New
Jersey, as a State, can brag about how
many world famous entertainers were born here,
but taking a closer look, in order to succeed
and become famous, almost 100% of them had to
leave New Jersey behind and go to
other states that are far more supportive
of artists (not just the politically connected
ones).
In
the case of movies, its still New York and L.A.
Even Kevin Smith left Jersey to live in
California; he even opened another JAY AND
SILENT BOB'S SECRET STASH comic book shop out
there. And if that weren't enough "Weird
N.J." had to become "Weird U.S."
to get a television show and more exposure.
When
I was growing up my hero was George Romero, the
maverick independent filmmaker who made all of
his movies in Pittsburgh, PA. He was lucky I
think. Just because Romero did it doesn't
mean someone else can too. Reality check: if he
was starting out as a young filmmaker today, in
today's world, Romero may not be able to
repeate his success the same way either. He also
had the advantage of publications like FANGORIA
magazine who, at that time, supported
independent filmmakers more than they do today.
Anyhow,
I tried, and am perhaps foolishly still trying,
to make my feature movies right here in New
Jersey, despite the lack of support and
cooperation I find in New Jersey. If I succeed
its not because of New Jersey, its in spite of
being in New Jersey. I wish it was different.
For
filmmakers New Jersey offers great location
diversity. You can find ghetto, beaches, typical
neighberhoods, country, any backdrop you may
need to create your movies. That is New Jersey's
only strength.
The
downside is all the slackers and poor attitudes.
"What's in it for me" is a common
expression which also reveals the IQ level of
the person saying it: rock bottom. As an actor I
would assume that world-wide exposure and
critics in newspapers, magazines, on TV and
where ever, seeing your performance, plus
getting the all important screen credit so your
fantasies of being world famous have some
concrete hope of actually happening, should be
plenty of motivation.
I
keep telling myself that maybe smarter people,
not slackers, can be found in New York and LA.
Lots of motivated people travel miles, uprooting
their lives, to relocate to those two media
centers, chasing after their dreams, annually.
Those people are the non-slackers, the ones who
have a prayer in hell of actually getting a
career.
To
be fair over the years I have been lucky enough
in New Jersey to find non-slackers in the
crewing, effects and acting departments,
and not surprisingly, some of those
non-slackers have relocated to LA and made other
feature films there; but they were the special
few.
This
year I am self-promoting in order to climb up
the ladder to bigger movies. I am already making
feature length commercial movies and they are
being distributed world-wide but I want to make
bigger movies.
I
find it truly amazing that I am getting some
resistance from people in the media. Here I am
making movies in New Jersey using local talent
and its still an up hill battle to get exposure.
Many newspapers would rather report about a
squirrel being hit by a car than the fact I am
making feature movies in New Jersey. How stupid
can you get???
Though
the New Jersey media is important, nation-wide
exposure is obviously far more important, so
that is what I will be aiming for instead. I
need to be known by all of America and Europe
and Asia to succeed, not just in New Jersey. My
movies have been distributed in Asia, Europe,
Canada, and the USA. Sadly, I get more coverage
in different countries than I do here in New
Jersey.
Despite
the closed-mindedness of many in the media in
New Jersey, I have been in THE RAG published by
Dominic Gregoria, UPSTAGE by Gary Wein, THE NEW
YORK TIMES, TRI-CITY NEWS, THE ASBURY PARK
PRESS, THE HERALD, and a few other newspapers.
My press releases and other feature stories also
appear on the internet where, if you GOOGLE my
name, you get about 870 mentions; if you GOOGLE
my movie titles you get 1,200 or more mentions.
Still,
there are events and newspapers who simply,
without reason, choose to block me out, while at
the same time promoting their friends or
favorites.
So
I'll keep plugging along in New Jersey, hoping
the situation and attitudes change, making
commercial feature movies with those few special
individuals who actually want to accomplish
something and get somewhere...for now.
