When the American film industry left Fort Lee for Hollywood 100 years ago, Bergen County was left with a void that was once filled with jobs and revenue to the local economy.
But during the years, film and television companies desiring the "New Jersey" look for certain shows have returned to produce scenes they couldn’t do on a Hollywood lot. The Bergen County Film Commission (BCFC) acknowledges the need to lure production companies back to Bergen County at a time when more jobs are needed during a weak economy.
By introducing the Reel Jersey Film Festival, slated to run Sept. 25-29 from the Williams Center in Rutherford, the BCFC will get closer to putting Bergen County back on the "filmmaking" map.
Below are questions and answers from an interview with BCFC Executive Director Tom Meyers.
Q: How does it differ from other festivals?
A: Reel Jersey differs from other festivals clearly from our mission statement, which is the celebration of American film past, present and future in a county where the American film industry was born.
Q: What are some the events visitors can look forward to at the festival?
A: This festival will include a symposium on topics such as Hollywood and the Blacklist featuring Oscar winning Actress, Director Lee Grant; a symposium on the history of African-Americans in American cinema featuring a premiere of a documentary, "In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema."
We will also have French director, Claudia Collao premiering her documentary, "Looking for Alice", which is about Alice Guy Blachem, the first woman director in cinema. Alice owned and operated Solax Studio in Fort Lee from 1912 through World War I. These are only some elements that make our festival unique along with our annual Jersey Filmmakers of Tomorrow High School Student Film Festival.
Q: What's the latest on efforts to have a section of the Izod Center in the Meadowlands possibly used as a studio space and how will the festival address those efforts?
A: We are meeting with various officials and we hope to meet with the Meadowlands Commission in September. We plan to announce our intent to push for such a feasibility study at our Sept. 29 event.
Q: Why is the Williams Center the ideal location for the festival and will Fort Lee ever host a festival of this magnitude?
A: The Williams Center is the logical location as it is a county-owned facility and we are headquartered there as the county film commission and we have no rental fees to contend with as we have no budget since we rely on sponsorship and fundraising. Fort Lee is not an option and never will be until a real cinema is built.
We have five screens and symposium space in the Williams Center with dressing rooms. We could never mount a festival like this in Fort Lee. Our hope remains that the mayor [Mark Sokolich] and the council will pursue the construction of a three to four-screen art house for independent cinema on the Centuria tract as the funds are in the developer’s agreement for that project.
