Jason King, an award-winning regional filmmaker, is channeling his grief into a powerful new project following the tragic loss of his 18-year-old daughter, Jordan Liberty, to suicide in March 2023. The film, “The Jordan Liberty Project,” is a tribute to her memory. It ignites a vital conversation about mental health and healing. King is hoping to raise $50,000 to begin production. He has put together a very short trailer to give you an example of his vision.
Jordan Liberty’s parents, Jason King and her mother, navigated the complexities of co-parenting between Perth and Broken Hill after their separation before her birth. King reflects on the challenges they faced in raising Jordan, saying, “I knew that she was struggling with who she was. She was this child of these two different families who had other kids on separate sides of the country.” This setting is an important narrative thread of the film itself.
A Journey of Healing
In the wake of his daughter’s tragic death, King embarked on a deeply personal 17-hour road trip. So he drove from Broken Hill to Alice Springs, the town where Jordan was born. Little did he know that this trip would be the first time he’d ever really be alone since she died. “It’s such a difficult, challenging, sensitive, messy, horrendous subject, and to be confronted by that in your own life is something that you really can’t prepare for unless it happens to you,” he stated.
That’s when the road trip turned into a deep healing experience for King. It was central to the film’s narrative. He plans to go back to Alice Springs one day to have Jordan’s ashes interred with her grandmother, Jennifer Ebsary. By honoring the memory of his daughter in this emotional act, he finds both closure and his permanent connection to her.
Community Support and Collaboration
Jordan’s friends quickly came together to King’s initiative, providing an outpouring of support and nuggets of wisdom as he realized the project. Mollie Behrens expressed her appreciation for King’s inclusive approach, stating, “I really appreciate how much effort he’s putting into everyone around that’s surrounded Jordan and he’s letting us have input into this and opinions and ideas.”
Maddy Maguire, another close friend of Jordan’s, emphasized the film’s potential impact: “If we can get Jordan’s story out there to help others that are feeling the same way she did, it would save lives, 100 per cent.” This sentiment could not be a better match for King’s ultimate objective. Through his platform, he hopes to raise awareness about mental health and stress the value of communication and support.
The Importance of Conversation
King hopes that “The Jordan Liberty Project” will initiate critical conversations on mental health. It can advance medicine within families. He hopes that in sharing Jordan’s story, others might discover peace and clarity in their own burdens. “Maybe there’s stuff that other people can take out of this that can help them in their journeys,” he remarked.
Jennifer Ebsary has been supportive of King’s endeavor, sharing her wishes that it would provide peace for both families. “I would hope that it would bring Jason some peace and me some peace and that we would feel that Jordan … would be at peace as well,” she said. Ebsary noted the importance of preventing similar tragedies in the future: “If Jason can prevent just one child from taking their own life, or one adult from taking their own life, then the project’s more than worthwhile.”
King’s dedication to honoring his daughter through this film is clear in every aspect of its development. He expresses a real wish that he had been able to present such a project to Jordan while she was alive. “How do you make sure that your life doesn’t end metaphorically as a result of that?” he pondered.
