WEST HOLLYWOOD ― Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) premiered the long anticipated SHE4ME viral video PSA on YouTube today,Valentine’s Day. The project, SHE4MarriageEquality (SHE4ME), is a five+ minute video directed by award winning writer/director The video features several other cameos by actresses who have portrayed seminal lesbian roles and introduces two new young talents, dancer Jolie Ponchetti and actress Hazel Sepenuk.
The video opens up to a beautiful wedding, where viewers witness a celebration of love between family, friends, and guests. The viewers are taken on a journey through exquisite flashbacks of the bride and her best friend in their youth. We witness an underlying tension during the present day wedding before being presented with an endearing plot twist. The twist has been designed to help transmit a hopeful message of love and understanding to a mainstream audience, thinking of those with opinions somewhere near neutral on the freedom to marry for same-sex couples.
SHE4ME was born from the song “SHE,” written and performed by singer-songwriter Jen Foster, who appears in the video as the “Wedding Singer.” The song has been a favorite within the lesbian community for over a decade and is regularly used in lesbian commitment ceremonies. A new version of the track has been produced and scored by Eve Nelson who designed an incredible fusion of contemporary orchestra and dance to compliment the video storyboard.
This month, SHE4ME Director Conn, was officially crowned the #1 LGBT Feature film Writer/Director of all time. Nicole Conn, best known for her groundbreaking multiple award winning lesbian films, Claire Of The Moon (1992); little man (2005); Elena Undone (2010); and A Perfect Ending (2012); has once again delivered in this poignant yet epic music video that celebrates Marriage Equality.
“The pinnacle of love is the joining of two souls to become one and the most sacred act to commemorate this is Marriage. When I was approached to come up with a concept for the SHE4ME supporting Marriage Equality, I was thrilled. My entire career has been devoted to creating books and films that provoke the viewer to experience the spectrum of emotions involved with love and passion and our goal here was to produce something that could communicate our message to a mass audience.” –Nicole Conn
SHE4ME is being released on the first Valentine’s Day after Bridegroom, a 2013 documentary in which Shane Bitney Crone talks about growing up gay in Montana and having a grim outlook on life not knowing if he could meet his soul mate, fall in love, and live happily ever after – much less, fathom the idea of getting married and having a family. Like many within the LGBT community, Crone assumed he would live a lonely existence full of shame – in part, because he had never been exposed to a healthy image of a gay person. One that is capable of finding true love.
SHE4ME is all about love. About how underneath it all, “Love is Love” and, to coin a lyric from the song SHE, “there is nothing to be afraid of.” This video shows a face that people need to see, the face of unconditional love. With the help of YouTube and hundreds of volunteers, partner organizations, SHE4ME is expected to reach millions of people all around the globe, especially in places where LGBT people are not accepted.
Wedding scenes were filmed at the iconic Andaz West Hollywood, which has recently served as location for many high profile same-sex weddings.
Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA), the largest grassroots Marriage Equality organization in the United States, partnered with Fosterchild Records and Melke Pty Ltd to produce this social project.
Brian Silva, Executive Director for Marriage Equality USA says, “Music and video projects like this have the power to impact millions of viewers by showing the love and commitment that is celebrated and protected by passing civil marriage equality for LGBTQ families.”
Melke brings experience in LGBT media and music-centric projects to the table. Currently the company represents Jen Foster; is producing Nicole Conn’s next film; and is teaming up with WingSpan Pictures and GLSEN to produce the feature length Love Is All You Need in support of anti-bullying.
