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May 18, 2026- by Steven Greer
I used to go to Los Angeles every year for vacation. In 2017, I enjoyed the David Lynch limited series revival of Twin Peaks. He was hosting an artsy film festival of sorts in Downtown Los Angeles (combined with a meditation convention). It seemed like a cool thing to do, and I went.
I met the character named Candy from the 2017 Twin Peaks, as well as Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer from the original Twin Peaks, etc).
There was a party afterwards. It was in a Downtown Los Angeles theater. Lynch had characters from the Twin Peaks show giving performances from the balcony (see video). I was standing right next to David Lynch when he was talking on the stage.
Now, fast forward nine years, and I finally watched Mulholland Drive. There is a surrealistic theater scene in a Downtown Los Angeles theater called Silencio. Well, I basically experienced that scene in 2017 in real life.
David Lynch died last year. I feel like he left me a present that I only discovered now, all these years later.
After watching Mulholland Drive, I wondered what happened to him between that successful film in 2001 and his good 2017 Twin Peaks sequel. It turns out that he gave up on mainstream theatrical productions and pursued oddball music and short films. He was frustrated with the machinery of Hollywood (which is depicted in the plot of Mulholland Drive, with the director character being told whom to cast by shady mafia characters).
I recall seeing Lynch in a cameo on Louis C.K.’s show ‘Louie’. He played a studio executive giving advice who said, “You gotta go away to come back.” That’s what he did in real life. David Lynch essentially left mainstream Hollywood for 15 years, even though Mulholland Drive resulted in an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
Then, I stumble upon all of this by randomly attending a 2017 film festival. I had no idea that David Lynch had three ‘Best Director’ Academy Award nominations. I was standing right next to the guy and just thought he was an eccentric niche filmmaker. I am learning all of this nine years later.
It is surreal. I attended a film festival, met the guy, and just now am realizing exactly what was going on (i.e., he was making his comeback). It feels like I was pulled towards the event by some metaphysical Lynchian force.