Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something Virtual Q&A
Wednesday, December 9 at 7:00 pm: Q&A with Jen Chapin and Tom Chapin, moderated by Stephen Apkon
The Jacob Burns Film Center is excited to welcome filmmaker Jen Chapin and Tom Chapin for a live virtual conversation about the film Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something with Stephen Apkon.
About Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something:
Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something is the inspiring story of Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/activist Harry Chapin (“Cat’s in the Cradle”). Chapin sold over 16 million albums and was one of his generation’s most beloved artist-activists, a man who spent his fame and fortune trying to end world hunger before his tragic passing. The film features Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Peter Seeger, Sir Bob Geldof, Kenny Rogers, Graham Nash, Pat Benatar, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Robert Lamm, Richie Havens, and Harry Belafonte intimately reflecting on Chapin’s larger-than-life impact on music and the world, including his founding—along with Bill Ayres—of WhyHunger, the nonprofit organization leading the movement to end hunger and advance the human right to nutritious food in the U.S. and around the world.
Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something is available to watch in the JBFC Virtual Screening Room until December 17. Watch the film at your convenience, then join us for a conversation on December 9!
Join the conversation: Tune in live starting tonight, Dec. 9 at 7:00 pm EST via our YouTube Channel, Facebook page, or Twitter account!
In a career that spans six decades, 26 albums, and three Grammy awards, Hudson Valley Troubadour Tom Chapin has worked as a recording artist, concert performer, Broadway actor, and television, radio, and film performer. In both his work as a folk artist and a pioneer in children’s music, Chapin, “one of the great personalities in contemporary folk music (The New York Times),” has established a reputation for insightful, heartfelt songcraft and effortlessly charismatic live performances. He’s also written and performed satirical topical songs for National Public Radio‘s Morning Edition, and had a cameo role as the Vice Presidential candidate in Jonathan Demme’s 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Tom Chapinʼs latest album, At the Turning Point, was recorded live in concert in December 2017. Chapin is a board member of WhyHunger, the organization which his older brother, the late Harry Chapin, founded. He remains active in a variety of environmental causes, as well as efforts on behalf of music and the arts in public schools.
Jen Chapin has been celebrated for writing “brilliant soulfully poetic urban folk music” (NPR) for more than two decades. Nurtured in and around NYC by a large family of artists, writers, and musicians, Jen’s “observant, lyrically deft, politically aware, and emotionally intuitive” (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) songwriting features both her “extraordinary voice” (De krenten uit de pop) and “astonishing jazz band” (popmatters). As much as an artistic legacy, the roots of Jen’s upbringing have inspired her “potent, jazzy, layered folk” (Newsday) songs and a lifetime of passionate activism through ongoing work with WhyHunger (founded by her late father Harry Chapin), and teaching high school global history in Brooklyn. Jen Chapin’s release Reckoning was named among the best Americana albums of 2013 and honored by the USA Songwriting Competition. Jen is currently developing “Essential Stories,” a new theatrical concert comprising two decades of songwriting sculpted into an intimate autobiographical narrative of family roots, parenting, ambition/ambivalence, and politics.
Stephen Apkon is the Founder and former Executive Director of the Jacob Burns Film Center. He is a filmmaker and social entrepreneur and a Founder of the nonprofit Reconsider. Apkon’s film credits include Director and Producer of the award-winning documentary Disturbing the Peace, Producer of I’m Carolyn Parker, Presenting Princess Shaw, and Enlistment Days, and Executive Producer of Fantastic Fungi, Planetary, and Backyard Wilderness. He is also the author of The Age of the Image published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
