LYNN — A long-time dream of local filmmaker Claude Exama was finally realized recently when he wrapped production on the pilot episode of his talk show, “Claude and Me,” focused on exploring the spiritual journeys of his guests.
“The show is there to help people help themselves,” said Exama, a graduate of St. Mary’s. “No one teaches you how to master yourself, master your inner world. Once you can do that, you become more powerful, you become more in control.”
While he said he was interested in the idea of running a talk show for many years, the idea of speaking on people’s personal struggles did not come to him until about five years ago.
“I didn’t realize what I wanted to talk about until I reached a place in my life where I was at rock bottom,” said Exama. “The only thing I had left was my true self, my inner self. And I had to rebuild from that.”
He hopes that the stories shared on the show will help people overcome challenges like his.
The first episode of the show, called “Choose Life,” with Beatrice Fernando and psychologist Dr. Maria Sirois begins with the story of Fernando, a Sri Lankan woman who was human trafficked in Lebanon.
She was only able to escape by jumping out of a four-story window, Exama said, without knowing whether she would live or die.
She woke up in the hospital 21 days later, paralyzed from the waist down, but has since learned to walk again.
The second half of the show features a discussion with Sirois about how people can get the tools to develop that sort of resilience in their lives.
Claude released the 30-minute pilot episode, along with three shorter episodes on YouTube. The other episodes include interviews with Lynn singer Amanda Mena, who recently scored a Golden Ticket to Hollywood during her American Idol audition.
Many episodes focus on identity, and struggling to find oneself.
“I want to give people that space for people to have that voice,” said Exama, “And represent people who feel underrepresented.”
Exama, who also works as a model, was able to fund the production through the money he saved up from his modeling gigs, and working various jobs. He also worked with an old friend to rent out the studio space at a discount.
“I’m far from a trust fund baby,” he said.
While the show is currently available online, Exama is optimistic that it will be picked up by someone with the funds to produce an entire season.
“The goal is not for YouTube,” he said. “The goal is to catch some eyes, send it to some different companies and hopefully find an underwriter.”
Exama said he picked up the tricks to running a talk show pretty quickly.
“People trust me,” said Exama. “I see them become more comfortable in that chair as I’m talking to them.”
In the past, Exama worked as a reporter and producer at several news stations, including working as a promotional producer and writer at a station in Tampa, an intern and producer at WHDH in Boston, and a news producer at a station in New Hampshire.
“I’ve done a little bit of everything on TV, from the marketing end, to the writing end to the editing end,” he said. “It’s been cool putting all that together.”
He plans to shoot and release another round of “Claude and Me” episodes in the late spring.
Guthrie Scrimgeour can be reached at [email protected].
