Come Talk To ME
Minneapolis, Minnesota | Film Feature
Documentary
“Come Talk To ME” follows Parkinson’s disease (PD) activist Jackie Hunt Christensen, her husband Paul, their two sons, and a diverse group of friends with PD. Their stories reflect on the many types of communication that are necessary to participate fully in relationships as the disease progresses.
Green Light
This campaign raised $17,600 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
74 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
“Come Talk To ME” follows Parkinson’s disease (PD) activist Jackie Hunt Christensen, her husband Paul, their two sons, and a diverse group of friends with PD. Their stories reflect on the many types of communication that are necessary to participate fully in relationships as the disease progresses.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
“Come Talk To ME” follows Parkinson’s disease (PD) activist Jackie Hunt Christensen, her husband Paul, their two sons, and a diverse group of friends with PD. Their stories reflect on the many types of communication that are necessary to participate fully in relationships with families, friends, communities, and healthcare providers as the disease progresses.
The documentary spends time with Jackie and her family as they discuss the impacts of PD. It also shows Jackie’s behind-the-scenes efforts to produce the film. Jackie and Paul travel to an international summit for Parkinson’s support group leaders in Austin TX to not only attend but also conduct interviews.
Jackie writes:
“I became a Greenpeace activist when I participated in my first nonviolent direct action in Chicago in July 1987. I became a Parkinson’s disease (PD) activist when I was diagnosed with the disease in July 1998, at age 34. Now, 27 years later, I continue to be an activist and advocate not only for a better understanding of the unique communication challenges that the disease brings to relationships of all kinds, but also for the critical importance of accessible, available, and affordable assistive communication technologies, tools and strategies for ALL people with Parkinson’s (PwP) who need them.”
For the interviews, Jackie utilized AI technology to create a clone of her voice as it sounded about two years after she’d been diagnosed with PD. The cloned text-to-speech voice (named “JHC2K” by Jackie) also provides the film’s narration.
Over the course of the film’s production, Jackie faces new challenges but remains committed to finishing the film and raising awareness about PD and how it impacts relationships. Because communication is everything.
WHAT WE NEED
Come Talk To ME is currently in post-production. Many thanks to our supporters who helped us get to this point!
We hope to have a final cut of the film by the end of March. That means lots of added expenses. Think: music rights, original scoring, audio mixing, animation, title graphics, color correction… not to mention distribution expenses. Our ultimate fundraising needs go beyond our Seed&Spark goal. So we hope to meet and exceed our goal!
Please support our film so we can bring this important story to the world!
FILM TRAILER:
FILM TRAILER [SPANISH SUBTITLES]:
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
IMAGE LICENSING
Costs $650
Cost of licensed images used in the film.
STORY EDITOR
Costs $1,500
A story editor helps develop the film into a more engaging story and helps our message reach the audience.
ANIMATION
Costs $4,600
The doc has four animated sequences that bring a style and production value to the entire film.
ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
Costs $5,000
Audio tells the story! Our film's ability to connect with our audience will be greatly enhanced by a powerful original score.
COLOR CORRECTION
Costs $4,500
To give the final film a consistent and natural color across scenes.
AUDIO MIX
Costs $1,500
A sound engineer makes sure all the audio is in the proper frequency range and sounds its best.
DCP
Costs $1,000
A DCP or Digital Cinema Package is a standardized video film format required for theatrical screenings.
LEGAL CONSULT
Costs $1,250
A lawyer's review is necessary to make sure we keep it legal!
DISTRIBUTION
Costs $2,000
Once the movie is finished, it takes more money to get it into festivals and onto a streaming platform!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
PRODUCER • JACKIE HUNT CHRISTENSEN
Producer Jackie Hunt Christensen became a Parkinson's disease activist when she was diagnosed with the disease in 1998. She has published two guide books on the disease, The First Year---Parkinson's Disease: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (2005) and Life With a Battery-Operated Brain: A Patient's Guide to Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Parkinson's Disease (2009). She presented a poster, “‘Do I LOOK Like I Care?’ Parkinson’s disease and its potential effects on relationships,” based on data from online surveys completed by 299 people with Parkinson’s and care partners, at the 3rd World Parkinson’s Congress in Montréal, Canada, in October, 2013.
At the time she was diagnosed at 34, Jackie was Co-Director of the Food and Health program at the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as a co-founder and Co-Director of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH): The Campaign for Environmentally Responsible Health Care. She continued working for both organizations until June 2004, when, at age 40, her PD symptoms forced her to leave her jobs and apply for disability benefits.
Jackie has presented at numerous conferences around the country and internationally as both an environmental health activist and Parkinson’s disease activist. Come Talk To ME is her first film.
DIRECTOR • DEACON WARNER
Director Deacon Warner is a documentary filmmaker and youth media instructor. He has been teaching media arts since 2008. As an independent filmmaker, Deacon has directed numerous short documentaries including Bee-Sharp Honeybee and Literacy for Freedom: Empowering Black Boys in MN. Deacon’s first feature documentary, The Co-op Wars, premiered at the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival in 2021. His latest documentary, Every Day Is a Parade, premiered at MSPIFF in 2025.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
“Come Talk To ME” follows Parkinson’s disease (PD) activist Jackie Hunt Christensen, her husband Paul, their two sons, and a diverse group of friends with PD. Their stories reflect on the many types of communication that are necessary to participate fully in relationships with families, friends, communities, and healthcare providers as the disease progresses.
The documentary spends time with Jackie and her family as they discuss the impacts of PD. It also shows Jackie’s behind-the-scenes efforts to produce the film. Jackie and Paul travel to an international summit for Parkinson’s support group leaders in Austin TX to not only attend but also conduct interviews.
Jackie writes:
“I became a Greenpeace activist when I participated in my first nonviolent direct action in Chicago in July 1987. I became a Parkinson’s disease (PD) activist when I was diagnosed with the disease in July 1998, at age 34. Now, 27 years later, I continue to be an activist and advocate not only for a better understanding of the unique communication challenges that the disease brings to relationships of all kinds, but also for the critical importance of accessible, available, and affordable assistive communication technologies, tools and strategies for ALL people with Parkinson’s (PwP) who need them.”
For the interviews, Jackie utilized AI technology to create a clone of her voice as it sounded about two years after she’d been diagnosed with PD. The cloned text-to-speech voice (named “JHC2K” by Jackie) also provides the film’s narration.
Over the course of the film’s production, Jackie faces new challenges but remains committed to finishing the film and raising awareness about PD and how it impacts relationships. Because communication is everything.
WHAT WE NEED
Come Talk To ME is currently in post-production. Many thanks to our supporters who helped us get to this point!
We hope to have a final cut of the film by the end of March. That means lots of added expenses. Think: music rights, original scoring, audio mixing, animation, title graphics, color correction… not to mention distribution expenses. Our ultimate fundraising needs go beyond our Seed&Spark goal. So we hope to meet and exceed our goal!
Please support our film so we can bring this important story to the world!
FILM TRAILER:
FILM TRAILER [SPANISH SUBTITLES]:
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
IMAGE LICENSING
Costs $650
Cost of licensed images used in the film.
STORY EDITOR
Costs $1,500
A story editor helps develop the film into a more engaging story and helps our message reach the audience.
ANIMATION
Costs $4,600
The doc has four animated sequences that bring a style and production value to the entire film.
ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
Costs $5,000
Audio tells the story! Our film's ability to connect with our audience will be greatly enhanced by a powerful original score.
COLOR CORRECTION
Costs $4,500
To give the final film a consistent and natural color across scenes.
AUDIO MIX
Costs $1,500
A sound engineer makes sure all the audio is in the proper frequency range and sounds its best.
DCP
Costs $1,000
A DCP or Digital Cinema Package is a standardized video film format required for theatrical screenings.
LEGAL CONSULT
Costs $1,250
A lawyer's review is necessary to make sure we keep it legal!
DISTRIBUTION
Costs $2,000
Once the movie is finished, it takes more money to get it into festivals and onto a streaming platform!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
PRODUCER • JACKIE HUNT CHRISTENSEN
Producer Jackie Hunt Christensen became a Parkinson's disease activist when she was diagnosed with the disease in 1998. She has published two guide books on the disease, The First Year---Parkinson's Disease: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (2005) and Life With a Battery-Operated Brain: A Patient's Guide to Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Parkinson's Disease (2009). She presented a poster, “‘Do I LOOK Like I Care?’ Parkinson’s disease and its potential effects on relationships,” based on data from online surveys completed by 299 people with Parkinson’s and care partners, at the 3rd World Parkinson’s Congress in Montréal, Canada, in October, 2013.
At the time she was diagnosed at 34, Jackie was Co-Director of the Food and Health program at the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as a co-founder and Co-Director of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH): The Campaign for Environmentally Responsible Health Care. She continued working for both organizations until June 2004, when, at age 40, her PD symptoms forced her to leave her jobs and apply for disability benefits.
Jackie has presented at numerous conferences around the country and internationally as both an environmental health activist and Parkinson’s disease activist. Come Talk To ME is her first film.
DIRECTOR • DEACON WARNER
Director Deacon Warner is a documentary filmmaker and youth media instructor. He has been teaching media arts since 2008. As an independent filmmaker, Deacon has directed numerous short documentaries including Bee-Sharp Honeybee and Literacy for Freedom: Empowering Black Boys in MN. Deacon’s first feature documentary, The Co-op Wars, premiered at the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival in 2021. His latest documentary, Every Day Is a Parade, premiered at MSPIFF in 2025.