Although this Indiegogo campaign has ended, direct donations to the film are still being accepted at www.singasongtogether.com
If you are interested in making a significant, tax-deductible contribution to Ella Jenkins: We'll Sing a Song Together for a credited consideration, (e.g. Executive Producer,) please contact our production team via email at production@singasongtogether.com for information.
To donate by check, contact Director Tim Ferrin at morningbugle@gmail.com, or for more information on how you can help bring Ella Jenkins story to the screen.
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Below is some of the great press we've received for the film:
Chaz Ebert, Editor of Ebert Online
Jay Shefsky of WTTW11's Chicago Tonight
Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune (login required)
Steve Cochran and the morning team on WGN-AM Radio 720
Judy Sutton Taylor of the Chicago Tribune (login required)
Ella and the Film on WCIU-TV's You & Me in the Morning
Paul Biasco in DNAinfo Chicago
NPR critic Stefan Shepherd's Zooglobble Podcast
Mike Stephen of Outside the Loop Radio
A nod to the film in Smithsonian Magazine
Plus videos, posts, contributions and love from Wilco,
Dan Zanes, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Ralph Covert, Fred Koch and more!
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"I wouldn't be doing what I do today if it weren't for the music of Ella Jenkins... please help us get this movie made!"
- Dan Zanes
"We need this movie. It has to be done."
"Ella is one of the most influential musicians on the planet.
She's 90. We have to do this now."
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Ella Jenkins celebrated her 90th birthday on August 6th!
If you are interested in making a significant, tax-deductible contribution to Ella Jenkins: We'll Sing a Song Together for a credited consideration, (e.g. Executive Producer,) please contact our production team via email at production@singasongtogether.com for information.We'll
Sing a Song Together
Many remember Ella as the occasional
shining face on
Mister Rogers’
Neighborhood. Others know Ella from her decades on the road performing at community
centers, libraries and in concert halls. Still more have learned and sung
Ella’s chants in their homes and classrooms.
Those who have had the pleasure of
enjoying Ella’s performances in person know that she enchants her often very
young audiences with captivating songs, rhythms and rhymes. Always stressing
participation, Ella has opened the door to music for tens of thousands, if not
millions of children, as well as their parents, grandparents and teachers.
Without advertising corny novelties or bowing
to maudlin trends, Ella Jenkins has built a singular career of her own, largely
on her own terms. Despite garnering great popularity amongst several generations of music
fans, Ella has overcome serious obstacles of race, gender, and hardship in order
to become the beloved performer she is today. And she’s had a pretty
interesting time doing it.
Like many of her folk music-making contemporaries, Ella Jenkins' life runs parallel to many of the most important events in modern American history. Ella Jenkins: We'll Sing a Song Together will frame our collective history in her voice, with her music, and through her unparalleled experiences.
With your support through this campaign, we can make Ella Jenkins: We'll Sing a Song Together the definitive portrait of one of the leading, if overlooked figures in American music. We hope you'll help us bring it to the screen.
The First Lady of Children's Music
Known internationally as The First Lady of Children's Music, Ella has been performing and recording her original songs for nearly 60 years! With 40 releases to her credit on the Smithsonian Folkways label, Ella has stood peer-to-peer with the likes of Pete Seeger, Odetta and Freedom Singer and Sweet Honey in the Rock founder Bernice Johnson Reagon. Quite arguably the first artist to ever trailblaze a career in the now vast field of children's music, she has been recognized by ASCAP, the Library of Congress, and with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Did You Feed My Cow?
In
addition to providing downloads and DVDs of the finished film to our donors, we
are also very excited to present some exclusive thank you gifts available only
through this fundraising effort.
Check our facebook page and twitter feed to see the current contest for exclusive and autographed items for our backers. There's always a contest running!
Among
the premiums we’re offering are two options for an audience with Ella!! at the $500 and $5000 level. We also have an exclusive t-shirt created specifically for this campaign, and an Official Ella Jenkins Hohner Harmonica, in four colors.
We
also have some special items that will be autographed
by Ella including vintage LPs
and a ukulele generously donated by
Rhythm Band Instruments.
We’re
also very excited to offer many selections from Ella’s vast musical catalog on CD and album download,
which have been generously donated by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the
nonprofit record label of the National Museum and home to Ella’s
recorded output since 1957.
Album download options include:
Call and Response - Ella's first album, released on Folkways in 1957
A Long Time to Freedom - An overlooked gem for adults and older children from 1969
Jambo - One of Ella's best-loved albums from 1974
Early, Early Childhood Songs - Songs for young children and their families from 1982
Multicultural Children's Songs - A very popular favorite from 1995
You
can see all of the thank you gift options in the panel on the right, and a few
photos of the anticipated premiums by clicking on the Gallery tab above. We encourage you to pledge for yourself, as well
as for the old and new Ella fans in your life!
Ella t-shirts are available in Adult and Child sizes, and Onesies at applicable pledge levels!![]()
Call and Response
While this film will
certainly celebrate Ella’s pioneering work as ostensibly the first full-time
children’s musician, it will also tell the extraordinary story of a unique
woman who raised herself out of relative poverty to become a professional
musician, songwriter, clinician, and a beloved figure across much of the world.
By
sharing performances and anecdotes from throughout her life and career, Ella Jenkins: We’ll Sing a Song Together will
place Ella’s unique life story against the backdrop of some of the major
movements in modern American history by recounting her experiences with the
Great Migration, the Great Depression, the development of the atomic bomb, early educational television, the
rise of the folk movement, civil rights, women’s rights, multiculturalism,
environmentalism, and the modern labor movement.
We'll also explore Ella’s
love of music and her abundant influences, as well as the diverse range of
performers she has influenced. We look forward to also re-discovering Ella’s catalog
of oft-overlooked adult folk and gospel music, which affirms the rich sensibilities
apparent in the music she has made for four generations of children.
This-a-way, That-a-way
We have begun initial production on Ella Jenkins: We'll Sing a Song Together, recording in-depth interviews with Ella and friends, but we've still got a ways to go. Successful completion of this fundraising campaign will enable our crew to get on the road to gather the interviews and material necessary to tell Ella's story. After our initial travels, we'll be able to assemble footage and archival materials for edit, which will then allow us to pitch the project to donors and organizations for completion funds needed for post-production and licensing.
In addition to working closely with Ella
and her management, we have had the great fortune of receiving enthusiastic
cooperation from Ella's career-spanning record label, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
This project would not be possible without their support. The Old Town School
of Folk Music, in Ella’s and our crew’s sweet hometown of Chicago, has also assisted
us immensely in literally opening their doors to our crew, and in gathering
material about Ella’s relationship with the school, which harkens back to the school's
opening night in 1957.
We all look forward to finally bringing Ella's story to the screen, and we sincerely hope you'll help us make it happen. And that's all there is to it. As Ella might say "Muchas gracias a todos!"
Contact Our Team
If
you have any questions about this production, you may contact our team through
this campaign, or at the film’s website: www.singasongtogether.com
If you are interested in making a significant tax-free financial contribution to Ella Jenkins: We'll Sing a Song Together
for Executive Producer consideration, please contact our production team at production@singasongtogether.com.
More About Ella's 90th Birthday
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In celebration of of Ella's 90th birthday on August 6th, Smithsonian Folkways released More Multicultural Children's Songs. Smithsonian Folkways is inviting everyone to share "happy birthday" messages with Ella at folkways.si.edu/ella
Ella Jenkins photos by Bernadelle Richter
Smithsonian Folkways footage courtesy Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood footage © The Fred Rogers Company, used with permission
Barney & Friends ™ footage courtesy of Lyons Partnership, L.P.
Bird and flower drawings by Yoko Mitsuhashi. Ella caricature by Richard Irey. Used with permission.
Ella Jenkins album downloads will be delivered by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. By selecting a digital download, you agree to share your email address with Smithsonian Folkways.
© Morning Bugle Productions, Inc. 2014
