IT'S AMAZING - JEM

DO IT NOW

YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE 

YOU FEEL IT IN YOUR HEART

AND YOU'RE BURNING WITH AMBITION...

When I wrote this song I knew I wanted it to be motivational and channelled the lyrics to inspire, support and drive anyone around the world who might need to hear it. 

I'm so honored and moved when I hear it's had that effect (see the beautiful message below :)

Little did I know the song would also boomerang right back to help me decide to go for it and become a director back in 2008! 

(This has happened to me before with my song Just A Ride). 

Music and art is so powerful, it was actually my song coupled with an episode of one of my favorite podcasts I've been listening to for nearly 20 years! - The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith (if you're interested in behind-the-scenes, Jeff hosts amazing conversations with Film & TV creatives; writers, directors and producers). 

The guest was Chris McQuarrie (McQ as Tom Cruise calls him), I remember I was sitting in the sun on Santa Monica beach back in 2008 when I heard it. As I recall among the many interesting, funny and insightful stories Chris said something like - writers don't get films made, directors do - and a light bulb went off. I'd fallen in love with screenwriting and have been obsessed with film ever since I saw E.T. as a kid. (I'd also stockpiled a library of directing, cinematography, screenwriting and film editing books which was not the norm for a touring musician, or a girl from a tiny town in Wales!) Later, I heard It's Amazing on the Santa Monica cliff top and another light bulb went off and I decided right then I needed to be a director. So I started with co-directing the music video for It's Amazing (It's made from 25,000+ photographs hence the flicker).

On the theme of motivation, as well as timing, the original podcast I heard covered an amazing story about Chris having major success (winning the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for The Usual Suspects), then finding himself in the Hollywood wilderness for a decade, which frustration eventually lead him to decide to give up completely and at that very moment of surrender when he was all packed up and about to move to Germany with his family, he got a call out of the blue to meet with Tom Cruise and his life / career changed forever.

AS THE FAMOUS WELSH SAYING GOES - Dal i fynd - Keep Going. 

Jeff has interviewed Chris several more times over the years and it's always brilliant. He's so generous with the in depth details he shares. If you follow the entertainment landscape it's funny how the power dynamics change so dramatically, during "The Golden Era" of TV 2010-2019, he expressed it was now showrunners, writer / producers that got things made, we'll have to ask what he thinks now! I plan to fund my debut writer/director feature in 2025 via investors and brand collaborations and skip the whole gatekeeper approvals altogether.

BACK TO IT'S AMAZING & THE POWER OF MUSIC 💫

I received the following message on Facebook but didn't see it until three years after it was sent! I wanted to share it here as it's such an amazing exchange of positive energy. I hope this inspired medical student goes on to help lots of people.

“hi jem. i hope you’ll read this because it’s really important for me. actually i dont use facebook but i opened this account to contact you. i want to share something with you and i’ve never texted a celebrity like this before but you deserve it ❤️ i’m from turkey and i’m 21 years old . years ago when i was 18 it was my senior year at highschool and in turkey it’s really difficult to accept into a good college. i’ve always been a succesfull student but that years i had problems in my school, with my friends and also i had problems with myself :’). one day, i was at a cafe and your song was playing in there “its amazing, its amazing all that you can do” i really liked the song, i listened it to shazam and listened for months. but i didn’t pay attention to the lyrics. after a while i wondered the meaning of the lyrics and when i searched it on internet i really felt amazing ❤️ that song was my savior! i felt every word of the song in my heart. it was extremely hard days for me and i survived with your song ❤️ actually the sentence “its determination and using your gift, everybody has a gift” is still healing for me. i wrote that and put it on the wall in my room. now i’m a medical student in one of the best university of turkey ❤️ i owe you a great debt. YOUR MUSIC SAVED ME JEM!! i love you and i love your music. maybe my english is not enough but i hope you’ll understand my feeling. i’m looking forward to your answer. i tried so hard to contact you. warm regards ❤️”

Suffice to say, I replied! I hope you enjoy the song too and GET MOTIVATED!

IT'S AMAZING

Co-written with the amazing Lester Mendez and co-produced with the amazing Yoad Nevo.