidden From Gloria

Gloria Stuart, the 86 year old actress who played Old Rose didn’t even know Rose’s fate in her final scenes, which was revealed by her grandson, Benjamin Stuart Thompson. Though Gloria asked Cameron if Old Rose was meant to be dead or just dreaming in her final shot, he apparently replied, “Just lie still, Gloria. You don’t need to know!” It seems even her friendly rapport with the director didn’t help her to find out that bit of information.

Hidden From Gloria

 

Leo Lobotomized

The shooting schedule for Titanic was an intensive process, often starting in the middle of the night, which continued for months on end. In the dinner scene where Jack joins Rose’s family in the first class lounge, Leo was so tired after spending hours getting all of the shots needed for the scene, that he was losing his patience. At a certain point, he reportedly pick up a fork, turned to Kathy Bates, and asked, “Which one of these do I use to lobotomize myself?”

Leo Lobotomized

 

Leaving Lindsay

A then unknown Lindsay Lohan auditioned to be one of the featured little girls in the film. Though the producers liked her for the role, James Cameron worried that her red hair would be too confusing next to a red-head protagonist. The thinking went that audiences might suspect Lindsay’s would be character might appear to be related to Rose and her mother Ruth. In her place, they cast Alexandrea Owens as the little girl, Cora, that Jack talks to in third class.

Leaving Lindsay

 

Smoke And Mirrors

The production team needed to employ a number of tricks in order to make the boiler room scene look believable. For starters, in order to make it look like there were an appropriate amount of boilers, the set was constructed with a mirror at the end, which doubled the number of boilers seen from three to six. Because they couldn’t quite construct the set to scale, they also used short actors so it wasn’t apparent to audiences that the boilers were small.

Smoke And Mirrors

 

The Cost Of Destruction

Titanic ran into its fair share of challenges as it had to shoot the destruction of the ship. The scene where the grand staircase finally floods wasn’t done until the very end of the film. The cinematographers only had one chance to get the shot right, because the force of the flooding water they were pumping into the set would destroy it completely. Luckily for both the crew and for James Cameron, they got the exact footage they needed.

The Cost Of Destruction

 

Hindsight’s 2017

Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have shared that they were less than impressed with their performances in the film in retrospect. Winslet went so far as to say that her American accent was truly “awful” while her acting “could have been better.” Leo was not quite as harsh on himself, but he did add that he considers himself to have been a “young punk” in the film. Regardless, the film catapulted both stars into distinguished film careers.

Hindsight’s 2017

 

Too Ruddy For The Role

One of the many young male actors to have auditioned for Jack was Paul Rudd. The studio had been more interested in both Matthew McConaughey and Johnny Depp prior to Leo, but they each turned it down. On the other hand, Rudd was interested in the project because his father was captivated by the Titanic’s history. During his audition he must have bored casting directors because he was rattling off a list of facts about the ship.

Too Ruddy For The Role

 

Predicting The Disaster

In 1898, a novella was released by an American writer named Morgan Robertson. The novella was titled The Wreck of the Titan. The name was already similar enough to set off alarm bells, but the events of the story are even more eerie. The novella’s plot follows an ocean liner that sets off on a journey across the Atlantic ocean. Several days into the journey, the ship hits an iceberg, at roughly the same speed the Titanic was traveling. Moreover, there were too few life boats onboard.

Predicting The Disaster

 

Paramount Boards The Ship

Twentieth Century Fox was the first studio to sign on to the making of Titanic, but because Cameron was so insistent on getting all of the details as close as possible, the costs increased exponentially, and Fox needed the help of another studio in order to cover it all. In addition to constructing a ship off the coast of Mexico that was almost as large as the original Titanic itself, Cameron cajoled the White Star Line to manufacture replicas of the original decor.

Paramount Boards The Ship

 

A Glorious Life

Despite the film being made more than 80 years after the sinking of the Titanic, it turns out, one cast member was alive when it happened. Gloria Stuart was 86 when the film was shot, meaning she was the only cast member who was living in 1912. Because Old Rose was supposed to be 100 in the film, the actress had to wear age make up to appear even older than she was. Stuart herself died in 2010 at the age of 100.

A Glorious Life

 

Down To The Minute

When all of the 1912 scenes are complied together, the run time equals out to the exact amount of time it took for the Titanic to sink, a precise two hours and forty minutes. The exact run time of those scenes may not have been intended, considering Cameron had several hours more footage he could have used. It may not have been as coincidental that the crash with the iceberg in the film lasts 37 seconds, which was the same amount of time as the real ship.

Down To The Minute

 

Sparks That Fizzled

Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio became one of the most recognizable on-screen couples of the 20th century. Their clear chemistry caused many people to speculate whether or not the actors themselves were involved romantically. Even 20 years after the release, Kate has to clarify that they were only ever friends. She shared their secret of their lifelong friendship with ITV, saying, “We were both very young. And luckily, and this was the fortunate thing, we never fancied each other.”

Sparks That Fizzled

 

Spit Takes

There’s a scene in Titanic where Jack teaches Rose how to spit like a man. The end result was a charming interaction between the two characters as they fall in love with one another. The scene, however, had never been scripted! James Cameron had a vague outline of what he wanted the characters to do, but he left the details up to Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio. The entire exchange with two spitting off the edge of the ship was improvised.

Spit Takes

 

Finding The Truth

When James Cameron was writing the original Titanic script, he wanted to choose feature fictitious main characters at the center of the story. Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson were names that Cameron thought up himself. After the film was released, Cameron learned that there had been a real J. Dawson on board the Titanic who died during the sinking. However, the real life Dawson was Joseph, not Jack. He was an Irishman from Dublin who is now buried in Nova Scotia.

Finding The Truth

 

 

Like Crossing An Ocean

According to James Horner, who composed the music for the film, the first cut he was shown was over 36 hours long. That’s almost half of the time that the Titanic actually spent traveling. With days on set regularly 14 hours or more, it’s not a surprise that Cameron had an immense amount of footage to sift through. Luckily for the audience, he was able to cut it down to a cohesive three hour movie, and Horner provided a beautiful score.

Like Crossing An Ocean

 

Time Stands Still

In the final scene, young Rose is seen coming down the grand staircase once more, greeting Jack once more after a lifetime apart. While it’s not clear if the moment is symbolic of Rose’s passing, or she’s simply dreaming of her long lost love, the creative team snuck an extra Easter egg into the scene. As Rose comes down the stairs, the clock is striking 2:20 am. That is the exact time the bulk of the Titanic sank into the ocean.

Time Stands Still

 

Room For Two

In the years since Titanic’s release, fans have begun arguing that it’s heartbreaking conclusion was avoidable. No, fans aren’t arguing that the ship shouldn’t have sunk, but rather, there should have been room for both Rose and Jack on the door Rose floated on until her rescue. The show Mythbusters even proved just how much space was on the door, which had been based on a real Titanic artifact. James Cameron said, however, that narratively, Jack couldn’t have survived.

Room For Two

 

Comedy Of Manners

Due to Cameron’s need for nearly 1000 extras who worked on the film throughout the course of its production, he made sure to hire 150 regulars, which reduced the time it took them to get fit into costumes. Moreover, he wanted the extras to be as realistic as possible, so the core extras were also given a three hour class on the customs and mannerisms of people who lived in 1912. The class was taught by Lynne Hockney, Titanic’s choreographer.

Comedy Of Manners

 

Flippingly Mad

While speaking to the New York Post about his time working on Titanic, Billy Zane had more to say about some of his most famous scenes. For starters, his table flip was completely improved, as Cameron wanted the actors to create their own dialogue. More challenging though, once he decided to flip the table, he had to avoid Kate’s costume. He said, I think after, like, seven takes, I got maybe one drop [of orange juice] on one of the dresses.”

Flippingly Mad

 

A Steamy Surprise

Kate had a few stories of her own that she’d kept hidden for nearly 20 years. One of the most famous love scenes ever to appear in the movie includes Kate’s had wiping the fogged up glass of an antique car. Kate shared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, “I don’t think it was scripted. I think we came up with it on the day. It did get quite sweaty in the car, but we were spritzed down with spray Evian bottles…”

A Steamy Surprise

 

Upscale Hot Dogs

In time for the film’s 20th anniversary, Billy Zane, who played the cruel fiancé, Cal, divulged some on set secrets to the New York Post. Zane shared that the set was peppered with hot tubs for the cast to warm themselves in between takes, even while in a tux. He continued, “Then someone walks by and you just reach into a basket and you’re noshing on a hot dog in a tux in a hot tub, just deadpan, without any reaction, like this is completely normal.”

Upscale Hot Dogs

 

Blockbuster Budget

When the RMS Titanic was constructed, it was designed to be the most luxurious and modern ship ever made. The cost of construction was $7.5 million in 1912. In 1997, that totaled out to be a little over $120 million. The Titanic film was so expensive to make, however, that its costs totaled $200 million in 1997. With inflation, the Titanic’s construction is almost $200 million of today’s dollars. The film still costs over $100 million more, working out to $300 million in today’s dollars. It’s a good thing it earned it all back.

Blockbuster Budget

 

Sinking Strausses

As the ship goes down in its final moments, there’s a shot of an elderly couple, hugging each other on a bed as the water rises over them. The couple was based on two real Titanic passengers, Ida and Isidor Strauss, who had been been the owner of Macy’s. Ida had a chance to be saved in a lifeboat, however she turned it down, saying to Isidor, “As we have lived together, so we shall die together.” The scene showing this was cut from the movie.

Sinking Strausses

 

Kate’s Feelings For Leo

Kate had a few stories of her own that she’d kept hidden for nearly 20 years. One of the most famous love scenes ever to appear in the movie includes Kate’s had wiping the fogged up glass of an antique car. Kate shared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, “I don’t think it was scripted. I think we came up with it on the day. It did get quite sweaty in the car, but we were spritzed down with spray Evian bottles…”

Kate’s Feelings For Leo

 

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[oxford25]

YouNoMe

 

The very informative Titanic article is new to me, tks for posting it

[Mirella]

1 hour ago, YouNoMe said:

Noted, Ms. @Jade Bahr. But if you will allow it, through my experience, I have found cynics to be frustrated romantics. They are usually meticulous lovers with lofty (forgive the term) expectations or perhaps better stated, possess expectancies and hope far up in altitude than commonly experienced. More often than not, a cynic will forfeit the opportunity to explain their position because they may have pre-accepted high probability of misquote, misunderstanding, misreads, and mistakes concerning their point and need. Not to mention the perceived inability to acquire satisfactory result of their uniquely blended demand. 

 

@Mirella a pianist and an intuitionist. Impressive. I must say. Love is immaculate as @Veronika proclaims, but its light and purity can be broadsiding, obstructing logic, which is often portrayed as loveless, making love and common sense enemy?

 

I'm unsure if this article has been posted previously. The forum is comprehensive, but I thought I might add this 👇. Please forgive me if previously posted!

 

Winslet Finally Reveals The Truth About ‘Titanic’

By Meagan Nantwich - July 11, 2019

 

When Titanic hit theaters in 1997, it was an instant hit. The epic romance is still one of the most successful films of all time, but there were many moments that made us rethink everything.

Taking It Off With DiCaprio

When Kate Winslet discovered how she would be dressed in the famous portrait drawing scene, she wasn’t uncomfortable, but was unsure about Leo. To lighten up their first scene Kate, introduced herself by giving DiCaprio a  glimpse of what the future held…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

58K

 

Goldman Sachs Outlines Germany's Key Challenges: Digitization, Green Transformation, Trade

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking It Off With DiCaprio

ADVERTISEMENT

 

 

Gut Wrenching Finish

On the last night of filming, the cast and crew became the victims of a vicious prank. Someone decided it was a good idea to spike the soup that everyone was eating, but it caused far more damage than fun. Over 80 people got sick after eating the soup, and more than 50 were hospitalized with hallucinations. James Cameron made himself throw up in so the substances wouldn’t absorb into his blood stream. They were never able to catch the perpetrator.

Gut Wrenching Finish

 

Lizo DiCaprio

The Titanic set was a hotbed of injuries, but the saddest casualty of them all was probably Leonardo DiCaprio’s pet lizard. Somehow, the lizard got loose on the lot and was hit by a truck. Leo was devastated to find his battered lizard. However, with a lot of extra care, he was able to nurse his pet back to health. He was probably much more careful about keeping him safely caged after that, or only took him out in enclosed spaces.

Lizo DiCaprio

 

Cold To The Bone

Kate Winslet refused to wear a wetsuit under her costume like all of the other actors who were spending days on end submerged in water. Though James Cameron insists that he had the tank warmed to a comfortable 80 degrees, Kate came down with pneumonia anyway. Her illness almost caused her to quit the production, so Cameron scrambled to find a reason that would convince her to stay. Pneumonia was far from the only bodily injury suffered during filming.

Cold To The Bone

 

Relieving A Burden

During the many hours spent filming in the water, James Cameron wanted to make sure none of the cast members left the tank in the middle of the shoot. Cameron even went so far as to threaten to fire anyone who considered asking to take a bathroom break. Many extras therefore just relieved themselves in the water because of that policy, though Kate Winslet shared that they weren’t alone in that regards. It wasn’t just hours spent submerged in frigid water that made the film difficult.

Relieving A Burden

 

Wrecking The Past

The film was almost overly committed to historical accuracy, to the extent that some original clothing was used for the time period. It took the costume department nearly a year to build up the wardrobe they needed for all of the extras, and complicating matters further, the pieces often would get wet. On a certain day, James Cameron needed more extras in the water, so he took a boatful of them, who were all wearing vintage, and dunked them in anyway.

Wrecking The Past

 

A Sinking Ship

As production for the Titanic progressed, the only buzz the film was getting was negative. Due to a number of delays, sky high expenses, and reports of repeated injuries, the press was sure that the movie would bomb. Executives at both the original studio, Twentieth Century Fox, and Paramount were ready to come to blows over the disparity between the film’s budget and the actual costs. At one point, the situation was so bad, nearly everyone was convinced the film would bomb.

A Sinking Ship

 

Heart Won’t Gone On

The hit song played over the film’s closing credits hit a number of speed bumps before it was allowed into the film. For starters, James Cameron never wanted a pop song in the movie in the first place. However, it likely wouldn’t have made the cut if Celine Dion hadn’t performed the vocals. Even she had to be convinced of the song’s merit by her husband, René Angelil, who was a friend of the composer, James Horner.

Heart Won’t Gone On

 

Freezing The Extras

For the film’s ending sequence, the make up department had a lot of work to do in order to make the scene convincing. In order to make it appear like the actors were actually freezing, they were coated in a special powder that would form crystals when it made contact with water. In order to make it look like everyone had wet hair, the make up arts coated their hair in wax. The only problem was the chemicals in the water kept washing off the powder.

Freezing The Extras

 

Keeping The Gaff

It’s no surprise that Leo might have made a few mistakes his first days on set. In the iconic portrait drawing scene, Jack tells Rose to lie, “Over on the bed…the couch.” The scripted line was supposed to just have Jack telling Rose to lie on the couch. Leo genuinely forgot the line, and was correcting himself mid-sentence for saying “bed.” Cameron liked the effect of the slip, and therefore left it into the final edit of the film.

Keeping The Gaff

 

Getting On His Good Side

James Cameron is a notoriously stubborn person to work with, which is no surprise considering he micromanaged the epic film. For all of the complaints the cast and crew had about his directing style, there was only one person who managed to soften his demeanor. Gloria Stuart, who played Old Rose, managed to charm the director. As a joke, Stuart often called him “Herr Director” in an ode to his near German levels of efficiency and precision.

Getting On His Good Side

 

Bumps And Bruises

Kate Winslet found herself pretty battered while filming the movie. At a certain point, the make up artists wanted to take pictures of her extensive bruises, so they could refer back to them later. On top of that and her pneumonia, Winslet also chipped a bone in her elbow, which led to her saying, “You’d have to pay me an awful lot of money to work with James Cameron again.” We guess the price was right for Avatar 2.

Bumps And Bruises

 

Bowing To Tyson’s Complaints

Famed scientist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, was just as pedantic about details then as he is now. When the movie was released, he wrote a letter to Cameron to tell him that the configuration of stars in the final scenes wasn’t correct. Tyson complained again in person the first time he met Cameron, and then a third time when Cameron did an event at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. Cameron got the hint and had Tyson send the correct configuration for the re-released film.

Bowing To Tyson’s Complaints

 

Thorn In His Side

Winslet was utterly convinced that she was the best choice for Rose. The production saw a massive number of well known actresses for the part, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, and Jennifer Aniston. Winslet was persistent, constantly calling and writing to Cameron about choosing her. At a certain point she even said to him, “You don’t understand! I am Rose! I don’t know why you’re even seeing anyone else!” It’s almost as if she was channeling Rose before she got the part.

Thorn In His Side

 

Hidden From Gloria

Gloria Stuart, the 86 year old actress who played Old Rose didn’t even know Rose’s fate in her final scenes, which was revealed by her grandson, Benjamin Stuart Thompson. Though Gloria asked Cameron if Old Rose was meant to be dead or just dreaming in her final shot, he apparently replied, “Just lie still, Gloria. You don’t need to know!” It seems even her friendly rapport with the director didn’t help her to find out that bit of information.

Hidden From Gloria

 

Leo Lobotomized

The shooting schedule for Titanic was an intensive process, often starting in the middle of the night, which continued for months on end. In the dinner scene where Jack joins Rose’s family in the first class lounge, Leo was so tired after spending hours getting all of the shots needed for the scene, that he was losing his patience. At a certain point, he reportedly pick up a fork, turned to Kathy Bates, and asked, “Which one of these do I use to lobotomize myself?”

Leo Lobotomized

 

Leaving Lindsay

A then unknown Lindsay Lohan auditioned to be one of the featured little girls in the film. Though the producers liked her for the role, James Cameron worried that her red hair would be too confusing next to a red-head protagonist. The thinking went that audiences might suspect Lindsay’s would be character might appear to be related to Rose and her mother Ruth. In her place, they cast Alexandrea Owens as the little girl, Cora, that Jack talks to in third class.

Leaving Lindsay

 

Smoke And Mirrors

The production team needed to employ a number of tricks in order to make the boiler room scene look believable. For starters, in order to make it look like there were an appropriate amount of boilers, the set was constructed with a mirror at the end, which doubled the number of boilers seen from three to six. Because they couldn’t quite construct the set to scale, they also used short actors so it wasn’t apparent to audiences that the boilers were small.

Smoke And Mirrors

 

The Cost Of Destruction

Titanic ran into its fair share of challenges as it had to shoot the destruction of the ship. The scene where the grand staircase finally floods wasn’t done until the very end of the film. The cinematographers only had one chance to get the shot right, because the force of the flooding water they were pumping into the set would destroy it completely. Luckily for both the crew and for James Cameron, they got the exact footage they needed.

The Cost Of Destruction

 

Hindsight’s 2017

Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have shared that they were less than impressed with their performances in the film in retrospect. Winslet went so far as to say that her American accent was truly “awful” while her acting “could have been better.” Leo was not quite as harsh on himself, but he did add that he considers himself to have been a “young punk” in the film. Regardless, the film catapulted both stars into distinguished film careers.

Hindsight’s 2017

 

Too Ruddy For The Role

One of the many young male actors to have auditioned for Jack was Paul Rudd. The studio had been more interested in both Matthew McConaughey and Johnny Depp prior to Leo, but they each turned it down. On the other hand, Rudd was interested in the project because his father was captivated by the Titanic’s history. During his audition he must have bored casting directors because he was rattling off a list of facts about the ship.

Too Ruddy For The Role

 

Predicting The Disaster

In 1898, a novella was released by an American writer named Morgan Robertson. The novella was titled The Wreck of the Titan. The name was already similar enough to set off alarm bells, but the events of the story are even more eerie. The novella’s plot follows an ocean liner that sets off on a journey across the Atlantic ocean. Several days into the journey, the ship hits an iceberg, at roughly the same speed the Titanic was traveling. Moreover, there were too few life boats onboard.

Predicting The Disaster

 

Paramount Boards The Ship

Twentieth Century Fox was the first studio to sign on to the making of Titanic, but because Cameron was so insistent on getting all of the details as close as possible, the costs increased exponentially, and Fox needed the help of another studio in order to cover it all. In addition to constructing a ship off the coast of Mexico that was almost as large as the original Titanic itself, Cameron cajoled the White Star Line to manufacture replicas of the original decor.

Paramount Boards The Ship

 

A Glorious Life

Despite the film being made more than 80 years after the sinking of the Titanic, it turns out, one cast member was alive when it happened. Gloria Stuart was 86 when the film was shot, meaning she was the only cast member who was living in 1912. Because Old Rose was supposed to be 100 in the film, the actress had to wear age make up to appear even older than she was. Stuart herself died in 2010 at the age of 100.

A Glorious Life

 

Down To The Minute

When all of the 1912 scenes are complied together, the run time equals out to the exact amount of time it took for the Titanic to sink, a precise two hours and forty minutes. The exact run time of those scenes may not have been intended, considering Cameron had several hours more footage he could have used. It may not have been as coincidental that the crash with the iceberg in the film lasts 37 seconds, which was the same amount of time as the real ship.

Down To The Minute

 

Sparks That Fizzled

Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio became one of the most recognizable on-screen couples of the 20th century. Their clear chemistry caused many people to speculate whether or not the actors themselves were involved romantically. Even 20 years after the release, Kate has to clarify that they were only ever friends. She shared their secret of their lifelong friendship with ITV, saying, “We were both very young. And luckily, and this was the fortunate thing, we never fancied each other.”

Sparks That Fizzled

 

Spit Takes

There’s a scene in Titanic where Jack teaches Rose how to spit like a man. The end result was a charming interaction between the two characters as they fall in love with one another. The scene, however, had never been scripted! James Cameron had a vague outline of what he wanted the characters to do, but he left the details up to Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio. The entire exchange with two spitting off the edge of the ship was improvised.

Spit Takes

 

Finding The Truth

When James Cameron was writing the original Titanic script, he wanted to choose feature fictitious main characters at the center of the story. Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson were names that Cameron thought up himself. After the film was released, Cameron learned that there had been a real J. Dawson on board the Titanic who died during the sinking. However, the real life Dawson was Joseph, not Jack. He was an Irishman from Dublin who is now buried in Nova Scotia.

Finding The Truth

 

 

Like Crossing An Ocean

According to James Horner, who composed the music for the film, the first cut he was shown was over 36 hours long. That’s almost half of the time that the Titanic actually spent traveling. With days on set regularly 14 hours or more, it’s not a surprise that Cameron had an immense amount of footage to sift through. Luckily for the audience, he was able to cut it down to a cohesive three hour movie, and Horner provided a beautiful score.

Like Crossing An Ocean

 

Time Stands Still

In the final scene, young Rose is seen coming down the grand staircase once more, greeting Jack once more after a lifetime apart. While it’s not clear if the moment is symbolic of Rose’s passing, or she’s simply dreaming of her long lost love, the creative team snuck an extra Easter egg into the scene. As Rose comes down the stairs, the clock is striking 2:20 am. That is the exact time the bulk of the Titanic sank into the ocean.

Time Stands Still

 

Room For Two

In the years since Titanic’s release, fans have begun arguing that it’s heartbreaking conclusion was avoidable. No, fans aren’t arguing that the ship shouldn’t have sunk, but rather, there should have been room for both Rose and Jack on the door Rose floated on until her rescue. The show Mythbusters even proved just how much space was on the door, which had been based on a real Titanic artifact. James Cameron said, however, that narratively, Jack couldn’t have survived.

Room For Two

 

Comedy Of Manners

Due to Cameron’s need for nearly 1000 extras who worked on the film throughout the course of its production, he made sure to hire 150 regulars, which reduced the time it took them to get fit into costumes. Moreover, he wanted the extras to be as realistic as possible, so the core extras were also given a three hour class on the customs and mannerisms of people who lived in 1912. The class was taught by Lynne Hockney, Titanic’s choreographer.

Comedy Of Manners

 

Flippingly Mad

While speaking to the New York Post about his time working on Titanic, Billy Zane had more to say about some of his most famous scenes. For starters, his table flip was completely improved, as Cameron wanted the actors to create their own dialogue. More challenging though, once he decided to flip the table, he had to avoid Kate’s costume. He said, I think after, like, seven takes, I got maybe one drop [of orange juice] on one of the dresses.”

Flippingly Mad

 

A Steamy Surprise

Kate had a few stories of her own that she’d kept hidden for nearly 20 years. One of the most famous love scenes ever to appear in the movie includes Kate’s had wiping the fogged up glass of an antique car. Kate shared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, “I don’t think it was scripted. I think we came up with it on the day. It did get quite sweaty in the car, but we were spritzed down with spray Evian bottles…”

A Steamy Surprise

 

Upscale Hot Dogs

In time for the film’s 20th anniversary, Billy Zane, who played the cruel fiancé, Cal, divulged some on set secrets to the New York Post. Zane shared that the set was peppered with hot tubs for the cast to warm themselves in between takes, even while in a tux. He continued, “Then someone walks by and you just reach into a basket and you’re noshing on a hot dog in a tux in a hot tub, just deadpan, without any reaction, like this is completely normal.”

Upscale Hot Dogs

 

Blockbuster Budget

When the RMS Titanic was constructed, it was designed to be the most luxurious and modern ship ever made. The cost of construction was $7.5 million in 1912. In 1997, that totaled out to be a little over $120 million. The Titanic film was so expensive to make, however, that its costs totaled $200 million in 1997. With inflation, the Titanic’s construction is almost $200 million of today’s dollars. The film still costs over $100 million more, working out to $300 million in today’s dollars. It’s a good thing it earned it all back.

Blockbuster Budget

 

Sinking Strausses

As the ship goes down in its final moments, there’s a shot of an elderly couple, hugging each other on a bed as the water rises over them. The couple was based on two real Titanic passengers, Ida and Isidor Strauss, who had been been the owner of Macy’s. Ida had a chance to be saved in a lifeboat, however she turned it down, saying to Isidor, “As we have lived together, so we shall die together.” The scene showing this was cut from the movie.

Sinking Strausses

 

Kate’s Feelings For Leo

Kate had a few stories of her own that she’d kept hidden for nearly 20 years. One of the most famous love scenes ever to appear in the movie includes Kate’s had wiping the fogged up glass of an antique car. Kate shared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, “I don’t think it was scripted. I think we came up with it on the day. It did get quite sweaty in the car, but we were spritzed down with spray Evian bottles…”

Kate’s Feelings For Leo

 

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It must have been a traumatic experience for Romeo and Juliet to look into the love of their life's eyes

 

 

but moments later be informed of the hatred that made it impossible. Innocently bored with life before. Lost in agonizing feelings after that, pulling them together no matter what. 

 

 

Belong to families that rather kill than put down their guns. 

 

Love is the most beautiful thing we have but is portrayed more tragic than pure in our days. I believe. To just love someone no matter what is a rare thing.

 

Playing my piano helps me get out of my head when my intuition starts working overtime. Nothing more you can think about when your fingers need to hit the right notes. Strong intuition can be overwhelming sometimes. For me and everyone else. 🙃

[YouNoMe]

@Mirella devastatingly so. True love...arguably, even truth...is often misapprehended greatly without mismeasure. 

 

You're welcome @oxford25 and Leonardo fam (if y'all feel the same)! 🌹 Below are two articles which conjoin to convey aspects recounting the stage behind the flick The Beach (2000). 👇 It can get tiresome, when one pleases for a thing repetitively, but I honestly want nothing more than to contribute not subtract from the community.  I can only hope what I present is new enough to be labeled as unseen. 😇

 

Real Story Behind Island Community That Inspired ‘The Beach’

17 Nov 2020 by Jasmine Stone in Entertainment, History, Lifestyle, Movies, Vibe

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[imagesource:here]

2020 has been the sort of year that makes you want to leave it all behind, hole up on a remote island somewhere, and return to a simpler, more laidback way of living.

In short, minus the shark attack and eventual unravelling, the lifestyle on show in the famous 2000 movie The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, based off a 1996 novel of the same name.

If you somehow haven’t seen it, here’s the trailer:

Many who have visited Thailand will tell you that the movie was shot on Maya Beach, on Phi Phi Leh Island, which you can visit as part of a day trip.

You and thousands of other tourists, all vying to take a picture that makes it look as tranquil as it was in the movie.

The real story behind the inspiration for Alex Garland’s 1996 novel remains somewhat contested, although there are those that say The Sanctuary, a then-secret beach community on Koh Phangan accessible only by hired boat or arduous hike, is clearly what set things off.

Two Koh Phangan residents, Gill Beddows and Steve Sanders, started The Sanctuary after becoming disillusioned with the increasingly commercial nature of the island’s party lifestyle, beginning building in 1990.

That, reports CNN, is just one of the similarities between The Sanctuary and the community depicted in The Beach:

Just as Gill Beddows supervised The Sanctuary’s development, aided by a partner with building skills, the secret beach community in Garland’s novel is overseen by Sal, a woman with a carpenter boyfriend. While Beddows and Sanders hail from the UK, Sal and her partner are American and South African…

Image: Allstar/20th Century Fox

Asked whether Garland actually visited The Sanctuary, [one-time resident Michael Doyle] says, “I have a fuzzy memory of a guy hanging out in a hammock and just watching the flow of life for a couple of weeks in the mid-’90s. And I can put names to a few of the characters in the story, so there’s that. It didn’t click so much with the book as with the film.”

Beddows is more forthcoming about Garland’s inspiration.

“As soon as the book came out, I knew.” she says. “There were just too many coincidences.”

For the first seven or so years, things were kept on the down-low, with friends of friends alerted through word of mouth, as the community became a haven for yoga, detoxing, and other wellness and spirituality practices that are today considered commonplace.

Image: The Sanctuary

The secrecy surrounding The Sanctuary didn’t last, and the founders eventually decided to “share the knowledge and skills we had developed”, with Doyle taking over as manager in 1998.

As a self-confessed “organized, get-stuff-done Capricorn,” Doyle ushered the resort into the 21st century, expanding programs in wellness and spirituality for a far-reaching market, while maintaining the intimacy and casualness valued by loyal guests who returned year after year…

Image: The Sanctuary

Former Sanctuary barman Nolan Dalby took over day-to-day management of the resort in 2016, although Doyle, now a resident of neighboring Koh Samui, remains involved.

Now, as COVID-19 decimates the international tourism industry, The Sanctuary is looking at alternate ways to bring its message to people around the world.

Dalby has set up a video recording studio in one of the bungalows, and streams yoga sessions live, and The Sanctuary now has its own video channel which streams both live and taped events.

All in all, they’ve come a long way since humble beginnings back in 1990.

You can read the full CNN article here.

 

 

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How a secretive hippie hideaway in Thailand transformed into a world-renowned beach retreat

Joe Cummings, CNN • Published 16th November 2020

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The Sanctuary: Located on Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand, The Sanctuary is a popular wellness resort offering spa, yoga and detox services.

courtesy The Sanctuary

Koh Phangan, Thailand (CNN) — Michael Doyle started making regular trips to Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand in the mid-1980s, enjoying laid-back life in rustic beach bungalows around the island between stints as a psychiatric nurse in Australia.

Eventually, he took up residence in Hat Rin, a sunset-facing beach at the southern tip of the island where a fast-growing international hippie scene offered everything from trance music and tai chi to hedonism and spirituality all rolled into one.

By 1989, Hat Rin had become world-famous for its monthly Full Moon Party on the beach, and Doyle melted into the flow of "the new Goa."

 

One day in 1991, a chance acquaintance invited Doyle to a celebration for the opening of a new spot on a secret beach further up the coast. It was called "The Sanctuary," and it could only be reached via hired boat or on foot over steep hills and rocky headlands.

He accepted, and choosing the latter route, he and his new acquaintances began the strenuous hike.

Related content

10 alternative Thai islands for those who hate crowds

"As we came over the first hill, the sight of a crystal-white beach below, without anyone on it, was pure magic," recounts Doyle. But they hadn't yet reached "the beach," and so the group trekked on along a narrow path threading between clusters of giant boulders.

"We glimpsed the second bay just before sunset," says Doyle. "Walking down from there, I felt as if I were passing through some kind of invisible membrane and I realized, 'well, my life has changed.'"

Perched among Volkswagen-sized granite boulders spilling on to white sands, The Sanctuary at that point consisted of a longhouse dorm, a couple of wood-and-thatch bungalows and an open-air cafe. The opening party blasted on for three days, with a spirited sharing of food and entertainment, including the erection of a large bamboo-frame meditation pyramid.

An enchanted Doyle stayed on for three months, along with a handful of other overnight long-termers who pitched in to build more bungalows.

 

 

 

Originally, The Sanctuary could only be reached by hired boat or on foot.

courtesy The Sanctuary

The perfect vibe

Behind the project were two Koh Phangan residents, Gill Beddows and Steve Sanders, who decided to establish The Sanctuary after becoming annoyed with ongoing commercialization in the Hat Rin scene.

"In Hat Rin we ran a café, and we were involved in the big parties," says Beddows. "But one day Steve said he'd found the most amazing beach up the coast."

He suggested they try and do something more meaningful there.

Known locally as Hat Thian (Mangrove Beach), the bay was owned by a single Thai family whom Sanders had befriended. This made it easier to come to an agreement for leasing the land and building The Sanctuary, compared with the many other bays divided amongst multiple rival families.

 

 

 

Pictured here in its early days, The Sanctuary was founded in the 1990s.

courtesy The Sanctuary

"We started building in 1990," says Beddows. "Steve and I had spent time at the Osho ashram in India, and that experience influenced us a lot. From the very beginning, we were focused on wellness and spirituality, offering an alternative to the party scenes on other beaches. We wanted it to be a center for like-minded people to practice yoga and detox, and various other therapies and treatments that are well accepted now, but which were practically witchcraft back then."

For the first seven or eight years, The Sanctuary and its long-term residents were wary of publicity and media attention.

"We felt the place had the perfect vibe, and we didn't want it spoiled," says Doyle of those years. "So for a while we tried to keep it to ourselves, as word of mouth among friends, as much as possible."

Inspiration for 'The Beach'?

Coincidentally or not, in 1996 first-time novelist Alex Garland published "The Beach," a gripping tale tracing the fate of a small, loose-knit group of world travelers who establish their own utopian community on a remote Thai beach.

Reprinted 25 times in less than a year, the novel became a "Lord of the Flies" for Generation X, and in 2000 was transformed into a $40 million film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Leonard DiCaprio.

The story opens when Richard, the British protagonist, encounters a deranged Scottish backpacker at a guesthouse on Bangkok's Khao San Road who tapes a hand-drawn map to Richard's door before killing himself.

Richard and a French couple follow the map to a hidden lagoon on a beautiful island, where they find a colony of hedonistic idealists from around the globe struggling to keep their idyll from being discovered.

CNN Travel was unable to reach Garland to confirm or deny the connection, but parallels with The Sanctuary led to rumors that a visit to the reclusive resort had inspired him.

“We were living in the hippie belief that everyone could live together, and we didn't need to let the outside world in and let money spoil everything.”

Gill Beddows, The Sanctuary co-founder

To begin with, both Garland's fictional community and The Sanctuary were established in 1990.

Just as Gill Beddows supervised The Sanctuary's development, aided by a partner with building skills, the secret beach community in Garland's novel is overseen by Sal, a woman with a carpenter boyfriend. While Beddows and Sanders hail from the UK, Sal and her partner are American and South African.

In the novel, Sal explains to Richard: "Of course, this is more than a beach resort. But at the same time, it is just a beach resort. We come here to relax by a beautiful beach, but it isn't a beach resort because we're trying to get away from beach resorts. Or we're trying to make a place that won't turn into a beach resort. See?"

Asked whether Garland actually visited The Sanctuary, Doyle says, "I have a fuzzy memory of a guy hanging out in a hammock and just watching the flow of life for a couple of weeks in the mid-'90s. And I can put names to a few of the characters in the story, so there's that. It didn't click so much with the book as with the film."

Beddows is more forthcoming about Garland's inspiration.

 

 

 

A variety of sleeping options are on offer, from private suites to shared dorms.

courtesy The Sanctuary

"As soon as the book came out, I knew." she says. "There were just too many coincidences.

"We were living in the hippie belief that everyone could live together, and we didn't need to let the outside world in and let money spoil everything. Gradually reality came in, knowing this wasn't sustainable without income.

"As our programs in yoga, self-exploration and detox expanded, and these things became more marketable in Thailand, we realized it would be crazy not to share the knowledge and skills we had developed. We were already ahead of the curve."

The couple invited Doyle to manage The Sanctuary in 1998 so that they could attend to other interests in the islands as well as back home in the UK.

As a self-confessed "organized, get-stuff-done Capricorn," Doyle ushered the resort into the 21st century, expanding programs in wellness and spirituality for a far-reaching market, while maintaining the intimacy and casualness valued by loyal guests who returned year after year.

By 2013, The Sanctuary was booked out most of the time and the staff were turning away hundreds of requests for stays over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Former Sanctuary barman Nolan Dalby took over day-to-day management of the resort in 2016, although Doyle, now a resident of neighboring Koh Samui, remains involved.

Covid-19 brings new challenges

When the spread of coronavirus began accelerating worldwide in March 2020, The Sanctuary was in the middle of another successful high season. Although international news prompted a majority of guests to depart, and people scheduled to arrive were canceling their reservations, a dozen or so Sanctuary guests stayed on well into the month.

As Doyle recalls, "We had to make a lot of decisions quickly, with the threat of borders closing and people still in-house. Taking into account the safety and comfort of our guests, as well as what was sustainable for us as a business, we called everyone into the restaurant one evening for a discussion.

"We let them know that during the island lockdown, they might not even be allowed on the beach, and that food supplies might get thin. In the end, everyone left except for a couple to whom we gave favorable rates for as long as they stuck it out."

With Dalby and a reduced crew -- many Sanctuary employees chose to return to their homes during Thailand's general lockdown from mid-March until mid-May -- the resort continued to operate.

The restaurant offered an abbreviated menu for long-term Hat Thian residents, on a takeaway basis only during lockdown, and then later for dine-in. Dalby purchased a smaller generator to economize on fuel, running electricity for limited hours each day.

While many hotels and resorts on Koh Phangan and around Thailand closed down completely from mid-March until June or later, The Sanctuary maintained its record of never closing down for even a day since its original opening.

 

 

 

The Sanctuary's wellness programs include yoga, self-exploration and detox.

courtesy The Sanctuary

"In many ways, these current challenges bring me back to the early days," says Doyle. "I remember when I first arrived in 1991, The Sanctuary had just one little Kubota generator, turned on in the late morning to run a smoothie blender at the restaurant, and then for a few hours more in the evening."

With fewer in-house guests to keep him occupied, Dalby shifted his attention to finding ways to deliver the Sanctuary experience to people locked down elsewhere in the world.

With the help of a photographer who visited The Sanctuary just after lockdown, Dalby developed a rustic video recording studio in one of the available bungalows so that live yoga classes could be streamed via Facebook and other Internet media.

As more gear was acquired, and the open-air studio became more technologically sophisticated, Dalby linked it with Vimeo Livestream Studio online so that they could record teachers, therapists and other experts living outside Thailand presenting instruction in meditation, movement, home detox, Pilates and yoga to live models in the studio.

The Sanctuary now has its own video channel streaming both live and taped events via social media as well as a dedicated web page, Sanctuary Wellness Live.

"With Thailand's international arrivals still strictly limited, the Vimeo studio keeps The Sanctuary experience open to all," says Dalby.

Meanwhile on "the beach," a steady stream of domestic visitors, both Thais and expatriates living in Thailand, are enjoying daily yoga classes, spa services, meditation, healthy dining and detox programs (on request), plus the beautiful bay itself, in relative isolation -- almost like it was 20-odd years ago.

The Sanctuary, 6 153/14 Ban Tai, Koh Phangan District, Surat Thani 84280; +66 (0)77 954 073

 

Next is a choppy video of Leo's rares....👇 I figured it to be fun.

 

[Jade Bahr]

Just because Kleo never gets old for no one that's the romantic in me 🌌

 

 

 

 

I don't think I ever saw someone jumping that happy on Leo like Kate.

 

If I was his girlfriend I would probably hate her for being allowed to touch him like this in public when I can't lol

 

I mean they're really touchy aren't they? I wonder if it's intuitive or 'just part of the job'... #never let go

 

 

 

They're just gorgeous

[Jade Bahr]

DLU will be shown in german cinemas. I'M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

 

 

[oxford25]

This new car commercial with Leo and little dog I haven't seen before

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUKP3RZIFFA/

[Mirella]

3 hours ago, Jade Bahr said:

Just because Kleo never gets old for no one that's the romantic in me 🌌

 

 

 

 

I don't think I ever saw someone jumping that happy on Leo like Kate.

 

If I was his girlfriend I would probably hate her for being allowed to touch him like this in public when I can't lol

 

I mean they're really touchy, aren't they? I wonder if it's intuitive or 'just part of the job'... #never let go

 

 

 

They're just gorgeous

 

I don't think Leonardo's girlfriend is the only one jealous of that kind of public display of affection. 

 

Does anyone know how the Emmys went for her? Saw a picture of Kate on Social media and she looked stunning and happy. 

 

[Jade Bahr]

^She won.