Gregory and Maria received their education at Rice University, where they majored in music and took an interest in filmmaking. They were married in 1985 and separated in 2005*. They remain good friends and continue to maintain their website and work on films together. Maria now uses her former name of Wagner (pronounced Vagner). She came to the United States from the former Soviet Union and was for many years an award-winning pianist and organist. Gregory, born in New York, started composing classical music at the age of 12 and wrote his first symphony at the age of 18 and an opera at 21. In 1990 Gregory started creating "object art" and collages, which were similar to miniature mise-en-scenes. Many of these works can be seen in their first short film made in 1991. Since then they have made nine more short films, most of which can be viewed on their website. In 1999 they began work on their first full-length feature film, Return to Light: a Spiritual Odyssey (2002), shot in Houston, Galveston, Germany and Austria.

Running the gamut of their personal experiences in the spiritual quest for true meaning in their lives, every aspect of the film was a collaborative effort between husband and wife (a fact unusual in and of itself). “Part of the strength of their work is that they are their work.” (Rice film professor Brian Huberman, 88.7 FM interview 01/21/02) Their combined experiences in classical music, art and philosophy give their films a rare lyrical transcendence and spiritual depth.

(June 27, 1993)

“The strong spiritual agenda of the Pearses in this film [Return to Light], for me, places them in a tradition of the arts that takes me back before the time of cinema, to the time of the Romantic period. I think of the works of the great painters that are trying to engage us with great irrational forces....” (B.H., ibid)

Their philosophy of art and life has its foundation in the work of German philosopher Abd-ru-shin. Together they  have taught two film courses: "Way Beyond Cinema" and "Adventures in Good Cinema". Their website Truth-in-CinemaQuest at www.cinemaseekers.com has become quite popular over the years with art-film buffs.

Recently, two of their short films, Answer to a Prayer  and Death & Transfiguration, were licensed to the Australian company Imaginites for inclusion in their new TV series "Mind Ignite", which will be distributed worldwide.

* All the visitors to our website should know that we strive to perceive issues of cinema and, more importantly, life itself on a high spiritual level and then to live accordingly. True marriage, as a particularly high blessing from the Creator, is on the level of a high spiritual ideal that must be striven for and fought for ceaselessly and vigorously. Many times as people engage in the process of spiritual advancement what was acceptable (even laudable) before no longer meets the demands of the scrutiny of the Light, which is the active Will of God. The sacred union of Marriage, like many spiritual things, has yet to be really understood (read more about it here.)