THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406170062
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: Long
``I dreamed I was dancing with Ted Turner,'' Martin said.
{REST} She thought the dream was telling her something. But she didn't think it predicted she'd waltz with the Turner Broadcasting mogul.
To Martin, the dream indicated she should enter the field of television production.
``I know it's crazy,'' said Martin. She was 39, had no college education and was selling underwriting for WHRO, the region's public broadcasters. Granted, she was a crack salesperson. And she was well read. But she had zero contacts in the realm of network or cable producers.
Still, she felt compelled to make the effort.
Today at 8 p.m., her three-hour series, ``The Power of Dreams,'' premieres on The Discovery Channel.
Martin is executive producer for the series, a multimillion-dollar production that takes viewers around the world - Greece, India and Australia - to look at the purpose and potential of dreams. Musician Billy Joel, author William Styron and His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama are among those featured.
``The average person devotes 50,000 hours in a lifetime to dreaming,'' said Clark Bunting, Discovery's senior vice president of programming, explaining what sold Discovery - which has 61 million subscribers - on the series.
``Everybody dreams. And there are some fascinating stories. Did you know that George Patton dreamed of fully developed battle plans? And Abe Lincoln dreamed of his assassination?''
In the series, the Dalai Lama tells about dreams he's had about his 17th century predecessor, the fifth Dalai Lama. Billy Joel reveals that ``all of the music I've composed has come from a dream. I dream sounds, arrangements, solos.'' Styron discusses how the heroine of ``Sophie's Choice'' came to him in a dream.
The show examines how other cultures - from Australia's aboriginal people to Tibetan Buddhist monks - use dreams in their lives.
The dream world, proclaims an on-camera monk, ``is the place where you can discover yourself.''
\ FOLLOWING HER DREAMS\ Certainly, self-discovery was part of the process for Martin as she began concocting her dream series in the late 1980s, while still living in Virginia Beach.
She was a few years into her Ted Turner dream phase. ``I had those dreams on and on for the longest time. They really kept me going,'' said Martin, who moved to Manhattan in 1990.
Earlier this month, Martin sat bathed in late afternoon sun in her midtown Manhattan office, located near the producers, network executives and book publishers with whom she does business. Surrounded by new age art, Oriental rugs and books on dreams and women's issues, she discussed her unusual, dream-directed career path.
Dream after dream, ``I'd be signing contracts with Ted Turner. I'd be doing deals with Ted Turner. Dancing with Ted Turner. At one point I got married to Ted Turner.''
The message was so strong, she actually called Turner's Atlanta office. Amazingly, she ended up on the phone with Turner himself.
``So I talked to him about these programs I wanted to do on paranormal science. He was the nicest guy. He said, `Sounds real interesting to me. Come on down and we'll talk about it.' ''
Martin flew to Georgia, only to find Turner had flown off with Raquel Welch. But she learned enough to realize Turner Broadcasting was not likely to spend big bucks to produce the series she had in mind.
``But I went down there to see him, based on these dreams. I just wanted to believe that Ted Turner would swoosh into my life and let me make all these programs I wanted to do.''
In another dream, she and Turner were eating fried chicken in his office as the two signed contracts. Books and television scripts were piled high on his desk.
Martin had that dream before she found her niche as a literary agent, too. Since 1988, she has sold several dozen books to major publishers. She recently sold a book by Virginia Beach psychotherapist Scott Sparrow for a six-figure sum.
Finally, a dream came that put it all in perspective.
``I was coming out of this house with Jason Robards. We walked across this big field together, arm in arm. At one point, I'm talking to him and look up and he's turned into Ted Turner.
``So we walked across this hill and there's a huge river - vast, blue and beautiful. And this really big flag was in the river. Both of us were appalled by that. So we waded out in the river and pulled it out. And we walked up the river where the flagman was.''
In her dream, they got the man to raise the flag. As the two walked away, Turner asked her if she'd go to work for him.
Yes, she said. ``But I told him I wouldn't be his secretary. I would only be his equal. He said, `OK.' ''
With that dream, she realized Turner had represented her all along. At first, she was acting the role of agent and producer - symbolized by Robards, a great actor.
Finally, she gained real power.
But she saw more in the dream. ``I really felt the spirit of America had gone down the river, so to speak. And I wanted, in some way, to bring the spirit back.
``We are such a great nation. But we've gotten so cynical. So afraid. So scared. Scared of standing up for what's right.
``I want the hero to come back. I want the good guys to be valued.
``So all the things I do, or want to do, are those kinds of things.''
\ FARM FAMILY\ Martin's life experiences have shaped her direction.
She grew up on a farm in Bracey, Va., just below South Hill, where she and her three siblings worked hard in the fields and cared about their neighbors. Once a month, a minister would sermonize for her kin in the tiny chapel on their property.
The family was filled with avid readers with willful personalities.
The independent-minded Martin married at age 15, and bore a son and daughter. Her marriage broke up after 13 years; by then, she was a wealthy young wife and mother living in Richmond.
Vast changes would ensue.
One major event was surviving an aircraft crash in the Grand Canyon in August 1974. Amazingly, the single-engine airplane glided without engine for a soft crash landing atop a mesa by the canyon's rim.
``That changed the way I felt about the people around me. How I embraced them after that. You realize what's important to you. And what was important to me was living.
``Really living. I couldn't live my life through anyone else. And I didn't want to die with any regrets.''
Where she had been materialistic, gloating over her lavish home, she turned more fully to spiritual pursuits.
She moved to Virginia Beach in November of that year, and began her odyssey. Within a few months, she was lecturing on dreams for the Association of Research and Enlightenment.
By the mid-1980s, she was experimenting with television. She produced her own low-low-budget talk show, ``The Sandra Martin Show,'' which aired on Cox Cable's public affairs Channel 11. One segment was on dreams.
Then she had this dream about riding a helicopter to the roof of a big house, which she entered from the top through a narrow opening.
True to her dream, Martin entered a tight field - starting at the top.
\ ``MONUMENTAL EFFORT''\ Recently, several hundred producers, writers, television executives and media representatives gathered at The Asia Society in New York for a screening of ``The Power of Dreams.''
Sipping wine and sodas, producers who worked with Martin described her as an unusually easygoing executive producer - approachable, charming.
``She's such a mild-mannered Virginia gal, who attracts this wild range of people,'' said Katherine Carpenter, series producer and frequent PBS producer. She recalled a party invitation from Martin that claimed guests would include astral projectors, cowgirls, levitators and alien abductees.
``Sandra's great - ebullient, bubbly - and has tons of ideas,'' Carpenter said. ``And this is a groundbreaking series. And I would call it an enormous achievement that she was able to get the series off the ground. It's been a monumental effort.''
Martin was ``really the sine qua non,'' or essential ingredient, behind the series, said Linda Harrar, who produced the introductory hour.
The odds are against a first-time producer landing a three-hour series, she said. ``But good ideas can break down a lot of walls. Particularly when they're presented well - and forcefully.''
``She is so unusual,'' added Veronica Young, a third producer. ``She came out of left field and just plunged in. She has terrific innocence. She's not jaded. It's a healthy naivete. She doesn't expect problems, and she seems determined to prevail.
``And she has huge charm.'' Sometimes, said Young, speaking in a confidential tone, ``she gets people to open their checkbooks.''
It was Martin's night. She floated from group to group, introducing her parents - who still farm in Bracey - to her dream team.
Later, before the lights went down to preview selected portions of the series, Discovery's Denise Baddour, a senior vice president, shared her thoughts with the crowd.
``I would like to acknowledge the woman who brought this series to us,'' she said. ``Sandra Martin, would you please stand up?''
The applause was loud and long - almost surreal. After all, the moment capped a dream she had held onto for so long.
All she could do was stand up and smile.
``She just wouldn't give up,'' said Baddour. ``And I'm glad she didn't.''
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