Force For Good News

Press Release - December 3, 2019

Jonathan Sprout’s “Force For Good” Music and Film Launches In 2020 to Encourage Kindness and Understanding

Philadelphia, PA (December 3, 2019) – Jonathan Sprout, the Grammy®-nominated composer/singer, has been inspiring others for more than 35 years through award-winning educational children’s music that has touched thousands of lives. For many of those years he presented programs titled “American Heroes,” people who have made a marked difference in the history of America, people who have taught Sprout the value of making that difference.

With this knowledge, Sprout has forged a new business, an organization that is devoted to serving as inspiration for others. It is called “Force For Good.” He explains it this way, “Since 1994, I have studied our greatest Americans so I could write, record, sing, and speak about them to children. For a quarter of a century, I’ve lived under the skin of these heroes, whom I call inspirers. I’ve learned what motivated them and how they became successful.” And, now Jonathan Sprout is leading a charge, giving a voice to a calling he believes all heroes must have heard and acted upon.

Sprout has brought together a team of “uplifters” who are committed to joining Sprout in his mission to inspire others. They have created a series of music and accompanying films. The first CD is titled Passions and will be released February 2020. It is inspirational New Age music compositions which are also the soundtracks to topical short films produced with Emmy Award-winner Rodney Whittenberg. There are 12 songs with films and the organization will debut one film each month in 2020. Each film addresses a pressing global issue or enduring necessity—from solar to community, organic to wilderness—and encourages action through education and inspiration. Force For Good is seeking charitable partners to donate these films as unique opportunities for these charities to address the issues and concerns that drive them.

The premiere film of the collection is titled Ice, which explores with vivid imagery how global warming makes ice one of Earth’s dwindling resources and offers the challenge—and the encouragement—for everyone to reduce the existence of climate change. Sprout said, “Experts say climate change is one of only a few existential threats to our survival. That alone compelled me to make this film. My hope is that those who watch Ice will make earth-friendly upgrades to their own lifestyles that will help reduce climate change.”

Ice is only one of the topics presented in song and film. The other titles are: Harmony, Courage, Solar, Refuge, Community, Happiness, Grace, Safe, Mountains, Organic, Hope and Exceptional.

The Force For Good team includes an array of creative talented individuals who are committed to making a positive difference in the world. Sprout continues, “Utilizing the lessons my heroes taught me, I created Force For Good and a team of musicians, filmmakers, engineers, marketers and publicists who, like me, want to help make the world a better place. Our primary objective through our music and films is to unify, empower and inspire people to become activists. We are optimists who promote peace, equality, and compassion for all.”

Joining Founder/Composer Jonathan Sprout who has recorded 12 albums, performed more than 6,500 concerts and taught more than 800 songwriting workshops throughout the United States, are:

Joe Mennonna, Co-producer of Music, a multi-instrumentalist who is the Music Director of the Bacon Brothers and has worked with Deep Purple, Tom Rush, Al Stewart, Janis Ian, and Richie Havens.

Rodney Whittenberg, Co-producer of Film, who is an Emmy Award-winning composer, as well as record producer, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, musician and lay Universal Unitarian preacher. Among the many people Rodney has worked with are Time For Three, The DePue Brothers, Phyllis Chapell and, recently, he directed the shoot of the joint concert of the Peking Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Leslie Chew, Audio Engineer, Technical Advisor and Co-visionary who has worked as engineer/producer for a range of Grammy®-nominated projects and clients, such as Pat Benatar, Roberta Flack, Earl Klugh, Todd Rundgren, and Hiroshima, as well as mixing music for television and films such as Survivor, Boy Meets World and Look Who’s Talking.

Hillary Black, Editor, Co-visionary, who was a member of producer-writer-director teams at ABC Circle Films, CBS, Paramount, and others working with John Travolta, Dave Thomas, Gloria Steinem, to name a few. Former editor of lifestyle magazines such as Cottages & Bungalows, she is also a compassionate singer-songwriter with Leslie Chew and the acoustic duo StuccoRainbow.

Sharla Feldscher, Publicist, an award-winning public relations professional with a pro-bono division of her business serving as a volunteer publicist for young people who help the community as well as the author of seven books on creativity about young children.

This team is determined to fulfill their mission and “be the force that uplifts the doers of good.” Force For Good plans to share these films, and supporting presentations, in partnership with organizations worldwide starting with PennEnvironment on December 8, 2019. Force For Good hopes to benefit both local and global groups that will use the screenings to boost visibility and to help reach each organization’s positive-change goals. For more information, visit ForceForGoodMusic.com.