In #NoJoke, singer Andrew Cole sets out to convince his musical idols to help him make a song for victims of bullying. He’s joined by Jeff Goldblum, Slash, Patrick Stewart, Lemmy, Chad Smith, Jane Lynch and more, who share their talents and their sometimes painful experiences. Andrew’s journey to understand bullying leads him to experts and to the ghosts of his own past—going beyond the tropes of today’s anti-bullying campaigns to the heart of the issue. From writer/director Manfred Becker, #NoJoke chronicles a musician’s journey to create a song with some of the biggest stars in the industry. Along the way, he faces up to his painful past, while giving viewers a deep personal insight into the issue of bullying. We talked with producer Jason Loftus about the film. Here’s what he had to say:
How did you get involved in #NoJoke?
Jason Loftus: My producing partner, Adam Leipzig, and I hopped onto what was already a moving train. Andrew Cole was still a relatively unknown singer-songwriter, and he was working with a charity based in Canada called Abuse Hurts. Somehow, Andrew began convincing some big Hollywood names to join him in making this “We Are The World” thing about bullying.
We all like underdog stories, so right away this was interesting. How was he doing it? What was driving him? Where was this going? Adam and I believed there was a movie here. We came on and searched for a director.
What suggestions did you have for the film from the outset?
JL: Even though the story is about this guy who seeks to build an army of celebrities to help stop bullying, we know the issue of abuse is complex and not something we can solve simply with artists banding together. I didn’t want a film that trivialized or ignored this reality, and nor did Adam.
So I think the biggest decision early on was in finding a director who would do justice to the subject matter. If you’ve seen Manfred Becker’s previous work, he’s not into puff pieces. We believed he could balance the celebrity aspect of this project and still bring gravity and nuance to a difficult issue. This included delving into Andrew’s own past, as well as the various experts Andrew meets that help shape the ideas in the film.
And how difficult was it to put together – even before a roll of film had been shot?
JL: I think the biggest challenges in the beginning were likely on Andrew’s part as he tried to convince someone, anyone, to join him in this crazy plan to make a song about bullying. On the filmmaking side, we were fortunate to have a couple of like minded producers and a great team for the production, as well as a charity partner that was lending support where they could. Once filming began and Manfred and his team were following Andrew’s journey, it was really about giving Manfred the time and resources to find the story as it emerged. That’s often the most gruelling and time-consuming part of making a documentary.
Was it hard to wrangle some of the bigger names, like Charlie Sheen, Patrick Stewart and Jeff Goldblum into the film?
JL: As the film portrays, this was really all Andrew. And as you see in the film, he had some pretty creative ideas to try to get the access he needed to do his pitch. It was definitely tough going at first until he started to get some yeses. As with anything, the first one is the hardest. So landing Jeff Goldblum was a huge boost for Andrew.
And how much time, in general, would they give you?
JL: There were a few things captured on the fly, but for the most part these are proper sit-down interviews, often done inside the homes of the artist. Time varies, but by and large they were generous.
Was anyone in particular especially generous?
JL: I think you could say several artists were in different ways. There was Jeff Goldblum who got things started and also shot with Andrew multiple times. And there were others like Patrick Stewart, Jane Lynch, Chad Smith and Michael Biehn who were really generous in what they shared, including some difficult things from their pasts.
Michael Biehn is just one of the actors who confesses to having been a bully. What do you believe are the former bullies’ motivation for getting involved in the film? Is it almost a way for them to apologise to those people they picked on as kids, and on the biggest canvas possible?
JL: Perhaps. I was particularly struck by what Michael shared, and Patrick Stewart as well. Maybe it’s to apologize and make amends. I think it’s also a caution in hopes that others might make better choices, a warning that when you hurt other people it’s actually yourself you’re harming in the end.
Is there anything these names wouldn’t discuss, that you had hoped they would’ve, or were they open books?
JL: There were definitely some who spoke more openly about their own experiences with bullying (on both sides of the issue) and others who spoke mainly to offer support and encouragement to those who’ve endured abuse. It’s possible that there were things these people had experienced or done that they didn’t want to bring up. But it’s also possible they simply did not experience these kinds of traumatic events. Andrew would always say, “You don’t need to have cancer to support finding a cure.” As you see in the film, we did have a celebrity who spoke with Andrew about being in a gang, having been hurt and having hurting others. It’s a good interview. And as we mention in the film, at the height of #MeToo, he was then accused of having sexually assaulted multiple women, which obviously had not come up in the interview.
You don’t know what’s gone on in someone’s life, and you can’t really know what someone’s motivations are. There’s also an obvious irony in looking to Hollywood as the answer to help end a type of abuse, given the problems we know that have gone on in the industry. But despite all that, I do believe there are many people who sincerely want to help and encourage others who might be going through difficult times, and to encourage people to be kind.
I imagine you shot a lot more of these A-listers, than ended up in the film – was it hard to decide what to cut?
JL: Yes, the vast majority of these interviews were not included in the film, and it is hard. Many of these people are hard to reach, they are very successful and buys, and they were kind enough to give of their time to support this project. So you want to find a way to get all of them in, but that’s just not possible.
There is definitely an appeal to hearing celebrities talk about their experiences. Andrew would say that if he’d heard his idols when he was young telling him they’d gone through the same things, that it would have really helped him through some difficult times. I get that. But it’s also a feature length documentary, and the narrative involves much more. It’s Andrew’s own personal journey to find his childhood bully, his effort to make amends, and to reconcile his relationship with his father, to better understand abuse, why we do what we do, and how we can do better. There was a lot to be explored. But there will be opportunities to share some more of these interviews through other channels down the road.
I assume it’s difficult, in general, when deciding what to stash and what to trash when editing down a documentary? How much footage was on the cutting room floor?
JL: I haven’t counted the hours of footage, but the ratio is definitely pretty overwhelming. That’s a big part of the filmmaking process in a documentary. Manfred was previously an editor himself and he worked with a great editor on this project in Dave Kazala. I think they’ve done a excellent job in ensuring whatever is included is there because it serves the story. That’s really hard to do. Despite the ground the film covers and how much was available, they’ve kept the film to 70 minutes, which is really tight for a feature.
Are you happy with the finished result?
JL: I’m very proud of this film. I watched it again recently after not having watched it since we locked picture and I appreciate it even more now. I think audiences are going to really enjoy it.
What kind of feedback are you receiving from those that have seen it?
JL: We screened the film at the Royal Cinema in Toronto a couple of weeks ago. There was a very engaged Q&A afterwards, and I could see the film was resonating both with communities of people who deal with victims of abuse on a regular basis and with the general moviegoing public who were simply interested in Andrew’s story. It’s encouraging to see the film cut across different interest groups. That’s all you can really ask for. The film will screen at the Liverpool Film Festival at the end of the month, which is exciting because that’s where some of the story takes place. After all the time that went into it, we’re really excited to share it.