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A Night on the Red Carpet: Premiere of \u201cWho\u2019s Jenna\u2026?\u201d in Asbury Park NJ bY Calvin Schwartz May 24th 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This article is comprised of three distinct sections. Firstly, my experience on the Red Carpet last Friday May 20^{th<\/sup> evening in Asbury Park at the House of Independents; noting one of my pastimes is absorption of extant energy fields at special events. I take a couple of deep inhalations, pinch myself, and whisper, \u201clook at where I am, Mah.\u201d I was thrilled to have been invited as a journalist. Secondly, although I am just short of a light year away from Siskel and Ebert, I will construct my review of the film<\/b>. \u201cWho\u2019s Jenna\u2026.?\u201d in my own inimitable style. Thirdly, I will reprise my article which appeared on NJ Discover last summer after I spent a morning on the Somerville, New Jersey set of the film<\/i>.<\/p>\n}

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$\"Tara-Jean$
Tara-Jean Vitale & Calvin Schwartz on Red Carpet<\/p><\/div>\n
$\"The$
The cast & director Thomas Baldinger<\/p><\/div>\n
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SECTION ONE<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s a funny thing how fast you can become an energy barometer at certain events. As soon as Tara-Jean Vitale, co-reporter and TV host with me at NJ Discover LIVE, arrived on Asbury Park\u2019s Cookman Avenue House of Independents, a lengthy Red Carpet and backdrop secured along the fa\u00e7ade, we both knew it was an electric night at the Jersey shore. We observed the early guests, splendidly dressed, were intermingling, smiling, hugging and posing. Yes, there was a certain air. The more guests arrived, more scenes of joy and hugs.\u00a0 There were no \u2018airs\u2019 in the air around the theater. People were really glad to be there. \u00a0Bert Baron, (recent NJ Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame Inductee) program director and morning drive show host from WCTC (1450 AM) was formally interviewing, freeing me to photo, absorb and mingle. Tara-Jean and I chatted with the film<\/u> publicist and Lady in Red, Laura Madsen. She did good creating a sold-out event. By 7 PM, there was a flow through and around the Red Carpet of hundreds of people.<\/p>\n
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$\"Laura$
Laura Madsen & Bert Baron interviewing Tracey Birdsall<\/p><\/div>\n
$\"actors$
actors Bill Sorvino & Edwin Guerrero with Tara-Jean Vitale<\/p><\/div>\n
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The cast arrived, euphoric and accessible. What I noticed when I spent time on the set and when some cast and young director Tom Baldinger appeared on NJ Discover LIVE TV SHOW and right in front of me on the streets of Asbury Park was that the cast and crew really liked each other; it was a real warmth, affection and respect. \u00a0I love hugs. I loved watching the cast at their premiere. I sensed the chemistry I was watching would translate to the film soon to be seen.<\/p>\n
Suddenly a gust of wind blew a guest\u2019s skirt over her head in a scene remindful of the iconic Marilyn Monroe picture. I actually caught it on camera (with proper permission). I sensed a true Hollywood evening. Cars on Cookman slowed down to check all the excitement. Slowly, the hundreds of guests, hugely anticipatory, made their way into the theater.<\/p>\n
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$\"Kevin$
Kevin Cieri, Long Branch Cable Commission, portrait photographer Kathy Facciponti and actor Garry Pastore<\/p><\/div>\n
$\"the$
the Q & A with cast, crew & director<\/p><\/div>\n
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I\u2019m jumping now to after the film. Cast and crew sat on stage graciously sharing and answering questions and always broadly smiling. The audience loved this. Then the iconic band, Slim Chance (Mario Casella) and The Gamblers, who did some of the original music in the film, performed at the after party. I\u2019ve loved this band for years. They are simply electric just like the entire night had been. I moved to the front row while I had the chance. People started dancing. The cast were still hugging and posing. Then Slim Chance and The Gamblers performed \u201cThe Power.\u201d One of my favorites. I pinched myself again.<\/p>\n
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$\"at$
at after party with Mario Casella, JT Bowen & Terry Camp<\/p><\/div>\n
$\"Slim$
Slim Chance & The Gamblers rocking the after party<\/p><\/div>\n
SECTION TWO: A Review of \u201cWho\u2019s Jenna\u2026.?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve got a long history of movie watching and appreciation. It\u2019s quirky and obsessive. Ten years ago, I was watching \u2018Casablanca\u2019 for the 44^{th<\/sup> time and at the last scene, when Bogart shoots Major Strasser, Claude Rains picks up a bottle of Vichy Water, 1942\u2019s version of our bottled water. Rains throws the bottle into the garbage. I let out a scream. There was a novel in my head in that one second. Five years later, \u2018Vichy Water,\u2019 my first novel was published. I tell this story here to dramatize my affection with movies and how powerful an influence in my life. Over the years, I\u2019ve developed my personal movie rating system. It\u2019s simple enough and it works. I judge a movie by whether I would see it again; simple. I\u2019ve seen \u2018The Godfather\u2019 again and again(embarrassed how many times). \u2018Casablanca\u2019 those 44 times. Sometimes I\u2019ll see a movie again just for a particular scene.<\/p>\n}
Yes, I\u2019d see \u2018Who\u2019s Jenna\u2026…?\u2019 again. This was a delightfully funny film with adult film references, a little blackmail, frenetic dialogue (and well delivered) and romance. Without giving too much away, Bill Sorvino\u2019s character, Jonathan has a girlfriend. His best friend, Andy, is obsessively, therefore comically convinced she looks like an adult film star and that leads to comedic romps. The plot thickens with a \u2018familial\u2019 twist.<\/p>\n
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$\"Mario$
Mario Casella & Lisa Sherman on stage at after party<\/p><\/div>\n
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I appreciate sharp dialogue in preciously funny situations. Tom Baldinger, writer, director, delivers that.\u00a0 Some of the scenes were priceless like the old credit card commercial. That\u2019s why I\u2019ll see it again. The acting ensemble is quite accomplished which translates (for me) to a healthy infusion of their improvisational\/ad libing skills in the filming. You can sense they\u2019re having fun together filming and embellishing. Tom, I get the feeling openly welcomed their \u2018addition\u2019 skills.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a facial expression guy. I pay attention to faces in situations. Their acting gives me my facial expression fix. It\u2019s there. Props to this special cast including Tracey Birdsall, Bill Sorvino, Joseph D\u2019Onofrio, Garry Pastore (who just makes me laugh throughout film), Edwin Guerrero, Lenny Venito, Vic Dibitetto, Michael Tota, Jill Christy Reiss and cameos including The Sopranos Vincent Pastore.\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m a Jersey guy since birth. I love the fact it\u2019s a Jersey film; familiar sights and sounds.<\/p>\n
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SECTION THREE: SPOTLIGHT: ON THE NEW JERSEY SET OF FILMING \u201cWHO\u2019S JENNA\u2026..?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And A CONVERSATION WITH DIRECTOR TOM BALDINGER\u00a0\u00a0 bY Calvin Schwartz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 September 9th 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n
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$\"with$
with film public relations & the Lady in Red blogger Laura Madsen on the set of ‘Who’s Jenna….?’ last summer.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Hooray for social media, networking and circles of commonality. For the last several years, Laura Madsen, publicist and innovative writer\/blogger at http:\/\/www.theladyinredblog.com\/ and I have travelled in similar circles of commonality (as I call it). Our energies and passions emanate from Jersey life and the arts. If you\u2019ve read my musings over the past few years, I\u2019ve postulated that Jersey has become the pop culture capital of America and Laura is always at the epicenter. For verification of the postulate, just look at \u2018The Soprano\u2019s\u2019, \u2018Boardwalk Empire\u2019, \u201cJersey Boy\u2019s\u2019, \u2018Jersey Shore\u2019, \u2018Jersey Housewives\u2019, \u2018Garden State\u2019, and \u2018Jersey Girl\u2019.\u00a0 Laura and I never had the opportunity for the sharing of notes and synchronicities; we never met formally.<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago, Laura contacted me via Facebook and asked if I\u2019d like to cover the filming of a feature film, \u201cWho\u2019s Jenna\u2026..?\u201d which is a comedy\u00a0 written by award winning producer, director Tom Baldinger from 624 Productions, LLC, a New Jersey based company. Laura hinted that the film title had something to do with an adult film star but that\u2019s all she said. My response to her was immediate and decisive; \u201cI\u2019d love to hang around the set and do some absorbing and interviewing for NJ Discover.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next decision for me was where to surface for the best absorption opportunity. The filming was taking place at the Lakewood Country Club for an on-location golf scene or the following day at Verve Restaurant in Somerville.\u00a0 I surmised that it\u2019s best not to hang around a hot golf course as Jersey was in heat wave, so I opted for the cool basement confines of Verve for the shooting of a dinner scene. And I\u2019d get a chance to hang a bit with actor Garry Pastore; I\u2019ve been a fan for years.<\/p>\n
Time constraints of being on set and getting a few minutes to chat (at the break) with director Tom Baldinger made me formulate a direction I wanted to take with this coverage. I\u2019m quick to admit that my experience of being on sets is somewhat limited although I was on set back in the 90\u2019s with Meryl Streep, William Hurt and Renee Zellweger and wound up in the Christmas scene in \u2018One True Thing.\u2019 My focus for \u201cWho\u2019s Jenna\u2026.?\u201d\u00a0 was the art of detail and precision in the film making process.<\/p>\n
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$\"filming$
filming a very funny scene. and look at those serious faces<\/p><\/div>\n
Laura\u2019s phone messaging last Wednesday morning got me to Verve\u2019s rear parking lot (on foot), through a rear kitchen door, down a steep stairway, through a narrow hallway to a basement dining room, filled with tables and patrons (all actors).\u00a0 I never asked if this was an active part of the restaurant or just the basement set for a very funny scene. Seated at a large table, with cameras aimed, were actors Garry Pastore, Lenny Venito, Vic Dibitetto (also a very funny comedian whom I saw recently at Count Basie Theater at a Frank Sinatra Birthday Party), and Bill Sorvino, playing the lead role of Jonathan Burke. Next, Laura introduced me to the film director, Tom Baldinger; first and lasting impressions were that of an affable, intense, creative, focused force in the universe. It\u2019s funny how fast you can \u201csize\u201d people. Waiters started bringing steaming plates of pasta, meat balls, chicken and foot long sausage in front of the seated actors; it was 10 AM.\u00a0 Someone yelled, \u201cGet the Dunkin Donuts coffee cup off the table.\u201d Actor Michael Tota introduced himself. He and I have been part of central Jersey concentric circles; we never met live, but knew of each other.<\/p>\n
Readers can go to the film website for more plot\/story information. http:\/\/www.624-productions.com\/#!whos-jenna\/c6h0n<\/p>\n
The basement area was relatively small; an additional eight tables or so had \u2018diners\u2019 (actors) to make for a perfectly realistic restaurant set; the table next had a woman and her young daughter. The small room size and 90-degree outdoor heat made the set challenging.\u00a0 I watched the crew fill the four actors\u2019 wine glasses half-way with grape juice.\u00a0 The wine glasses would be an interesting focus for me; the exact level of the juice in the glass was maintained for the next 94 minutes (multiple takes) that I watched from the rear side behind the cameras where Laura and I were positioned. As they were ready to shoot the scene, I heard \u201cQuiet on the set.\u201d\u00a0 I smiled. This was real.<\/p>\n
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$\"more$
more from on the set & that funny scene.<\/p><\/div>\n
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I won\u2019t give much away but the scene was hysterically funny as the four actors ate (pretended to eat as the sausage maintained its great length throughout), drank, conversed and laughed. I love watching eyes of the actors moving from person to person; just that small detail embraced me. Watching my friend Garry Pastore talk\/act\/move his eyes\/laugh and then greet Michael Tota\u2019s character when he walked over was perfectly real. There was a poignant albeit funny story going on.\u00a0 Director Tom Baldinger meticulously instructed Michael Tota how to grab himself while talking and then look at Vic Dibetto\u2019s character. It had to be the same grab in every take. The repartee with Lenny, Bill and Garry was priceless. I\u2019d love to use their words the next time I go to my primary care physician and see how it\u2019s received. I savored every minute of absorption.<\/p>\n
Something else I noticed; about the crew; a special esprit de corps. They were a well-oiled machine, anticipating, performing, and functioning like the offensive backfield of a local college football team. They loved what they were doing and with whom; their director. I like to observe those elements. The body heat generated in the basement\u2019s close quarters moved me to Main Street in Somerville for an hour until I caught up with director Tom Baldinger just before lunch.<\/p>\n
I mentioned to Tom that I have a relatively undiscerning eye when it comes to matters of film making but I\u2019m a HUGE movie fan going to back to 1939 vintage. Tom was engaging and thrilled to be chatting. Once I flipped on my reporter\u2019s recorder, he started. \u201cFor me it\u2019s very important that what\u2019s said-dialogue is not just dialogue-there\u2019s a purpose to why people say certain things. That\u2019s why when I write my scripts, I try to be very careful with the words that are said. I try to make sure that the voices are separate from each other-that the characters are separate. \u00a0There is a voice in each one of them. When you are on set, everything has to have a place because I\u2019ve seen tons of movies-big budget films; sometimes the detail is not there. For me there are a lot of people watching movies who will not like a movie because there is something wrong-a missing detail-or if dialogue doesn\u2019t match up correctly-or characters not really synching together. That\u2019s very important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"Interviewing$
Interviewing director Thomas Baldinger<\/p><\/div>\n
I mentioned, \u201cTranslates down to your crew. I was watching them measure grape juice in a glass to make sure it was exact level.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all about continuity. How many times have you seen a movie where the glass is half-full and in the next shot- it\u2019s the same conversation- the glass is either empty or not there. I was watching a movie last night-\u2018Mission Impossible 3\u2019 and saw where all the extras were and I have to give a lot of credit to J.J. Abrams. A lot of time you\u2019ll see movies with extras. They are in the shot then they are not there. My crew; I have to be honest with you. The meticulous and tight atmosphere really comes from them because I think they see me as a visionary. I\u2019ve built this and I\u2019m not trying to sound egotistical but I\u2019ve built this company and in some ways they look at me as their leader and so they are on the ride. They want-they feel this is going to be successful. They want to be on the same boat. I\u2019ve always set goals and reached my goals. I think that\u2019s why everybody on this crew wants to do everything perfectly because they want to take this next step into this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking it further I added, \u201cI\u2019ve watched a melding of you all there.\u201d Tom said, \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cI was so impressed with the detail. When Michael comes over to Garry at the table, you tell him exactly what to grab and do.\u201d\u00a0 Tom added, \u201cYes, when we shoot the reverse, we need to see him grab himself and that action-when we\u2019re in post, you see Vic\u2019s reaction. It makes my editor\u2019s job so much easier. And when you are sitting around the post, you are not saying we forgot that or look at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The night before I heard interesting news about Apple and the film business; \u201cYour work as an Indie film maker has an interesting future. Apple announced yesterday it may give money to Indies.\u201d \u201cI hope so. I heard a little about that. I work on Wall Street and I\u2019ve been out of work mode for the last week or two. My father who actually works for Bloomberg said you have to check this out. When I get a moment, I\u2019ll read about it; very interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
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$\"director$
director Thomas Baldinger and Calvin Schwartz calling it a wrap.<\/p><\/div>\n
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I thought Apple wants to do what Netflix is doing. Tom was quick to comment. \u201cThat is where the market seems to be going; where the industry is going and I\u2019m going to quote a famous actor hearing him talk about Indie films. Alec Baldwin was on Howard Stern show a few weeks ago. He was talking about how film has changed over past 20 or 30 years; that now big budget movies are all technical, special effects, CGI. Not that the big budget films don\u2019t get into the story or content but they are more Marvel and super heroes. I love those movies and I\u2019m there with the popcorn, but the Indie industry-that\u2019s where you get down into characters, stories and dialogues and really get into it. What the Indie film industry has done-it has born the writer-director and sometimes that\u2019s good-sometimes bad because studios say we only have $250,000 to spend. We can\u2019t spend another $100,000 for a director, so let\u2019s make the writer the director. That\u2019s a bad choice but when you have a good script and a good writer who can be a director, studios need to take that into consideration. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime-all that stuff; it\u2019s really starting to blow up. Quite frankly, \u2018House of Cards;\u2019 I said to my wife last year that they don\u2019t have to win an Emmy; just be being nominated, Netflix was doing cartwheels down the hallway because they knew all of a sudden they got something and now everybody else is trying to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked Tom about quality. \u201cQuality is better. I mean we\u2019re shooting with a red camera where some of those shows you see with bigger name people are shooting with the same equipment. We\u2019re trying to bring high quality products with lower budgets and eventually, hopefully somebody like Apple will say I like your product and I want to put more money into it and give us an opportunity to do even more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom smiled, took a deep inhalation and was ready to go on talking. It was I who suggested that he eat lunch but that down the road a spell, he should come on NJ Discover Live Radio\/TV show with the cast and Laura Madsen and continue our chat. After a firm hand-shake cementing the deal and a photo-op of course, I was on the road again, heading to Yurcak Field on Rutgers campus with NJ Discover broadcasting the television coverage of the Skye Blue FC Professional Women\u2019s Soccer match against Kansas City. A bunch of questions suddenly popped into consciousness on Route 287 to ask Tom and the cast. It would wait until October 5th for NJ Discover\u2019s Live Show with them. We move fast here in Central Jersey.<\/p>\n
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IMDB \u201cWho\u2019s Jenna\u2026..\u201d\u00a0 http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt4317858\/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm<\/a><\/p>\n
Jersey Shore Retro Blog Kevin Cieri:\u00a0 https:\/\/jerseyshoreretro.wordpress.com\/2015\/10\/15\/nj-discover\/<\/a><\/p>\n
624 Productions:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.624-productions.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Laura Madsen Blog: \u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.theladyinredblog.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Calvin Schwartz \u00a0 www.vichywater.net<\/a><\/p>\n
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A Night on the Red Carpet: Premiere of \u201cWho\u2019s Jenna\u2026?\u201d in Asbury Park NJ bY Calvin Schwartz May 24th 2016 This article is comprised of three distinct sections. Firstly, my experience on the Red Carpet last Friday May 20th evening in Asbury Park at the House of Independents; noting one of my pastimes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[369,370,14,378,408,375,405,409,407,377,376,406,380,379,156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3457"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477,"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions\/3477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vichywater.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}