For a long time, Caroline Thompson and Steve Nicolaides wanted to make a movie at their ranch in Ojai, California. Independent. Original. Away from all the palaver of their professional lives. They wanted to make a movie for fun…because, for quite a while, making movies hadn’t been fun for either of them. “THE HILLS ARE ALIVE” was born of a fascination with the spiritual, non-material, imperceptible aspects of being alive and of being alive where they live in Ojai. Their ranch sits in a bowl formed by the hills at the back of a deep canyon. Actually, it’s probably more accurate to think of it as an amphitheatre rather than a bowl; it’s their stage, they guess.

The story of the movie: Three junior college students, stuck in summer school in a southern California beach town, are challenged by their professor to search for an ancient sacred site he predicts will be found in the nearby mountains of Ojai. It's a challenge based on history, geography and the deep reservoir of spirituality that flourishes in this part of California. Krishnamurti, Meyer Baba, Aldous Huxley, Ellen DeGeneres and many others have been drawn to Ojai for a reason. And like all journeys to the spirit world, what you find is rarely what you seek. The hills are indeed alive, but not with the sound of Julie Andrews' music.