the Voicemail for Jill video, directed by Amber Sealey {official Thing}
(public post)
my dear ones.
greetings from catskill, new york. i just woke up with 30 people after sleeping in a tribal slumber-party pile after our listening party last night (photos below, it was amazing).
………..
THE VOICEMAIL FOR JILL VIDEO IS NOW UP.
it was not easy to find a press outlet that would premiere this video, given the subject matter. so a huge, heartfelt, fist-raised THANK YOU to refinery 29 for having the bravery to put their hand up and take it: we need more media outlets like you.
i am also making a request, below…..for you to share some thoughts with me (and each other) using your actual voices.
i’d like this to be a place we can discuss our feelings about abortion, from all angles, in an intelligent, compassionate place.
………………
i’ve said it before, when the song came out…..making a song about abortion is hard, and making a video for that song was even harder.
but i knew what it had to be, and what it had to make you feel…if it worked. i think we made it work. i know it worked for me, because i cry every time i watch this video, and i’ve now seen it 20 times.
i wrote the concept for this video myself, then worked very hard on the script with amber sealey, the director (who was recommended to me by another incredible filmmaker, miranda july).
amber took my concept and flew with it, and she understood and she NAILED IT. my gratitude to her is immense.
my gratitude to all of you for supporting this kind of work is also boundless.
thank you, thank you…..thank you.
the website refinery 29 agreed to premiere it (which was awesome of them)…..so we are sending you over there to watch it.
now go:
obviously:
please share the video.
how?
share this patreon post (it’s public), or….if you want to tweet about the video, please use THIS tweet:
https://twitter.com/amandapalmer/status/1103659044768792577
and/or….
if you want to share it on facebook, share THIS post:
https://www.facebook.com/amandapalmer/photos/a.10150851738153375/10156518909838375/?type=3&theater
i’m about to post a clip of the video on instagram.
go comment.
here’s to progress, everybody.
….and so many thanks to the patrons who acted as extras in this video.
it was an incredibly special moment.
we made a beautiful behind-the-scenes documentary about it…and you’ll see it soon.
……………
and now, the request. and an experiment.
if this video brought up anything for you, and you know what i probably mean by that, please share it here.
tell your own story. it doesn’t need to be about “your” abortion, it just needs to be your story, your feelings, about this video, this moment in time.
this is not the place for shouting at anybody or getting into a heated argument about abortion politics.
this is a place to talk, hold, listen, grieve, share, mourn, consider, think, help, comfort….to reflect.
to reflect.
leave your comments using type-writing fingers below.
OR, if you are feeling moved to record something with your voice….in the spirit of the voice-rambles, i also set up a MODERN HOTLINE, where you can leave messages, or voicemails, for me up to a few minutes in length.
these messages will remain anonymous, and i may (with your blessing, and if you’re calling, you’re giving me your blessing), make an audio collage of them on the internet.
i think these stories need to be heard.
here’s how:
- Record the voicemail however you want on your phone, computer, whatever. if you’re using an iPhone you can use the Voice Memo app. please keep it under 3 minutes if you can.
- Email your memo as an audio attachmentto Voicemails@amandapalmer.net.
- Attachments are preferred, but if you like you can use another service like SoundCloud to host your voicemail. If you do this please just include the word “*LINK*” at the front of the subject of your email so that we can easily pick your submission out of the inbox.
……………
here is kate (who played jill), and amber, (the amazing director) and me, on the set of the video on the top floor of my apartment in boston.
(photo by hayley rosenblum)
a quote from amber:
“We felt like it was really important to address the very pedestrian, and also beautiful and emotionally complex, experience of what it’s like when you’re literally on your wayto get an abortion. That experience on screen can be so loaded or dramatized, but we wanted to keep the visuals fairly grounded and real. What’s it like when you’re going to get an abortion and you walk past a woman with her babies? What does it feel like to be thinking about if you should terminate a pregnancy or not and at work you’re seated next to a hugely pregnant woman? It’s capturing those very important, and often very conflicting, experiences, and the duality that exits when you’re just another person sitting on the subway, and yet you’re about to go and do this thing that is often momentous for many women. We were not trying to say this experience is what it’s like for all women, everyone has their own stories, opinions, and experiences surrounding abortion, but hoped to make women who have gone through it, or are going through it, not feel so alone. To know that even though they may feel alone, they are notalone. Not in their thoughts, not in their experiences, and not in their isolation. They may be traveling alone to the appointment, but energetically there are millions of women who support them and don’t judge them and have felt what they are feeling.”
a quote from kate:
“Amber created such a supportive environment to bring Amanda’s song to life… I am grateful for any material that deepens our awareness of intimacy, its many reverberations, and how united we are in our struggle to feel less alone.”
….
THE VIDEO CREDITS
Director – Amber Sealey
Cinematographer – Matt Crum
Producer – Stefanie Sparks
Producer – Jesse Epstein
Editor – Patrick Nelson Barnes
Colorist – Matt Crum
Jill – Kate Adams
The Man – Aaron Cantor
Office Workers:
Johnny Blazes
Nadya Volicer
Shardae Jobson
Mali Sastri
Steven Panzek
Jack Abramowitz
Mom in Elevator – Dalilah Rain
Child 1 – Nera Gray
Child 2 – Tova Pearl
Child 3 – Kieran Cole
Childcare Help – Amrita Kaur
Amanda Palmer as herself
Party Attendees:
Mae Cutrona
Nivi Nagiel
Zia Revere
Cayla Horsey
Jacquelyn Gianetti
Aimsel Ponti
Dianna Leigh
Jim Kernohan
Abby Wilson
Bailey Hein
Boston Citizens:
Katherine Bergeron
E. Stephen
Cricket Barretti-Sigal
Michael McComiskey
Valerie Stephens
Mr. Ed
Ocean Farinella
Marissa Monteiro
Rosalba Solis
Inès de la Cruz
Julianna Quiroz
Elizabeth Bebyn
Linda May Ellis
Ted Thomas
Danielle Pollock
Richard Sealey
Jesse Epstein
Rachel Jayson
Clare Collar
Asa Collar
Eileen Ryan
Robin Grammer
Kim Daws & Child
Hayley Rosenblum
1st AC and DIT – Richard Hawke
2nd AD – Jen Padget
Set PA – Miriam Olken
PA Driver – Matt Melia
Still Photography – Hayley Rosenblum
Behind The Scenes Doc – James Holland
Gaffer – Chris Brown
Grip – Mitch Fortier
Catering – Cuisine En Locale
Office Location – Business District
Party Location – The Cloud Club
Amanda’s Assistants:
Michael McComiskey
Hayley Rosenblum
PA Driver – Anthony Flores
——-
that’s it.
with so much love,
amanda
p.s. we just arose from our catskill listening-party-sleepover, and tonight, a lot of you are going to have your own listening parties.
i’ll post some photos below…the listening parties both at the NY public library and in catskill were like a cross between summer camp and church. there was a lot of laughing and a lot of crying. hearing the record is hard for me right now…i hear mistakes. i also relive the last seven years and all that came along with it every time i listen. i turned to neil yesterday morning and said: “what am i doing? why am i doing this?” and he laughed at me.
yeah. i know why i am doing this.
the record is about to fly away from me. like a child leaving the nest. i am ready. i am so, so ready.
the New York Public Library listening party on tuesday, march 5th…..
all photos below by hayley rosenblum:
me and sxip shirey right before guests started to arrive.
the Catskill Mill listening party in catskill, ny on wednesdy, march 6th:
all photos below by hayley rosenblum:
(look…..jason came and played the accordion)
——THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS———
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4. new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/
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