#NoJoke is a compelling documentary that follows musician Andrew Cole as he puts together a star-studded cast for a song to combat bullying. Along the way he tracks down celebrities, experts, and ghosts from his own past to go beyond the tropes of today’s anti-bullying campaigns and get to the heart of the issue. One by one Andrew’s heroes come on board to lend their support musically and otherwise: Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Roberts, Robbie Krieger, Steve Vai, Chad Smith, Lights, Patrick Stewart, Jane Lynch, and more.

In the beginning it was just a tune created by one of Andrew’s collaborators called “Joke.” Something about it struck a chord, and as the song took shape in Andrew’s mind, the demons from his youth came back to haunt him. The documentary picks up as his vision for the song grows to epic proportions, and he sets off on a mission to “put together an army” of musicians and artists to bring an end to bullying. But if he is truly have an impact, he knows that he can’t just pay lip service to the issue — he has to actually understand what’s going on when kids become predators and prey.

The adventure takes him across North America and the UK to talk with authors and academics who have spent their lifetime thinking about the issue of violence in the schoolyard, and how to address it.  He also teams up with paparazzi in Hollywood and runs every hustle he can think of to get to all the stars he needs to make his dream of the song a reality.

Through the journey, Andrew realizes that the issue of bullying is far more complicated than a song can possibly address and far more personal than he ever imagined.