The Apology Project, a 1980 conceptual art project, was created by Allan Bridge who employed the pseudonym Mr. Apology. Bridge invited callers to "''apologize their wrongs against people without jeopardizing themselves''" and promoted the service by sticking up posters in the Tribeca area of New York.

Concept

The line was based at Allan Bridge's Manhattan loft and used an answering machine to record confessions from anonymous callers. Over the 15 years that the line was in operation, more than 1,000 hours of confession were recorded, with callers confessing everything from infidelity, shop lifting, drug dealing to ritualistic murder. Some of the confessions were published in Bridge's magazine ''Apology''. The project came to an abrupt end in 1995 when Bridge was struck and killed by a jet skier while diving in the heavily trafficked

Shinnecock Inlet Shinnecock Inlet is the easternmost of five major inlets connecting bays to the Atlantic Ocean through the narrow Outer Barrier that stretches from New York City to Southampton, New York on the south shore of Long Island. It splits Westhampton Isl ...

on Long Island. The incident was witnessed by two people on the shoreline, however the culprit was never found.

Media

''Mr. Apology'' (novel)

Bridge sold the rights for the idea, inspiring the novel. ''Mr. Apology'' by Campbell Black, which was published by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

in 1984. This was and this was adapted by screenwriter for the HBO thriller, '' Apology'' (1986).

''Apology'' (film)

Screenwriter Mark Medoff used the original concept and the novel ''Mr. Apology'' to create a film version for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

called Apology. The film starred Lesley Ann Warren,

Peter Weller Peter Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an American film and stage actor, television director, and art historian. He has appeared in more than 70 films and television series, including ''RoboCop'' (1987) and its sequel ''RoboCop 2'' (1990), in whic ...

and John Glover. It won the Audience Award at the 1987 Cognac Festival du Film Policier, and that same year it won a CableACE Award for Maurice Jarre's music score. In the Apology Line podcast, his wife Marissa Bridge recalled how Bridge took very little interest in the movie project and used it as a means to make money to keep the project going and received considerable criticism from listeners for "selling out".

The Apology Line (podcast)

Bridge's widow, artist Marissa Bridge, turned her perspective of the Apology Project into a podcast, which was first aired in January 2021. She hosted the six-episode series on podcast platform

Wondery Wondery is an American podcast network and publisher of numerous award-winning podcasts, including Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door. Wondery was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and media executive Hernan Lopez. The company was lau ...

including: * Episode 1 – Introducing: The Apology Line * Episode 2 – Who's Sorry Now? * Episode 3 – Going Public * Episode 4 – Your Dungeon or Mine? * Episode 5 – To Catch a Serial Killer * Episode 6 – Mrs. Apology * Episode 7 – Strawberry Fields Forever * Episode 8 – And The Calls Live On * Episode 9 – What To Listen to Next: Against the Odds

''Apology'' (play)

''Apology'', a new theatrical piece based on the life and work of Allan Bridge, is being developed by Greg Pierotti, co-writer of '' The Laramie Project''.

References

External links

Group Help
Conceptual art {{art-org-stub