Hotline (2014 film)
2014 documentary feature film
Hotline is a 2014 documentary feature film written and directed by Tony Shaff. The film explores the intense connections that are made between strangers over the telephone, and explores these anonymous conversations people are often too hesitant to have with the people closest to them. The film stars Miss Cleo, Jeff Ragsdale, Jamie Blaine, and Tonya Jone Miller.
The film was first shown in Toronto at Hot Docs in April 2014, where it was an official selection and audience and jury favorite. On August 9, 2014 Hotline won First Prize for Best Feature Documentary at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. On May 9, 2014, the Brooklyn Film Festival announced that Hotline had been selected for inclusion in its prestigious feature film line-up.
Synopsis
Hotline explores telephone hotlines throughout the United States. Among those profiled Brad Becker of the GLBT Hotline, Youree Dell Harris (aka Miss Cleo, formerly of the Psychic Readers Network), and the Homework Hotline in Nashville. Additionally, the telephone volunteers at the Anti-Violence Project are profiled, as are Alan Ross of the Samaritans in New York, crisis counselor Jamie Blaine of Nashville, Pastor Brent Furlong of Go Time Ministries in Pennsylvania, and Tonya Jone Miller of the Bay City Blues sex-line in Portland, Oregon. Another telephone sex worker known only as Gypsy is seen, as is Jeff Ragsdale, the eponymous Jeff, One Lonely Guy hotline out of New York.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18589064. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2014.
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