Cast and crew of “Little Miss Perfect.” Marlee is center, on the bench. Courtesy of Marlee Roberts
Still from “Little Miss Perfect” courtesy of Marlee Roberts. 2013
Marlee Roberts is the NYU Film School student (and Jersey girl) who co-produced the Blogfinger Film Festival in May 2012 and 2013 in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. She made it possible for us to raise some money for the Together Fund, and we gave some fledgling film makers the chance to show their work in a fine venue with a professional audio-visual setup (thanks to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.)
As many of you know, Marlee already is a professional actress and singer, as well as a film maker, but, as we found out with the BFFF, she has many other talents as well. We contacted her today to find out how her summer went, and this is her email response:
“So nice to hear from you!!! Glad you’ve been keeping busy doing what you love. You caught me at a great time. We just wrapped production on my feature directorial debut!!! I’ve attached some production stills and a general press release. This is what we’ve been working on all summer!”
Marlee Roberts has completed 20 independent projects, one of which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival this year. This indie film is called “Little Miss Perfect,” and Marlee also gets credit as writer. You can read about it at Marlee’s new film link
We wish her well as she continues to be so creative and productive—she is amazing and very lovely besides, so we persuaded Lillian Roth to sing about her (below).
Scott Schuler. Director of “A Flight of Fancy.” NYU
A FLIGHT OF FANCY
Directed by: Scott Schuler
Produced by: Sam Besser and Marlee Roberts
New York University
Logline: When you look deeper, there’s more in this dream.
UNSHORE
Directed & Produced by: Lindsay Rassmann and Tom Mika
Montclair State University
Logline: An intimate portrait of Seaside Heights, New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
TOY SOLDIER
Directed by: Nicole Rosen
Produced by: Nicole Rosen, Emily Marcouiller, Jess Herbine
Drexel University
Logline: With his father away in war and his mother facing daily struggles of being a military wife, one little boy finds comfort in a collection of vintage toy soldiers.
Scene from “Moscow Summer” by George Itzhak NYU
ARON ARONOV AND THE BUKHARIAN MUSEUM
Directed & Produced by: George Itzhak
New York University
Logline: On the top floor of a yeshiva in Queens, Aron Aronov has gathered unique items from the culture and heritage of the Bukharian Jews, a minority group from Central Asia. But maintaining a museum single-handedly has its challenges.
Logline: A widow finds closure by adding the most recent memento in a box of trinkets that remind her of her past.
Stephanie Wong. Director of “Doppleganger.” Rutgers
DOPPELGANGER
Directed and Produced by: Stephanie Wong
Rutgers University
Logline: The relationship between a girl and her abusive best friend.
RESERVATIONS
Directed by: Charlie Redd
Produced by: Sebastian Savino
New York University
Logline: Ted Martino wasn’t counting on an afterlife. When an untimely death reveal heaven to be an old and over-booked hotel, Ted must face the cranky desk clerk who stands between him and a peaceful eternity… or at least one with room service.
NOTE: Tickets will be sold at the door. If you come a little early, we are having a photo slide show from 1:30 to 2:00 featuring Paul Goldfinger’s photos of Ocean Grove. Most of the films listed will be represented by a director or a producer, and we will have a panel for a Q & A to discuss their work.
BF³ THEME MUSIC—FROM THE MOVIES:
FEATURING LES YEUX NOIRS (From the movie The Concert-–“Ai Routchiok”)
Logo by Andrew Gioulis of KFR Communications Co. in Ocean Grove, one of our sponsors
If you attend our BF³, you will find yourself at a very special happening. All our nine films are by university film students from five area schools, including 3 from the Garden State. The Universities represented are New York U., Drexel U., Montclair State U., Rutgers U and William Paterson U.
The program has a distinctly Jersey flavor. In addition to the 3 NJ schools, Marlee Roberts, from the NYU Tisch School of Film, is a Jersey girl. She is the producer and co- founder of the BFFF , in addition to being the director of one of our selections “All We’re Left With.” We will soon be posting a more detailed portrait of this unique young filmmaker along with some more information on the films themselves.
Marlee Roberts, the BFFF co-founder and producer. Photo courtesy of MR
The director from Montclair State, Lindsay Rassmann of Brick, New Jersey, brought us a wonderful documentary, “Unshore,” shot in Seaside Heights. Her co-producer/editor/director on the film is Tom Mika of Pine Beach, NJ. You will be deeply moved by their post-Sandy film. Lindsay is a senior broadcasting major who is a skilled editor and video producer. She is now interning with Emmy award winning PCK media which produces “State of the Art” for PBS
Lindsay Rassmann from her web site lindsayrassmann.wordpress.com
There also is a feminist aspect as well. Whereas female directors are rare in Hollywood, 5 of our 9 directors are women. Many women are members of the film crews as well. “Toy Soldier” arrived at our door via another Jersey film student Emily Marcouiller of Eatontown, who was working part time at Wegmans coffee bar and whom I was trying to convince to come to the Grove for the BFFF when she mentioned participating in the making of a film for her senior thesis at Drexel—-thus “Toy Soldier.”
“Doppleganger” is a thoughtful, personal, and original look at the problem of eating disorders by Rutger’s Stephanie Wong.
George Itzhak with Natalie Portman at the current TriBeca Film Festival. photo Gotham magazine.
George Itzhak of NYU is a former winner of a TriBeca film fellowship. He had a film in our event last year, and he now brings a documentary to the BFFF about the Bukharian Jewish community. He brings the Diaspora to life, which is more than my recent seder did.
What also makes us special is that we are hosting a film festival that specializes in short films and we are having the event in the historic town of Ocean Grove. This town has a surprising number of residents who work in media: newspapers, books, TV, stage and movies. We have galleries and remarkable music and art here, so this festival is consistent but also is something new and innovative for this town–and for any town.
Paul Goldfinger, BFFF co-founder and community organizer
You may find short films to be a bit odd at first. Some are only a few minutes long. But these jewels are packed with intelligence, creativity and ideas, set in a professionally done movie format. Once you realize that these short pieces are forms of poetry expressed through the medium of cinema then your eyes and minds will be opened by these young, creative artists, some of whom will join us at the event.
It would be so easy for you to buy a ticket and multitask: support the boardwalk fund, encourage citizens to come up with fundraising ideas, support young artists, promote arts in Ocean Grove, show Blogfinger that we’re not just a pretty face, and have a fun and stimulating experience in a great town on a spring Sunday afternoon. Pretty good for ten bucks!
For more information click on the tab at the top of this page: It says “Film Festival.” TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT THE DOOR ON THE DAY OF THE FESTIVAL.
From 1:30-2:00 pm, there will be a slide show of original photographs of Ocean Grove, by Paul Goldfinger, published photographer and editor of Blogfinger.
BF³ MUSIC BY AL JOLSON: (This song is for Mrs. Calabash, wherever she is.)
We are currently working on details for the 2nd Annual Blogfinger Film Festival on Sunday afternoon, May 5, 2013. We are pleased to announce that we will be partnering with the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association to present this exciting event in town at the beautiful Youth Temple where we will have room for 300 people plus the audio-visual capability to show these films properly. This will be a fund raiser for the CMA’s boardwalk restoration fund.
It should be a great day to invite family and friends to enjoy our beautiful town— visiting the ocean, the shops and restaurants, while spending about two hours at the festival. Who knows, maybe Marty, Spike or Woody will show up.
Marlee Roberts, the producer of the BFFF.
As we did last year, we will be featuring short movies by film students. It’s always exciting and fun to see the work of young artists, especially when they will be present to talk to us. As in 2012, our main contact at the Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) will be our producer, the multi-talented Marlee Roberts, who is a student herself, although she also is a professional actress and songstress. She will be consulting with her professors to choose the best selections from submissions not only from NYU, but from film schools in New Jersey as well.
Watch for more details. Please mark your calendars. This will be a community event that we all can be proud of. Let’s have a great turnout. And let’s have a big round of applause for the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association which saved the day and became an “angel” for our show.
