The Asbury Park Reporter
by Brenda Hamlet - November 15, 2024
The third annual AP’N3 Challenge Awards took place on Sunday, November 3rd at the Jersey Shore Arts Center. Eleven of the thirty-five entry films chosen as finalists were screened for the packed audience of filmmakers, friends and artists. Michael Sodano, Board President for Asbury Park Arts Council (APAC) together with Nancy Sabino, Executive Producer of AP’N3 Challenge were co-emcees for the popular event.
“AP’N3 is sponsored by the Asbury Park Arts Council and is intended to stimulate creativity and elevate film making in Asbury Park. Our entrants were given a theme/prompt, a location, a prop and a line that had to be included in the film. This year, a diverse range of films were made by locals, all with the same prompt and no budget. This year’s theme and prompt was ‘Hidden Gems in Asbury Park’. The film had to be made in Asbury Park, including a scene shot on St. John’s Island (Sunset Park), a map of Asbury Park, the AP’N3 logo and the line, What a Treasure. Contestants were given a two-week window in which to complete their film.”
The films were rated in 11 categories: original creativity, story, editing, sound, picture quality, lighting, theme, location, dialog, prop, and logo. The panel of judges chosen to review and rate the films included Paul Kaplan (Filmmaker), Jeff Lundenberger (Cinephile), Marci Mazzarotto (Executive Director, Bread & Roses Film Festival), Nancy Sabino (Executive Producer AP’N3), Jeffrey Seeds (Film & Internet Professional), and Matthew Whelan (Executive Director, AP Chamber of Commerce).
The show reel began with A Hidden Gem by Mike Gatta. The story follows a delivery man dispatched to deliver a package to someone, who does not show-up to receive the package. The delivery man’s grim discovery as to why the intended recipient does not arrive provides a darkly comic twist to his dilemma. Introducing his film, Gatta said he and his friends made it in a day.
The Curse of the Hidden Gem by Kyle DeMilner begins at The Paranormal Museum on Cookman. The protagonist, Dr. Neutrino, is an Elvis wannabe character looking for the hidden gem that will make him the King of Asbury Park. The madcap antics of Dr. Neutrino provide the suspense and humor of this short.
Tom Cavanaugh’s, What a Surprise, is a crime caper short inspired by his grandparents’ stories about managing the Santander Building on Deal Lake Drive many years ago. Three criminals plot to sell properties they don’t own to unsuspecting buyers; a con that almost makes them a lot of money.
Oddities of What and When and Why and How, takes the viewer on a supernatural trip around Asbury Park from The Paranormal Museum to St. John’s Island. Filmmakers Patrick Green and Ashley Woolsey Green said that Asbury has so many backdrops, that is makes it a fun place to make films.
Sarah Ixmucane Lekics film, Hunt, is a missing person story with a happy ending that celebrates the love between two women.
What a Treasure, by Salvatore Zeppi, takes its inspiration from the sinking of the SS Morro Castle, an American ocean liner that caught fire and ran aground onto the Asbury Park beach, September 8, 1934, on route from Havana, Cuba, to New York. The short was filmed in the style of a B&W silent film and follows the efforts of two pirates who try to locate treasure from the shipwreck.
Caryn Whitman’s, The Lure of Asbury Park, is based on the true story about a competition to catch a fish in Sunset Lake, a very fishy tale indeed.
The Mud Hole by Margaret Leland tells the poignant tale of our Black communities experience of Asbury Park beach during the 50’s-60’s, and the progress made since.
Jay Leibowitz’s, A Hidden Gem, is a music video complete with original music and lyrics written for the AP’N3, set in the Carousel and Sunset Park.
Listen, by Antonio Johnson considers the hidden gems of wisdom passed down through the lines of female matriarchs in his community.
Nicolas Wolf’s film, Residential Treasure, took First Place as both the judges and audience favorite for its darkly comic portrayal of a man haunted by Asbury Park’s own Tillie. The three minute black and white film was shot in the style of an anxiety film, or Twilight Zone episode, heightening the mysterious and climactic twist ending.
Tillie’s iconic image graces the landmark Wonder Bar This is Jersey TV After the screening, Michael Sodano announced a new collaboration between APAC and Asbury Park High School (APHS). Sodano said, “A portion of the ticket sales proceedings will go toward the establishment of a filmmaking course at APHS.” Incoming Principal Perry Medina spoke at the event to announce his plans to expand the school’s arts offerings for students and to thank APAC for helping APHS, “to operate from a place of access and opportunity.”
Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce, Jules Plangere Jr. Family Foundation, Manasquan Bank Charitable Foundation, McLoone’s Asbury Park, and Monmouth Arts, provided additional sponsorship and support, including ticket sales for the awards ceremony.