FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sandy Hook Promise Launches “Tomorrow’s News” PSA and “The Dreaming Kind”
An Original Song by Sheryl Crow for the 5-Year Remembrance
of the Sandy Hook School Tragedy
Donations from the PSA and proceeds from the song will benefit Sandy Hook Promise
as it launches a campaign to raise over $1 million to aggressively expand its
Know The Signs gun violence prevention programs
Newtown, CT – December 11, 2017 – Today, Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) will debut “Tomorrow’s News,” its latest PSA, and “The Dreaming Kind,” an original song by Sheryl Crow on ABC’s Good Morning America during the 8 AM hour. Donations from the PSA and proceeds from downloads of the song will benefit Sandy Hook Promise’s lifesaving educational programs.
“Tomorrow’s News,” a new PSA created with BBDO New York, follows the success of last year’s video “Evan,” which has received over 150 million views and helped reframe the conversation on gun violence prevention. As with “Evan”, the “Tomorrow’s News” PSA builds on signs exhibited by individuals who may hurt themselves or others that are often missed or not acted upon. The film shows a newscast covering a school shooting the day before it actually takes place to illustrate that. We can learn to “Know the Signs” and take action today to prevent gun violence tomorrow. BBDO, who received over 60 esteemed awards for “Evan” – including one of the top ads of 2016, donated all services and creative teams to make “Tomorrow’s News” for SHP. View the PSA here.
“It’s easy to know the right thing to do after it’s too late to do anything. In this PSA, we illustrate that when it comes to gun violence prevention, the stakes are too high to let that continue to be the case. We hope this moves people to support Sandy Hook Promise in expanding its Know the Signs programs,” said Greg Hahn, Chief Creative Officer of BBDO New York.
“Tomorrow’s News” continues the conversation about the importance of knowing the signs of someone at risk and taking action. In this video, viewers’ perspective of a mass shooting will be upended as they see how easy it is to miss the signs or grapple with what to do when the signs are there,” said Mark Barden, Managing Director and co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise, and father of Daniel, who was 7-years old when killed in the Sandy Hook Tragedy. “The work of Sandy Hook Promise focuses on preventing gun violence before it starts. “Tomorrow’s News” is a powerful reminder that everyone can prevent a tragedy when they know the signs.”
“The Dreaming Kind”, written and sung by nine-time Grammy award winner Sheryl Crow for Sandy Hook Promise, is a song about tragedy turned to transformation and hope. It speaks to the pain our country has endured as tragedies are “getting hard to watch,” yet represents the voice of the families who founded and lead Sandy Hook Promise as well as supporters nationwide by saying:
“I’m giving it all I got; there’ll be no more wasting precious time; giving it all I got; and nothing’s ever going to change my mind.”
“The Dreaming Kind” is available as a name-your-price download on SherylCrow.bandcamp.com with a minimum contribution of .99 cents, with download proceeds going to Sandy Hook Promise. Contributions greater than .99 cents are of course accepted and appreciated.
The video for “The Dreaming Kind” was filmed on location in Nashville and directed by Gus Black. The elegant and understated black and white film features Crow and her niece. The elegiac yet hopeful message reminds the viewer to “Never Forget – December 14, 2012.” Watch the video here.
“The tragedy in Newtown 5 years ago and the countless lives lost in mass shootings since have weighed heavily on my heart. I felt compelled to write “The Dreaming Kind” for the incredible people at Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) who work so hard every day to combat gun violence. The extraordinary work this organization does to educate and protect our nation from further bloodshed gives me hope for a better tomorrow. I hope this song will inspire the same feeling in those who hear it,” said Sheryl Crow.
“We are grateful to Sheryl for her extraordinary generosity. Every time I listen to the song, it immediately brings me to tears. Not only does it perfectly capture the emotion of our loss and everyday losses in our country, but I believe it epitomizes everything we do at Sandy Hook Promise to move forward and create real change. We know it will resonate with people everywhere and drive people to learn more about Sandy Hook Promise’s gun violence prevention programs and the positive impact they are having,” said Nicole Hockley, Managing Director and co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise, and mother of Dylan, who was 6-years old when he was killed in the Sandy Hook tragedy. “The funding from the song’s downloads will help us accelerate training, which we deliver at no cost, to millions of youth and adults nationwide.”
On Thursday, December 14th, Sandy Hook Promise also invites everyone to participate in a “moment of silence” via Facebook Live to commemorate the 5-year remembrance and those lost in the Sandy Hook Shooting.
In three years, SHP has trained over 2.5 million youth and adults across all 50 states with its evidenced-based, no cost Know The Signs violence prevention programs. The programs focus on how to recognize the signs of at-risk behaviors and take action to intervene BEFORE individuals turn violent and hurt themselves or others.
SHP’s four Know The Signs violence prevention programs – which include Start With Hello, Say Something, Signs of Suicide and Safety Assessment & Intervention – are offered free to schools and youth organizations across the country. SHP’s programs have helped stop multiple school shootings, suicides and other acts of violence, as well as reduced incidences of bullying and helped many young people get the mental health services they need.
About Sheryl Crow: A nine-time GRAMMY AWARD recipient, Sheryl Crow is an American music icon. Her eight studio albums have sold 35 million copies worldwide; seven of them charted in the Top 10 and five were certified for Multi-Platinum sales. In addition to such No. 1 hits as “All I Wanna Do,” “Soak Up the Sun” and “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” Crow has lofted 40 singles into the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Mainstream Top 40 and Hot Country Songs charts, with more No. 1 singles in the Triple A listings than any other female artist. Many artists have collaborated with her on special projects, including the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Smokey Robinson and Tony Bennett. She is known as well for her passionate support of multiple charities, including City Of Hope, Stand Up To Cancer, The World Food Program, Feeding America, ADOPT A CLASSROOM, the TJ Martell Foundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, MusiCares, the Special Olympics, STOMP Out Bullying and many other worthy causes. For more information, visit SherylCrow.com.
About BBDO: BBDO’s mantra is “The Work. The Work. The Work.” Every day, BBDO people in 289 offices in 81 countries work day by day, job by job and client by client to create and deliver the world’s most compelling commercial content. For ten years in a row, BBDO has been the most creative agency network in the world in The Gunn Report. More recently, BBDO was ranked the most awarded agency network across all marketing communications in The Directory Big Won for the 12th time in the 13 years since this ranking was first published. In addition, BBDO has been named Network of the Year at Cannes six times and has been chosen Agency of the Year multiple times by every leading industry trade publication.
BBDO is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE-OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.
About Sandy Hook Promise: Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is a national, nonprofit organization based in Newtown, Connecticut. SHP is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. SHP’s mission is to prevent gun violence (and other forms of violence and victimization) BEFORE it happens by educating and mobilizing youth and adults to identify, intervene and get help for at-risk individuals. SHP is a moderate, above-the-politics organization that supports sensible program and policy solutions that address the “human-side” of gun violence by preventing individuals from ever getting to the point of picking up a firearm to hurt themselves or others. Our words, actions and impact nationwide are intended to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation.
For more information, visit www.sandyhookpromise.org or call 203-304-9780.
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Media Contacts:
Dini von Mueffling Communications
Stephanie Morris/Janine Brady
646-650-5005 / 646-741-7117
Warner Bros. Records
Rick Gershon
818-953-3473