Sylvia Binsfeld

Storyteller Sylvia Binsfeld: Filmmaker and Author

Sylvia was a storyteller since she can remember. Kids came from all over the neighborhood, paying a nickel at the garage door to get a seat and listen to her creative tales, which often continued the following week. She usually had a full house. "The fun part for me, when weaving my magical stories," says Sylvia, "was that I was excited to see how they would end as well...as they were completely spontaneous and every twist and turn was a delightful surprise for me! They were journeys I went on with everyone."

Sylvia later studied fine art at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, with the goal of becoming an illustrator for children's books, but became interested in a career as an actress, after auditioning for a play on a dare, and to her shock, ending up with the lead. She joined the Screen Actors Guild. Frustrated with the scripts she was reading, Sylvia quickly moved to the other side of the camera where she has more control over the messages she is putting out in the world.

Sylvia's first solo attempt at writing, producing, and directing won her the first place Telly Award...soon after, she started her own production company, DreamWeaver Films. Since then she has teamed with such wonderful talent as cinematographer Svetlana Cvetko (Academy-Award winning, "Inside Job"), platinum award winning musician Arnaldo Antunes and special-effects guru, Steve Wright ("Traffic", "Spy-Kids 3").

Because we today grow up in such a fast-paced culture and are constantly inundated with information and news, much of it negative, Sylvia was inspired to create the calming, award-winning short fantasy film, "Dorme". "Dorme" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festivals and later was invited to another 35 plus film festivals around the world, winning such honors as Best Film, the Audience Award and the Telly Award.

The short film "Dorme", was purchased by Gaiam, Inc. for their Spiritual Cinema Circle DVD of the Month Series where, like stories such as "The Little Prince", not only was it a favorite for kids, but it also attracted a strong adult following.

Soon after, Sylvia authored the book, "Dorme: A Magical Dreamland Visit". It comes with the award-winning "Dorme" dreamland, lullaby film,and is the first of a planned 5 book (+DVD) series for both kids, and for that inner child in all of us. The purpose is to bring back the innocent imagination Sylvia remembers from her own childhood, along with messages of love, hope, peace and connection, right before bedtime.