MetaStory System

Our Origin Story: from Solo Heroes Journey to Collective Quest

Another World is Possible is a true earth odyssey, an apocalyptic adventure, a science nonfiction journey from dystopia to protopia—and above all, a love story. It begins in the backyard, imagining new worlds and roleplaying to save them with a wooden sword. A young Zachary Marlow drove his Excalibur into a fallen birdhouse like the stone, and a swarm of bees rose like a dragon and turned the lights out.

Flash forward: a decade of depression, anxiety, and ADHD-fueled pharmaceutical tranquilizing, dropping out of film school, shooting every kind of video under the sun—from soul-sucking corporate to art house docs and museum pieces. Haunted by my first film about a Romanian orphanage, climate collapse visions, and a quote from Einstein about the extinction of bees. It shattered me. I spiraled—alcoholism, a failed suicide plot, psych ward revelations. I wasn’t crazy—the world was. And if I could help others, my life had meaning.

I hitchhiked into the sunset and found something greater—etched in the faces of homeless men who shared what little they had, built in earthship villages and communes. I traveled the world without money, followed my heart, gave up expectations and got back the world. I shot home movies on my phone, lived in the gift, saw the world’s systems like an alien observer. Motorcycle trips, interviews with grandmothers on imperial coups, watching my generation crushed under debt. I saw how most of the world lives as slaves to a broken system—and how we could all live better if we truly shared this Earth.

From van life and migrant work to champagne sunsets and a mountaintop ayahuasca calling, I received my mission like holy fire: make a film about the crisis and the better world our hearts know is possible. I lived in my truck in LA with my dog for two years shooting that film, working with nonprofits, activist groups, Marianne Williamson’s campaign. I saw how all our “issues” are one system. It’s not enough to call out the bad—we must provide the answer.

That answer came when I found Moneyless Society: a tribe who heard the call. For four years we grew a movement, a podcast, a meme empire reaching millions. We built mutual aid in Appalachia, a nonprofit connecting people globally into action. At one point our socials outperformed MSNBC. We used horizontal systems to turn media into real-world impact and lasting community.

In the upheaval of pandemic and protest, I started shooting a blueprint for regenerative creative revolution. It evolved into a planetary odyssey—piecing together a new story for Earth. A roadmap to a world beyond war, poverty, money—a world of reverence, collaboration, and solutions forming something greater than the sum of their parts.

I’ve worked directly with projects like The Global Justice Program, Just Transition, Extinction Rebellion, Amazon River Watch, Democracy At Work, Holochain, Ecoversity, Self Determination Theory, Lionsberg, Grassroots Economics, Southface Institute, The Venus Project, Funding the Commons—and I’m an official storyteller for the Arhuaco Nation. I’ve built a global network of heroes and helped weave their stories into a common narrative.

Then the biggest story of all: my podcast reached an Italian-Canadian beauty with a heart of gold. In the dark night of meningitis, bedridden for years, she discovered my work. A diplomat’s daughter with a scientific mind, she told me the vision broke her out of lifelong eco-despair. We fell in love from first sight—a lightning bolt across oceans. We met in the Italian sunset, and it felt like we were the first two citizens of a new earth. We’re now engaged and building this world together.

This is the power of story to change a life—and we’re using it to change the world.

We live and work in Topanga Canyon, invited by legendary producer Darius Fisher (Avatar, Kiss the Ground), growing our studio with a community of artists, builders, and visionaries tackling the greatest challenges of our time.

As AWP took shape, we joined forces with Simon Q, whom I met in the Colombian jungle. After years working in finance for the system, Simon felt the call and joined the planetary story. Our paths intertwined across three continents (so far). The story keeps growing—owned by no one, truly cooperatively governed, an open source creation myth for a world we are here to co-creat.

Another World is Possible isn’t just a production company. It’s a living model of the regenerative, horizontal, post-capitalist cooperative future our journeys revealed. We’re devoting our lives to making that future real—and we can’t wait for you to join us.

Let me know if you want this trimmed even more or turned into a visual story format for your website.