Debra Gonsher Vinik

Larry Hilford, who was the head of CBS Fox where I worked after Bravo, was a mentor to me and really helped get me off the ground. He gave me advice that I think about all the time, so many years later. With everything I had going on, he really thought that with my energy, I should maybe go into news. At that time, the cable channels were starting all these news programs, and I actually thought about it for a little bit. But I decided against it, and like anything else, you wonder which path you took. I'm very, very happy with the path I took, but you can't help but be curious about other paths. His observation about my energy was certainly right, and he was a very good man.

When I speak at colleges, my first opening line is: if you're thinking about going into documentary filmmaking, I say, don't. And everyone laughs, but I'm actually really serious. It is a brutally difficult career. It's not for the faint-hearted. I'm speaking only about my kind of documentaries on social justice, not about architecture or art. Don't think for an instance you're going to be like Michael Moore or Ken Burns, because the odds are, no matter how talented you are, it's just not going to be that way. You're going to spend an enormous amount of time trying to raise funds for your documentary, and it's debilitating. But there are only two reasons to really go ahead and pursue this career. One, if it's the only way you know how to repair the world - there's an expression in Hebrew called Tikkun Olam, meaning repairing the world. And if it's the only way you know that you can repair the world, that's one good reason. The second good reason is a little more selfish, but I have met the very best people in doing this. We've done 22 documentaries, we're on our 23rd, I've interviewed over 300 people. I have many of the people who are in my earliest documentaries who are still, if not friends, acquaintances, colleagues - I'm still in touch with them over years and years of doing this. I feel incredibly thankful and blessed to have met all of these people and to have been in a career that has allowed me to meet very eclectic people across demographics and religions. That's my biggest blessing, really.

Social justice is one of the main drivers of values that are important to me. Every morning is a challenge for me to read the newspapers, because I think that there's a complete lack of morals and values right now. I don't mean to be hyperbolic or sarcastic, but I see examples every day that literally make me sick. This morning's news was that the Justice Department decided not to go ahead with their indictment of a mega-billionaire from India who defrauded thousands of people - they're just closing that case because he's giving billions to start factories and employ people. The idea that the people who have been damaged by this guy are never going to see any kind of justice literally makes me weak. I see this every morning in some news story. That's why our newest documentary is on gratitude - it's called 'I Thank, Therefore I Am.' It looks at gratitude and how it keeps one's heart open in times of stress, in times of grief, in times when you think you're closing down. I have my own gratitude practice, and I keep thinking about gratitude in these moments where it's so easy to shut down. Gratitude and resiliency with a purpose are driving things for me. There's an expression in Hebrew called Tikkun Olam, meaning repairing the world, and that's central to why I do this work.