Jill Sobule Documentary Revealed
She’s Gonna Sing! You’re Gonna Listen! Captures the
Unfiltered Heart of an American Original
Watch Kickstarter Trailer here
Berkeley, CA – December 9, 2025 – Acclaimed filmmaker Tom Ropelewski unveils Jill Sobule: She’s Gonna Sing! You’re Gonna Listen! (working title), an intimate musical documentary that offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the late Jill Sobule, the “singer-songwriter’s singer-songwriter,” human rights activist, LGBTQ folk/pop icon, and groundbreaking artist best known for hits “I Kissed A Girl” and “Supermodel.”
What began as a collaboration to spotlight her next artistic era, Ropelewski and Sobule spent the last several years filming. From New York rehearsals for her one-woman-with-a-band autobiographical show, F*CK 7th GRADE, to the Nashville recording of its cast album, to candid tour footage across the U.S., they captured the wit, tenderness, political bite, and musical fearlessness that made Sobule, in the words of The New York Times, “among the stellar New York singer-songwriters of the last decade.”
While actively involved in the production, Sobule died unexpectedly in May 2025. The film has now become a vivid, joyful, and definitive portrait, a film Ropelewski says is “not a memorial, but a vital and intimate portrait of a once-in-a-generation artist whose voice only grows larger.”
The documentary also features friends and music collaborators, including Richard Barone (The Bongos), Nini Camps (Antigone Rising), comedian/actor Margaret Cho, John Doe (X), Kristin Ellis-Henderson (Antigone Rising), jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, Matt Groening (Creator of The Simpsons), Kay Hanley (Letters To Cleo), Michelle Lewis (singer/songwriter/composer, SONA co-founder), author David Hajdu, comedian/ host Stephanie Miller, and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine).
To support the film’s completion, Ropelewski has launched a Kickstarter campaign, giving Sobule’s fans and community the chance to help share in her story. “She’s so lively and funny in the footage,” says Ropelewski. “When people see this film, they’ll understand why everyone who knew her wanted to hang out with her.” The campaign will remain open until January 16, 2026 — Jill’s birthday.
A crowdfunding trailblazer, Sobule’s relationship with fan-powered funding began before online crowdfunding existed. In 2009, before Kickstarter launched, she created her own DIY system, inviting fans to directly support the making of her groundbreaking album, California Years, pioneering a model that looked remarkably similar to what Kickstarter would eventually become. When she launched her first official Kickstarter campaign for an album in 2018, she was already considered a crowdsourcing innovator by its founders.
In a poignant full-circle moment, Sobule’s story is being told through a documentary that is itself Kickstarter-supported, powered by the community of her devoted fanbase. Read more about ‘How Jill Sobule Shaped Kickstarter’s Beginnings---and Left Us One Final Project to Support’ here.
About Jill Sobule
Over three decades and a dozen albums, the Denver-born singer-songwriter-guitarist tackled such topics as the death penalty, anorexia nervosa, shoplifting, reproduction, the French Resistance, adolescent malaise, LGBTQ issues, and the Christian Right. Her hits included “I Kissed A Girl”—the first openly gay-themed song ever to crack the Billboard Top 20—and the alt-rock anthem “Supermodel” featured in the film Clueless. Considered a pioneer in the crowdfunding world, she constantly explored and created new models for artists in an ever-changing music industry. Her theater credits include a musical adaptation of Yentl, Prozak and the Platypus, Times Square, and the autobiographical musical F*ck 7th Grade.
About Tom Ropelewski
Tom Ropelewski is an award-winning writer, producer, and director whose work spans feature films, television, and acclaimed nonfiction storytelling. His documentary films, including Child of Giants: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange, 2e: Twice Exceptional, and 2e2: Teaching the Twice Exceptional, have earned Best of Festival and Audience Choice honors at numerous film festivals. He lives in Berkeley, CA, with his wife, screenwriter Leslie Dixon.
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