Director Liz Garbus is known for her Oscar-nominated documentaries “The Farm: Angola, USA” and “What Happened, Miss Simone?” But when Glenn Close asked her to direct a teen music video with an important issue — teen depression — she agreed.
The song the video is based on, “Ghost Story,” was written by 15-year-old Whitney Woerz. The singer/songwriter wrote it to help a friend battling depression and suicidal thoughts.
“Being 15 now, I realize how important it is to just talk about feelings, depression and anxiety,” Woerz told Billboard. “My friends and I face new challenges and pressures but we need to feel safe to talk about them and start a new conversation.”
“There were a thousand kids who wanted to talk, who’d had experiences with depression or anxiety or OCD or bipolar or other disorders,” Garbus told the AP about casting for the video. “And often times … the parents were the ones who wouldn’t let them come forward. What it pointed to was a generational divide in how comfortable we feel in talking about mental health issues.”
The music video for “Ghost Story” was just released in collaboration with Bring Change 2 Mind, an organization that aims to break the stigma around mental health. The non-profit organization was founded by Glenn Close, who personally asked Garbus to direct the video, the AP reported.
Garbus previously worked with Close in “Love, Marilyn,” a documentary about Marilyn Monroe’s writings that featured Ellen Burstyn, Viola Davis and Elizabeth Banks.
Watch the “Ghost Story” music video below.