The Value of a Moment - Jill Salvino

My conversation on the podcast today is with Jill Salvino, an accomplished commercial director and storyteller and the director of Between the Shades, her debut feature documentary that examines the power of labels and the transcendence of love with a deep dive into the LGBTQI experience. 

So much of what Jill understands about life resonated with me. The idea of recognizing that our time here is finite, that life is made up of moments, some that are certain to pass us by if we don’t take the time to notice.  Of the idea that listening can heal us. Of creating a space for hearing one another’s stories with an open heart. That diversity is a gift. “Diversity breeds innovation,” she says. 

But mostly the message of this conversation is that humans are wonderfully eclectic creatures that desire to be seen and accepted. To love and be loved. To be part of a community. To bring their full and complete selves to the world. As the film reminds us, there is no black and white to the human experience, and the sooner we understand that, the more peaceful our world will be.

Jill’s film, Between the Shades was screened and was honored at dozens of film festivals and partnered with Passion River Films for distribution. It is licensed in over 300 schools and libraries and available on television as well.

Jill has collected over 200 industry awards, including an Emmy, and directed hundreds of commercials and long form content. She has directed four film shorts. Taking it for Granted has screened and won prizes in over a dozen film festivals across the US, including a special screening at NYC’s Downtown Film Festival after taking home Best Drama. The Sonnet Project #74 & #153, presented by the New York Shakespeare Exchange, currently touring in the UK and Lies People Tell which premiered in the San Pedro International Film Festival.  It was chosen by the New York Women in Film and Television as one of their Top Short Films of the Year.  Jill is a member of Promax, long-standing chair of the Telly Silver Counsel, and a Gold Member of the New York Women in Film and Television, Judge of The Emmy's as well as a recipient. She lives in Asbury Park, New Jersey with her wife Susan.

As our country struggles with the polarization that divides us, Jill’s film offers a way out. An opportunity to listen with an open heart to the experiences of those who may live lives that on the surface appear different from ours, but underneath, remind us that people are people, and we all have our own unique stories to tell, if we only take the time to listen.

To learn more about Jill, please visit her website.
Buy or rent Between the Shades for home viewing on iTunes.  Digitally screening on Google Play, Fandango Now & Amazon Prime or purchase the DVD at

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

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