Spark Media

Heartbreaking news this morning...

"He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans." - Allison Holker Boss, Stephen "tWitch" Boss' wife

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline.

Stephen "tWitch" Boss' wife, Allison Holker Boss, confirmed his passing in a statement issued to PEOPLE: "It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us." Read the full story: peoplem.ag/3UYObK2 | 📷: Getty Images

SOUL OF A PEOPLE by David A Taylor Read by Robin J Sitten | Audiobook Review | AudioFile Magazine

Just wanted to share this AudioFile Magazine review we saw of Soul of a People, David Taylor's excellent companion book to our doc about the Federal Writers Project. You can find the book on Audible now!

We're excited to be collaborating with David again on a podcast about the Writers' Project, which is currently in development in partnership with American Library Association, and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska.

SOUL OF A PEOPLE by David A Taylor Read by Robin J Sitten | Audiobook Review | AudioFile Magazine AudioFile Audiobook Review: Reading with warmth, clarity, and a sense of informed curiosity, narrator Robin Sitten takes listeners on a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour of one

We just want to say thank you to Gracepoint Foundation, Love IV Lawrence and Lutes Family Foundation for hosting last night’s screening of Scattering CJ. The event, which was emceed by Gracepoint’s board president Lee Winter, also included a discussion with CJ’s mother Hallie.

We also want to give a shoutout and thank Winter, along with Ashley Schlechty and Ian Adair, for organizing this event!

We keep hearing how emotional and impactful this event was, and we are truly inspired by the important work being done by Gracepoint, Love IV Lawrence and the Lutes Family Foundation to spread awareness for mental health and su***de prevention. The work they are doing will inspire important conversations and show people that it’s okay to not be okay, and that there should be no stigma around asking for help.

Thank you again, all!

Saddened to hear about the loss of the Julia Reichert, a truly inspirational filmmaker and one of the co-founders of New Day. Her trailblazing career included 50 years of groundbreaking and thought-provoking work. Her voice will be missed.

We mourn the loss of our Oscar-winning co-founder, Julia Reichert. 💔Her trailblazing 50 yr career began w/ films at New Day like GROWING UP FEMALE, UNION MAIDS & SEEING RED 📽️
She will be truly missed but her legacy lives on in our films and filmmakers. Read our official statement on Julia's death & impact
👉https://www.newday.com/news/2022-12-02-new-day-films-mourns-loss-of-founder-julia-reichert

Hi Spark friends!

Due to an ongoing problem at Rackspace, some of our email accounts have been down since Friday. As soon as everything is back up, we will respond to you as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, if you need to reach us, [email protected] is working or you can DM us. Thank you, and sorry for the inconvenience!

Thank you, Hallie, for all the ongoing support! We truly appreciate it.

Until January 9th, if anyone orders Scattering CJ stickers or bracelets, we will double the quantity. So if you order 3, we’ll be sending you 6!

All proceeds go towards raising awareness about mental health and su***de prevention.

It’s the last day of Movember, but it’s not too late to support the Scattering CJ Movember team!

We’re checking in with our Production Manager James Mirabello whose mustache is looking pretty good! He also hit his 60 mile walking goal in memory of the 60 men we lose to su***de every hour worldwide.

Learn more and support our Movember team here: https://us.movember.com/team/2420135

The hairiest month of the year is almost over!

And it is also Giving Tuesday – which is why Mastercard is contributing $25 for every donation of at least $25 to Movember!

So if you were thinking about donating to support some great programs for men’s mental health and su***de prevention, today is the day to do it! You can make a contribution on our Scattering CJ Movember page: https://us.movember.com/team/2420135

One of our favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the leftovers!

The Monday after the holidays we always celebrate “Friendsgiving” at Spark HQ. Thanks, everyone, for bringing a delicious dish!

Today is a great day to celebrate and give thanks for family, friends, tasty food and maybe even a good game on TV.

Unfortunately, the holiday season can also be a time where conversations can be stressful, especially if they turn political. So how do you navigate potentially difficult discussions and establish common ground?

Check out the The News Literacy Project. Their latest issue of The Sift has a ton of resources on how to combat misinformation and have a productive conversation without spoiling Thanksgiving dinner. They have a ton of resources on their website, such as Checkology, RumorGuard, and other tips and tools. Definitely check them out at www.newslit.org

For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, the only arguments we should be having are the ones about whose mashed potatoes are better!

Have you met our friend ALEC this Movember? He’s got four helpful tips on how you can support the men in your life who may be suffering from a mental health issue:

A: Ask how they are feeling if you see or notice any behavior out of the ordinary.

L: Listen to what they are saying, even if it’s hard to hear. It is important to validate their feelings, and let them know you care by listening.

E: Encourage Action! This can provide a helpful pathway forward to help improve how they may be feeling.

C: Check In: Follow up with a call, meetup, or just a simple text.

Movember: 90 minutes. 90 Men.

World Cup season has begun! And it is great to see football stars such as Eric Dier, Bernd Leno and others partnering with Movember and spreading a powerful message about men’s mental health and su***de prevention.

Movember: 90 minutes. 90 Men. Every minute, somewhere in the world, a man dies by su***de. That’s 90 sons, husbands, brothers and fathers for every 90 minute game of the Football World Cu...

Congratulations to Tracie D. Hall, the Executive Director of the American Library Association, on receiving the National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award.

Thank you, Tracie, for being a champion for libraries and the power of reading and for being such a strong voice against censorship and book banning!

Watch Partners Of The Heart - Streaming Online | iwonder (Free Trial)

To all our friends in India, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia: iwonder is honoring unsung heroes as their theme this November and several Spark films will appear on the platform throughout the month.

Partners of the Heart joins iWonder starting today! Against the backdrop of segregation, Vivien Thomas, a Black lab technician, and Alfred Blalock, a renowned white surgeon, dared to defy medical gospel by forging a partnership that would change the course of medical history.

Partners of the Heart won the Erik Barnouw Award for Best History Documentary given by the Organization of American Historians and in 2015 was named as one of the 50 most culturally significant projects ever funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Visit https://iwonder.com/titles/partners-of-the-heart-58cc3ab2c6e291c34b1eae6169efb135 to learn more and to watch the documentary!

Watch Partners Of The Heart - Streaming Online | iwonder (Free Trial) Against the backdrop of segregation, a Black lab technician and a white surgeon forged a partnership that led to a major medical breakthrough: a daring heart operation to treat “blue baby syndrome”.

To all our friends in India, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia: iwonder is honoring unsung heroes as their theme this November and several Spark films will appear on the platform throughout the month.

This week, Red Lines joins iWonder. In 2012, two young, unlikely Syrian activists launch a radical plan for bringing democracy to their country, besieged by the brutal Bashar al-Assad regime. Red Lines provides a cinematic window into the Syrian conflict, taking us from the trenches to geopolitical jockeying and becoming, along the way, a searing exposé of the humanitarian crisis.

Visit https://iwonder.com/titles/red-lines-ad98aab62542ea8d524fed6dd51fcb76 to learn more and to watch the documentary!!

To all our friends in India, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia: iwonder is honoring unsung heroes as their theme this November and several Spark Media films will appear on the platform throughout the month.

This week, Red Lines joins iWonder. In 2012, two young, unlikely Syrian activists launch a radical plan for bringing democracy to their country, besieged by the brutal Bashar al-Assad regime. Red Lines provides a cinematic window into the Syrian conflict, taking us from the trenches to geopolitical jockeying and becoming, along the way, a searing exposé of the humanitarian crisis.

Visit https://iwonder.com/titles/red-lines-ad98aab62542ea8d524fed6dd51fcb76 to learn more and to watch the documentary!!

Nick Carter: Addiction, mental illness "real villain" behind Aaron's death

“Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for a loss, but the truth is that addiction and mental illness is the real villain here.” Nick Carter wrote that in his tribute to his brother Aaron, who passed away earlier this week. It’s an important message, and one we all need to hear, especially in November, which is Men’s Mental Health Month.

We know it can be hard to have conversations about our own mental health. It can be uncomfortable. But it is important to know that it’s okay to not be okay. And we need to break the stigma that surrounds these conversations.

Nick Carter: Addiction, mental illness "real villain" behind Aaron's death "I love you Chizz. Now you can finally have the peace you could never find here on earth," Nick Carter wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday.

Chevalier - Official Trailer Starring Minnie Driver

Chevalier - Official Trailer Starring Minnie Driver Based on the true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, who r...

Nearly ten years ago, Hallie Twomey, CJ's mom, started Scattering CJ. Hallie was determined that su***de wouldn't define her son's life and she needed something positive to come from such tragedy. Raw & real, Hallie’s bravery helped rally so many others to open up. To feel understood. To know that it’s ok not to be ok and that life is worth living.

Over time, I watched Hallie and their family shift gears into a new journey that didn’t include CJ but still included his legacy. I witnessed her emerge as a fierce and generous advocate, willing to share her painful but ultimately inspiring story so we as a community can have a better understanding of su***de and its aftermath and to help others from going through this shattering loss.

What I didn’t know is that I too would seek Hallie’s help—hoping she would also be able to guide me out of the darkness. I will never forget the day my son called me at 7:00am. I knew immediately something was horribly wrong. What 20-something-year old calls their mother that early in the morning? Gasping for breath and struggling to find words through his tears, he told me that one of his close friends from high school, a person he always admired and looked up to had taken his life.

Chris Sener was an incredible human being, brilliant, talented, kind, and like me loved to thrift and create. I admired his depth and style. His music under the moniker soniksound soared. For his project Catch: Fire and Catch: Wave, he wrote “I don’t own the music any more than I own the atoms in my body, which will do important things like be in supernovas.” He was generous with the universe and with everyone around him. He encouraged us to be better for each other. I just wish we could be doing this Movember campaign with him instead of doing it in his memory.

I have learned from Chris and from CJ to embrace our fragile lives. I have learned from Hallie how someone can survive unspeakable loss and find a way to live again. I have learned that what we need is less judgment and more empathy.

So if you’re concerned or worried about a loved one, a friend or a colleague, start the conversation. It’s scary and not the easiest conversation to have. But not having that conversation has made su***de one of the leading causes of death in this country -- the second leading cause of death among young men. It’s time to upend the silence that often surrounds mental health issues.

This is why I chose to participate in Movember.

Can you join me? Please follow the progress of the Scattering CJ team on our social media channels. We have Sparklers walking in memory of those we’ve lost, and we have others growing mustaches. Here’s our page: https://movember.com/t/scattering-cj?mc=1

In full transparency, I’m sure some of these mustaches aren’t going to look too good. But maybe that’s also a good thing. People will be prompted to ask, “why are you doing that?!” And we have a ready answer.

Doing nothing is NOT an option.

Together we CAN and WILL change the culture surrounding mental health.

Thank you.

Andrea Kalin
Producer/Director, Scattering CJ

Happy birthday to Spark’s own Ethan Oser!

Wishing you the biggest slice of awesomeness on your special day!

A tribute to unsung heroes is the theme this November on IWONDER

To all our friends in India, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia: iwonder is honoring unsung heroes as their theme this November! We are excited to share that First Lady of the Revolution / Primera Dama de la Revolución, Red Lines and Partners of the Heart will premiere on the platform throughout the month. Be sure to check them out and spread the word!

A tribute to unsung heroes is the theme this November on IWONDER iwonder puts a spotlight on some of the unsung heroes of our history this month.

Scattering CJ's Mo Space

Today is the first day of Movember! Spark Media is honored to join with Scattering CJ to create a team in memory of CJ Twomey and to raise awareness for men’s mental health and su***de prevention. Our goal is to help break the stigma around mental health and inspire people to have these important and potentially life-saving conversations.

Movember is an amazing group that raises awareness and funding for men’s health. A lot of people know of them because of their work for cancer awareness, but they also focus a great deal on mental health and su***de prevention, and we are glad to be participating this year.

Learn more about the Scattering CJ Team on Movember at https://us.movember.com/team/2420135

We’d love for you to join our team and help change the face of men’s mental health. Just go to the Team page and click Join This Team. It’s easy and we’d love for you to join us!

You can also still see Scattering CJ on public television now. Check your local listings or stream it on PBS.org!

Scattering CJ's Mo Space Movember, the month formerly known as November, is a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for men's health.

Just saw this Facebook Memory on the Scattering CJ page. This initiative started nine years ago today, as CJ’s ashes began their journey to Canada.

We've been honored to take part in CJ’s journey in our own way. Thank you, Hallie, for all you have done and for becoming such a powerful voice for building awareness of su***de prevention and mental health.

https://www.facebook.com/scatteringcj/posts/pfbid02Pewtwc6gYvZk392kPpfBv4JTnf2SGFr7vUcABKyNCJWGxhe7ACcZ5ToP4JTJ7Gf1l?__cft__[0]=AZUTy_kM0JMsQZi1dT3geKA-2ZTLtPn9SaD3an5Fre_UeBRdUMU85i2pMLK3w1DmJ44uNxy36pP8YIcr6J-NyvlfcLdRB7KBW970lT2ZTFZrjTLEtX-nEEYGCVdxstBS8F8ReNTCFQK88Kp9U8diCk4d&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

It all started 9 years ago today.

Love that Kristi was the first. ❤️

Watch Scattering CJ - Streaming Online | iwonder (Free Trial)

To our friends across the Pacific, Scattering CJ is now available to stream on iwonder, an excellent platform for streaming documentaries now available in Australia, New Zealand, India and Southeast Asia!

Raising awareness for mental health and su***de prevention is truly a global issue, and we are glad it is now available on a platform that can bring this story to international audiences.

Watch Scattering CJ - Streaming Online | iwonder (Free Trial) A grieving mom put a call-out on Facebook after losing her elder son to su***de. Her request: to honour his memory and love of travel by scattering his ashes in as many amazing places as possible.

Shubh Diwali!

Here’s to light-filled celebrations and shining a light on mental health as seasons change.

It’s National Make a Dog’s Day! To celebrate, our canine friends visited Sparkville for some treats and costumes!

If you took a picture for National Make a Dog’s Day, we’d love to see it!

The Strad News - Black violinist George Bridgetower commemorated with blue plaque

This is wonderful and long overdue news. We are happy to see that Black composer George Bridgetower has been commemorated with a special plaque at the site of his residence in Peckham, London. Bridgetower was a child prodigy and the violin virtuoso who inspired Beethoven's Sonata No. 9.

He is also the subject of a fantastic book called Sonata Mulattica by Rita Dove and our upcoming project of the same name!

Thank you The Strad for helping spread this important news!

The Strad News - Black violinist George Bridgetower commemorated with blue plaque The violinist, who was the original dedicatee of Beethoven's Violin Sonata no.9, lived most of his adult life in Peckham, south London

Excited to help the spread the word about Shouting Down Midnight, directed by the great Gretchen Stoeltje.

This documentary is the first installment of the new documentary series “The Turning Point,” executive produced by Trevor Noah. The film shines a light on former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, who stood up against her state’s 2013 restrictive anti-abortion bill and galvanized a new generation of activists in the fight for women’s reproductive healthcare. “Shouting Down Midnight” premieres Sunday, October 23rd at 10pm ET on MSNBC and streaming on Peacock TV.

We'll be watching and we hope you will be, too!

Thank you to everyone in the Washington, DC area for tuning in for the encore broadcast of Scattering CJ on WETA!

Did you miss our latest broadcast? You can now stream Scattering CJ on PBS in English and Spanish.

https://www.pbs.org/show/scattering-cj/

Washington, DC! Tune in for an encore broadcast of Scattering CJ on WETA TOMORROW NIGHT at 9:30pm ET.

Can't tune in? Stream our award-winning mental health documentary on PBS.

If you are looking for some inspirational music this Fall, we definitely recommend you head over to Wolf Trap on October 21st at 8pm to see Syrian clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh perform with the City Band! The concert is being presented in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Festival and the Middle East Institute Arts & Culture Center.

We worked with Kinan on Red Lines and continue to be inspired by his artistry and passion. Definitely check it out!

https://www.wolftrap.org/calendar/performance/2223barns/1021show22.aspx#datetime=10212022T200000

Very excited to spread the word about the upcoming New Day Films Celebration at Duke University! Spark's founder and creative director Andrea Kalin is a member of this terrific co-op of filmmakers and we're proud that our last film Scattering CJ is a part of their catalog!

In celebration of 50 years of groundbreaking documentaries by New Day’s filmmakers, Duke University’s Archive of Documentary Arts, Screen/Society and the Power Plant Gallery will be hosting four days of virtual discussions and in-person screenings October 19 through 22.

All the events are FREE.

You can learn more about this great event here: https://tinyurl.com/nd50duke