Published in the Asbury Park Press 11/10/02

Film news of local interest:

The list of filmmakers working in the area or promoting their films that were made here, or shooting here, just keeps getting bigger. Here's the latest news on some of those productions.

Doug Bollinger's "Just Lovers," filming entirely in the Monmouth County area in 2000, has won the New York International Indie Film/Video Festival awards for best feature film noir and best film score (music supervisor was George McMorrow at Cinecall Soundtracks in Red Bank).

"Just Lovers" also will be shown at the Firstglance L.A. Film Festival this month. Bollinger, Long Branch, also worked on the screenplay for "The Russian Job," which won a best comedy award at the Back East Picture Show film festival in Hoboken. Danny Aiello stars in that film. It will be shown at the international trade film show in Milan this month.

And Bollinger is now at work on a short film called "Meeting Nedrow," currently being filmed in Monmouth County. Shannon Moore of Red Bank has a featured role, and director-screenwriter Bollinger also stars as a stalker. His comments are a classic example of what independent filmmakers must do to get the job done:

"In the true independent spirit, the writer writes his own death scene, builds the prop knife with his dad's help (old steak knife provided by mom), uses the cherry syrup from his Italian Ice job for the fake blood and directs himself with the help of his amazing crew (who are being fed by mom's great cooking). This is fun stuff," Bollinger writes.

He hopes to have "Meeting Nedrow" completed by Christmas and then, to start all over with it in hand on the festival circuit.

Steve Herold, the Belmar filmmaker with JointFilms, has completed "Bum Runner," shot in the Asbury Park area last spring. The 10-minute short is the work of Herold ("Ashburied") and his partner, Kurt Christiansen, a former Colts Neck resident. It's a parody of car chase movies, Herold says. And guess what? Herold is now on the festival circuit with that film.

All of this activity is in line with the 2001 annual report from the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission, based in Newark. Last year, 692 projects, from movie making to commercial production, took place in New Jersey, generating $711 million in revenue for the state. Not bad. Its chairman is Gloria Monty, a Rumson resident.

"Given the problems of 2001, it would have been expected if our year-end figures slumped drastically. Instead, we enjoyed a record total number of projects, with only a fairly moderate drop in feature production," Monty says in the report.

The most dramatic example of a local filmmaker who has made good, Kevin Smith, who grew up in Highlands and until recently lived in the Red Bank area, held a wrap party for his "Jersey Girl" in Philadelphia, where most of the movie was shot. It stars Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. Some shooting, with Affleck and George Carlin, took place in the last few weeks in the Highlands area, as well.

Scenes for "Fossil Fight," a feature based on a true story about two archaeologists finding dinosaur fossils in the West, were shot at the Pine Creek Railroad of Allaire State Park recently. The film is set in the 1880s; its producer said the local railroad provided the correct setting for a period story. The New Jersey Museum of Transportation at Allaire provided a steam locomotive, passenger coach and the station platform area. The railroad celebrated its 50th anniversary in September and is the oldest steam preservation railroad in the country.

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