Members of the NYU team (L to R): Marlee Roberts (producer), Nora Unkel (assistant director), Craig Clayton (writer) , and Ben Nelson (director) on the porch at 124 Main Avenue. Paul Goldfinger photo.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor and film critic @Blogfinger. Re-post from November, 2012:
Did you ever hear of Spike Lee, Joel Coen, Ang Lee, and Oliver Stone? Well those film makers are all alumni of the NYU Film School, a division of the Tisch School of the Arts. It is one of the finest film schools in the country, and we had a team of their students in town this weekend, making a short movie called “Still.”
Tisch School of the Arts. Greenwich Village. From the NYU web site.
Marlee Roberts, the producer of the film “Still,” spoke to us in the living room at 124 Main Avenue on a cold Ocean Grove Sunday morning. She and her production team had been looking for a house that seemed like it was from the 1950’s. When they found the “cozy” cottage on Main, they were “very excited.”
“We were searching for a special town for our film”, she said , “And this was perfect.”
The quaint little Ocean Grove cottage was buzzing with activity. Members of the team were all over the house when we stopped by. On Saturday they had recreated a party in the living room. They also had shot some footage in the old-fashioned kitchen and now they were upstairs in the bedroom. “Our film is rated PG-13,” Marlee said, “and it is totally student run—no faculty involved.”
Filming in the bedroom. Photo by NYU crew
It is evident that this is serious filmmaking. The actors are not only college students, but they are professionals, and the standards are quite high. When it was time to say, “Aaand action,” I could hear a voice call out from upstairs, “Nobody move, or talk…don’t even breathe.” Then everyone who had been moving, talking and breathing froze. It looked like a wax museum for a few minutes.
Lighting the set and adjusting the sound. Photo by the NYU crew.
Marlee told us that “Still” would be a short film—about 18 minutes— and the goal would be to distribute it to film festivals. It’s about a young couple who have found the fountain of youth, so their love story goes on for awhile.
The filming began in Secaucus, but the Ocean Grove setting was the main location. After 1 1/2 days in town, the crew would be going to Spring Lake and then Manhattan. After that the post-production work begins.
Marlee, an actress, singer and filmmaker, is an animated and lovely young woman from North Arlington, New Jersey, who promised to send us one of her songs for the Blogfinger Juke Box. We suggested that she let us show her finished film in town when it is ready. She liked that idea.
I can see it now: “The Blogfinger Film Festival presents ‘Still’.” Let’s do it! (PS –does anyone have a red carpet we can borrow?). As for this article, it’s a wrap.
Editor’s Note: It was a delight to watch these young filmmakers work with such passion in creating an original film in our town. Thank you to Flo Meier, the owner of that “perfect” Ocean Grove cottage, who alerted us to this special event.
And to the crew of “Still” here’s a musical gift. Sidney Bechet, the great French jazz saxophonist, plays “Si Tu Vois Ma Mère” which is the opening music for Woody Allen’s new hit film “Midnight in Paris.” I suspect no NYU film student can possibly graduate without knowing Woody’s work. —PG
2018 comment: This event led to the Blogfinger Film Festival, parts I and II produced by Marlee Roberts who has continued her work as a director, film -maker, producer, photographer, actress and singer.
She recently contacted Blogfinger to say hello and compare notes. You can search Blogfinger for “Marlee Roberts”. We have a few posts about her. Go to MarleeRoberts.com to see her with her boyfriend and to catch up on her career.
There was another movie featuring OG and it starrred Susan Sarandon. The movie was a dud as I recall, but it did have a nice parade scene that included the Neptune High School marching band. One more tidbit: the Park View Inn (pre-Koplitiz brothers) had a prominent “role” in the film, although the movie makers gave it a different name.
While not a movie I have heard of, footage (probably for TV news) shot in OG of Nixon landing via helicopter in front of Great Auditorium to give a short speech there. This was 1969 or so I think. The majority of the crowd greeting him as he got out were good olde conservative OG types. However off in the corner were a handful of hippies protesting Nixon. Probably Monmouth Univ. students. Certainly could not have been our local youth. Gxd forbid. Would love to see this footage if anyone has it.
Lulu: The most famous one is Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories. We recently ran a post about the filming of that movie. Go to the Blogfinger website and, in the upper right hand corner, you will see a place to type in a search. Type “Stardust Memories” and you will find something thrilling.
I know there have been some others also. The Greta movie was a dud except for the scenic shots around town. In the opening scene, Greta is on a bus traveling to the Grove to visit her grandmother. In the voice-over she says, “This is a place where you go to die.” Nice kid!
Paul:
Great coverage!! Glad you had an opportunity to interview a few of the crew members and see first hand some of the filming!!
They wrapped things up quite a bit earlier than I had originally been told, which tells me that they worked diligently and were very serious about their project.
I must say that the entire group was extremely respectful to Our CHARMING Victorian and prior to their leaving walked through the house with me making sure that everything was put back in its place.
They also shared with me that the businesses in Ocean Grove were very receptive to their needs, e.g., the crew stopped in at the Starving Artist for lunch and mentioned who they were and what they were doing….AND…..they were working with a very limited budget….needless to say….the wonderful proprietors did not charge them for the lunch.
They were also treated to pizza from Luigi’s and TJ’s…….I believe there will be quite a few “Thank You’s” in the credits!!
I was also told that I would receive a copy of the film in addition to pictures taken at the house, which I would be happy to share with you.
Flo
How wonderful. I can’t wait to see it!
BTW, I just saw a dvd called ” According to Greta” that was filmed in OG and AP a few years ago. Have any other movies been filmed here?