Grammy winner and activist Melissa Etheridge shares her work with women who are incarcerated in the two-part documentary series Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken. Directed by Brian Morrow and Amy Scott, the documentary series will premiere later this year on Paramount+.
“I’m excited for audiences to join me on this powerful journey and hear these remarkable stories filled with pain and struggle but also hope and healing,” stated Etheridge. “I hope that this docuseries shows viewers the challenges that women face in our prison system while also serving as a resource to those who currently are struggling.”
The docuseries is produced by Jonathan Lynch for Shark Pig Studios, with Etheridge and BMG Films’ Kathy Rivkin Daum and William Kennedy executive producing. Additional executive producers include Deb Klein for Primary Wave Music, and MTV Entertainment Studios’ Bruce Gillmer and Michael Maniaci.
“Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken tells an inspiring story of healing and transcendence through the power of music when five female residents from the Topeka Correctional Facility, a women’s prison in Kansas, write letters to Etheridge that she uses as inspiration to create and perform an original song for them. Having recently lost her son to opioids, Etheridge works to understand and interrupt the cycle of addiction while connecting with these women who, so often, are forgotten by society,” reads Paramount+’s synopsis. “Additionally, the docuseries explores themes of female incarceration, redemption, substance abuse, generational trauma, grief, and healing. With female incarceration rates up 700 percent since 1980, Etheridge bonds with the women through the conduit of music as an act of empathy, understanding and hope.”
