The idea driving our work in this video was to inspire people to live openly as their true selves and celebrate those who do as well. National Coming Out Day is an annual celebration to support and raise awareness for the LGBTQ+ community. For this past year’s National Coming Out Day, our goal was to highlight an older celebrity’s coming out journey to show that although the process is different for everyone, the action of speaking one’s truth should be celebrated wherever and whenever it happens.
Melissa Etheridge has been an iconic member of the LGBTQ+ community for decades. She came out to her family when she was a teen and then publicly in the early ‘90s after gaining success in the music business. In our interview, we set out to allow the 62-year-old Etheridge to reflect on her decision, decades later. She discusses her nerves when first coming out to her father, and how she feared she would no longer be able to work after coming out but did it anyway.
We hoped that highlighting the personal narrative behind those defining moments in Etheridge’s life, infused with the wisdom and experience age brings, it would inspire our audience to live authentically and create space for others to do so as well.
We brought this project to life by seizing an opportunity to film Melissa Etheridge as part of an AARP The Magazine feature. To streamline the process, we coordinated with our publications team and filmed her interview on the same day as her photo shoot, allowing us to capture dynamic behind-the-scenes b-roll footage of her in her own home and incorporate it into the video.
Our plan of action included filming Melissa looking directly at the camera to convey a more intimate connection with the audience. We executed the plan by utilizing an eye-direct device on our camera, which uses a set of mirrors to allow Etheridge to look into the lens while seeing our interviewer. This way, she would feel more comfortable answering our questions and engaging in a natural dialogue. The result was a candid, in-depth interview where Etheridge reflected on her personal coming out story and moved the narrative forward by sharing the impact it has had on herself, her fans and the LGBTQ movement as a whole.
The challenge was finding the archive photos and video clips that helped to bring her story to life and providing just enough context through narrative text on screen for audiences to understand what a different time and place it was for the LGBTQ community when she came out. We overcame this through extensive research, editing and consultation with our partners in AARP’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
We consider our efforts to be a resounding success. The video and companion article were featured on AARP’s website and homepage. The video resonated with our audience on Facebook, earning over 1 million views and over 24,000 engagements. Viewers really connected with Etheridge’s story, some even calling her an inspiration during their own personal journeys, and thanking us for fostering inclusion with the piece. Here is a representative sample of the hundreds of comments on Facebook:
