Asbury Park’s AP’N3 Film Festival showcases local filmmakers in their natural habitat
Monmouth Arts
December 2, 2024
In 2022, the Asbury Park Arts Council posed a bold challenge to local residents: write, shoot, edit, and score a three-minute movie over the course of three weeks. The result was AP’N3, the newest cinematic tradition within the community. This year marked the third installment of the film festival, with enthusiasm for it at an all-time high.
Ocean Grove’s Jersey Shore Arts Center was packed on Nov. 3 for the AP’N3’s Premiere Screening, with viewers of the 11 films (typically, there were 10 films shown, but two of them this year had the same numerical score in the rankings) that made the finals. Proceeds from AP’N3’s screening went to further support the arts in Asbury Park, as well as funding programming for Asbury Park High School’s students’ access to the audio and visual field.
The AP Arts Council describes AP’N3 as “a storytelling activity for filmmakers to engage with the community in a positive light, and use imagination, teamwork, and video technology. The timed aspect of the format creates a production that leans on spirit and enthusiasm for a participatory reflection of the uniqueness of our small town.”
Short films ranged from comedies to documentaries, dramas to black-and-white silent films, and all of them celebrated Asbury Park. With contestants receiving a phrase that must be included in the film–this year’s being “What a treasure!”– an item (a map) to be used in the shoot, and a location in mind – St. John’s Island – filmmakers got to work. The best of the best were showcased at the premiere, and awards were given to first, second and third place winners, as well as an audience favorite.
The films featured were, “A Hidden Gem,” “Curse of Hidden Gem,” “What a Treasure,” “Oddities of What When Why How Where,” “Hunt,” “What a Treasure,” “Lure of Asbury Park,” “The Mud Hole,” “What a Treasure,” “Listen!,” and “Residential Treasure.” The films all did an excellent job of truly demonstrating what makes Asbury Park so unique. Listen! highlighted the elderly community of the town, while others featured locations like the Paranormal Bookstore, the boardwalk and beach, and the town’s unofficial mascot, Tillie.
Nicholas Wolf, Director of “Residential Treasure,” won First Place overall as well as the Audience Favorite award.
“I was not expecting to get ‘Audience Favorite,’ and was thoroughly excited to win that. There were great films all around,” he said. “I’ve never won first place for anything before.”
Carrie Turner, Executive Director of the Asbury Park Arts Council, said: “The fun and excitement of Premiere Night is unbeatable! The AP’N3 allows us to celebrate storytelling from diverse perspectives and it is always touching to hear the filmmakers introduce their work, adding a deeper dimension to the story the audience sees on screen. We are so appreciative that the community continues to show up for the AP’N3, both those who make the films and those who come out on Premiere Night to watch them. This year we were particularly honored to have the principal of Asbury Park High School attend and speak on connecting students to the arts and film in particular. APAC is looking forward to a fruitful collaboration to support this vision for Asbury Park students.”
The Asbury Park Arts Council is especially excited to showcase the filmmaking talent of Asbury Park. While the town is famous for its music scene ever since artists like Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny helped usher The Stone Pony and the Jersey Shore sound overall into the limelight, denizens of New Jersey might not be aware of the other artistic aspects of the town. While visual arts projects like Wooden Walls might captivate tourists and locals alike, community events like AP’N3 demonstrate yet another medium that its residents excel in.
Mike Sodano, President of the Asbury Park Arts Council, said, “The turnout really blew us away. The best part is that it’s local. The space is great. It’s just a great night at the movies. Everyone who came supports movies. That’s really important. We’re doing our best to elevate filmmaking in Asbury Park. We want to tell everyone, ‘Film is here, too. We have such a great talent pool in Asbury Park and in Monmouth County.”
Asbury Park has long offered a plethora of opportunities for artists. The AP Arts Council seeks to ensure that the arts can thrive both in town and beyond. This nonprofit rightfully believes that the local arts are integral to Asbury Park’s identity and aims to preserve that aspect of the town. The nonprofit offers other events and programs other than AP’N3. These include Film Maker Meet Ups, the Spring 2024 Mural Project, For Artists’ Sake Lecture Series, Wooden Walls, and more.
The Council, its staff and the community are excited for 2025 and beyond for both the town and future yearly celebrations of AP’N3. Judge of this year’s films and previous winner of AP’N3, Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce Director Matthew Whelan, said, “The Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce was thrilled to be a partner in the AP’N3 again this year. As a judge and a past winner of the challenge, I was very impressed with the caliber of films we received this year. Kudos to all the filmmakers. I’m also impressed with how the event continues to grow year after year, which is a true testament to the hard work of Mike Sodano and the Asbury Park Arts Council. Congratulations to the winners, and I can’t wait to see what the 2025 AP’N3 will bring!”
To learn more about AP’N3, the Asbury Park Arts Council, and how to support local artists, head to asburypartartscouncil.org
Bread & Roses Film Festival (Oct 18-20)
Bread & Roses Film Festival 2024
The idea of a female-centric film festival was born the moment that Roe v. Wade was overturned, as it become even more glaringly obvious simply how much female voices still need protection, support, and celebration. Since its inception, the world of cinema has long been a male dominated space, and while some movement forward has been made, progress towards alleviating gender inequities behind the screen has been slow and uneven, at best.
Enter, Bread and Roses, a term which dates back to the early 1900s and inspired by a speech from suffragist, Helen Todd. The term went on to become synonymous with the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts textile workers strike – a strike that was led by mostly migrant women through a brutally cold winter (and sadly, not one without unnecessary bloodshed).
At a foundational level, bread and roses refers to the desire that women deserve both fair wages and dignified conditions. In turn, “Bread for all, and Roses too!” (and the many variations thereof) became a common slogan among women’s fights for equal rights across the United States. BRFF’s main mission is to support, elevate, and celebrate the unique and diverse voices of female filmmakers from around the world.
With an all-female leadership team, each of us is deeply dedicated and passionate about women’s rights – on and off screen. We are incredibly proud to run a small, and mighty female-centric film space with hopes of bettering the present (and future) for all women in film, from their childhood dreams to their professional goals.
Join us! We are grateful for your support, in whichever way works best for you.
Zanna Don't - The Reboot! (Oct11-13)
Theater Q Asbury
Zanna Don’t – The Reboot!
The Off-Broadway hit gets a glow-up!
Book, Music, and Lyrics: Tim Acito
Additional Book and Lyrics: Alexander Dinelaris
Oct 11 – 13
House of Independents
572 Cookman Ave, Asbury Park, NJ 07712
90 minutes – No intermission
“Zanna Don’t – the Reboot!” is a complete overhaul of the 2003 Off-Broadway hit which lovingly flips the script on American history. Tim Acito, Zanna’s creator, is directing this production for Theater Q Asbury.
Shamelessly stoopid and unexpectedly poignant, the story follows a group of high school seniors who will stop at nothing to make their small Midwestern town more inclusive, whether that’s through staging synchronized mechanical bull-riding ballets, technodisco military numbers, or slapnasty chess cheers.
When the community is thrown into chaos after two students discover they don’t fit the norm, it’s up to their classmate Zanna – the magical, imperfect, gender non-conforming superhero-in-training – to figure out how to simultaneously honor and expand the town’s cherished notions of patriotism, family values, and love.
Zanna Don't - The Reboot!
New Jersey Stage
Originally published: 09/27/2024
Theater Q Asbury to Debut in October with "Zanna Don't - The Reboot!
(ASBURY PARK, NJ) — Theater Q Asbury, New Jersey’s new LGBTQ+ focused theater company, will make its debut this October with Zanna Don’t – The Reboot! running from October 10-13, 2024 at the House of Independents in Asbury Park. This fresh take on the 2003 Off-Broadway musical is directed by its original creator, Freehold native Tim Acito, and promises to bring audiences a joyous, funny, thought-provoking celebration which manages to be timely and vintage at the same time.
Zanna Don’t – The Reboot! turns the conventional American high school narrative upside down, imagining a world where being LGBTQ+ is the norm. At Heartsville High, patriotism comes in rainbow colors, and love stories are celebrated in every form. However, when two students discover they don’t conform to societal expectations, it throws their community into chaos. Enter Zanna—a magical, gender-nonconforming superhero-in-training—tasked with balancing patriotism, inclusivity, and love in a small Midwestern town.
For Artistic Director John Pantozzi, Zanna Don’t – The Reboot! is more than just an entertaining romp through gay America—the production itself is a statement of resistance against a climate that seeks to silence LGBTQ+ voices. “I believe it is more crucial than ever to celebrate and amplify the rich tapestry of LGBTQ+ experiences,” Pantozzi said. “Theater has always been a powerful tool for change and acceptance, we want to use this new stage to tell our stories authentically.” Quoting Janet Mock, the influential trans writer and producer of Pose, he added: “If we don’t tell our own stories, others will tell them for us, and they will get them wrong.”
Tickets are available at www.theaterq.org or in person at Rebel Supply on Cookman Avenue Asbury Park. House of Independents is located at 572 Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Theater Q Asbury’s inaugural season reflects this mission of visibility, inclusion, and empowerment. Following Zanna Don’t – The Reboot! In March is …what the end will be by Mansa Ra, an emotionally resonant intergenerational comedy that delves into the lives of three generations of Black gay men living under one roof. In April, David Saffert and Jillian Snow bring their acclaimed Liberace and Liza Minnelli tribute, After-Hourz, to the stage, offering a “truly terrific” night of show-stopping glamour, timeless entertainment and candelabras. The season concludes in June with TL; DR: Thelma Louise: Dyke Remix, a fun, fast-paced comic musical about queer iconography where strong female characters don’t “always gotta die.”, written by EllaRose Chary and Brandon James Gwinn.
But Theater Q Asbury’s ambitions don’t stop at its stage productions. The company is working on funding for an oral history project that will document the stories of Asbury Park’s LGBTQ+ residents—those who have played an integral role in the city’s cultural rebirth. With plans to engage playwrights to transform these interviews into new theatrical works, Theater Q aims to preserve and honor the city’s queer legacy. “LGBTQ+ history is Asbury Park’s history,” Pantozzi emphasized. “It was thrilling to hear Bruce Springsteen express those same sentiments from the Sea, Hear, Now stage during his historic concert on the beach. We want to showcase the struggles, the joys, the spirit, of those who helped transform this city into the vibrant, inclusive community it is today.” Through its programming, Theater Q hopes to become a hub for queer storytelling, shining a light on voices that are often overlooked or marginalized.
An Asbury resident, Pantozzi’s passion for LGBTQ+ advocacy is rooted in both his personal and professional experiences. He has a long history of championing inclusivity in the arts. As the former artistic director of Jersey City’s Actors’ Factory, in 1976 he produced a gay centric Aladdin’s Lamp adaptation called Wind-Ups that also had an off-Broadway production in 1997 retitled Dreamstuff. A member of Actors’ Equity, he has stage-managed and directed numerous regional and Off-Broadway productions. His advocacy work extends beyond the stage—he collaborated with the Gill Foundation to push for the adoption of domestic partner benefits at major companies before same-sex marriage was legalized and helped lead Automatic Data Processing (ADP) to its first 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. His efforts also resulted in ADP adding transgender health coverage to its benefits plan.
For Pantozzi, Theater Q Asbury is the culmination of years of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights and representation. “This theater is the realization of my two passions—queer rights and the performing arts,” he shared. “We want to create a space where our stories are not just told but celebrated, where we can not only come together as a community, but also share our stories with the larger community at large”
As the city’s arts scene continues to grow, Theater Q Asbury hopes it can add another jewel to the city’s cultural crown.
Highlighting Female Creators with the Bread & Roses Film Festival
Monmouth Arts
By Darian Scalamoni / September 24, 2024
How did the name Bread & Roses come to be for this female-focused film festival?
The term “Bread and Roses” goes back to the suffragist movement. It is most famously associated with labor of strikes that were led by women in 1911 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. I was reminded of that slogan a couple years ago, so when I came up with the idea of the film festival, the name seemed perfect. I wanted to focus on not only some of the social justice things, but on elevating women’s voices in a way that is not just about sustainability in terms of what you can do to have an enriching career, but also to be able to do it with dignity.
What made you decide to create this festival in the first place?
I came up with this idea when Roe v. Wade was overturned. I had this kind of existential crisis, in relation to just how there was still a danger in terms of women’s rights. This is something that is obviously very polarizing, but it’s really more about protecting rights and seeing that huge disparity in the rights of women. I had just come back from Ireland where they had a bread and roses festival related to poetry that was free and open to the community. So given the situation with women and being somebody who’s a filmmaker and an academic – and a woman – the idea of a festival just came to me. About six months later, I put together a team and our first festival was in October 2023. It’s still in an experimental stage. It’s very much a passion project.
In your mind, what made Asbury Park the prime location to house a festival such as this?
It’s a great place to bring people because Asbury is a destination city – it’s a place where people want to go. If we have people flying from Europe or across the country, this is a place that they’ll think, “I can go there and really experience the arts and culture and the food and the energy in a time when the weather is still good.” There are a lot of reasons why Asbury Park just made sense. I’d like it to stay here and I specifically want to collaborate with female-run spaces in Asbury Park.
When it comes to selecting films for the festival, what are you looking for?
In terms of the submissions, we’re looking for films that have a woman in a top creative position. Sometimes that can be producing and sometimes that can be cinematography or editing, but it’s usually director, writer. We are inclusive, however; if somebody identifies with being female, that’s all that really matters. We do this because we want to create a space that elevates and celebrates women’s voices in film because there just aren’t enough of them.
What do you hope festival goers get from the Bread & Roses Film Festival?
The people who attend can be very different from the filmmakers themselves, right? You have the filmmakers and the people supporting the film, people who are just avid about filmmaking, festival goers, and film enthusiasts. The most rewarding thing from last year was when attendees said their lives were enhanced by what they saw and the stories they heard. We also try to build the social and the learning aspects of it with other events besides the screenings. But with the films themselves, we want to get stories on the screen that can really broaden minds and perspectives.
How do you make this an inclusive event for all film fans?
We had a very diverse audience last year. The festival is all about showcasing stories that celebrate women and celebrate women filmmakers. We have a wonderful publicist who helps us with that message because we want people to know that just because the submissions are female centric, that doesn’t mean the audiences we have are just female. Everyone is welcome. We do our best to keep not only entry fees as low as possible for filmmakers, but our events. We do need to cover costs, but we try to keep things inexpensive.
This year we’re having a deal where if someone wants to do a screening block, it’s $10. If they want to spend the whole day, it’s $20. If they want to spend the whole weekend, it’s $40. For students, we comp the ticket price. We make sure that we can have people regardless of their financial ability. And then we have other people who donate money. We just want to be able to cover costs and be able to have really good programming.
How do you want the festival to evolve in the future?
This year we’re really excited that we’re having an opening reception and screenings the same night. We’re grateful that we were able to raise funds to do that and have a panel, so we’ll have a panel of industry professionals and screenwriters. The greater goal is to have that going on year-round. We had our first fundraiser in July, which was really wonderful. I would love to be able to have things where we can have more of a connection with high schools and colleges to evolve. I definitely don’t have the desire to think, “let’s make this a two- week thing” – that’s overwhelming – but we want to offer the highest quality programming possible throughout the year. And we’d like artists to be able to connect with other people throughout the year.
First Fridays Art & Sound at the Station
First Fridays
Don’t miss the train to creativity at the Asbury Park transportation center, where local and regional talent come together for an evening of artistic expression. In collaboration with the city of Asbury Park, Over The Moon presents a platform for visual artists, musicians, performance artists, and craft vendors to showcase their work.
Enjoy a vibrant evening filled with exciting artwork, live musical performances, and unique crafts. Don’t miss this chance to support your local art scene and connect with the community!
First Fridays Art & Sound at the Station
First Fridays Art & Sound at the Station
Friday, September 6, 2024
This exciting new series will showcase local artists, musicians, and craft vendors in a vibrant celebration of creativity and community. Enjoy an evening filled with art, live music, and unique crafts.
With an all-female leadership team, each of us is deeply dedicated and passionate about women’s rights – on and off screen. We are incredibly proud to run a small, and mighty female-centric film space with hopes of bettering the present (and future) for all women in film, from their childhood dreams to their professional goals.
Join us! We are grateful for your support, in whichever way works best for you.
Shoot, edit, score, win!
The Asbury Park Reporter
by Brenda Hamlet - August 8, 2024
The Asbury Park Arts Council (APAC) 3 Week Film Challenge is now underway from August 5 – 26. The AP’N3 Film Challenge is the only film making event in Asbury Park and is open to the entire community. Contestants who accept the challenge are required to create a 3-minute movie, with an original script, shoot it, edit, and score it in three weeks.
Michael Sodano, Board President for APAC says, “It is still not too late to enter the challenge. All you need is a $30 entry fee, discounted for students and non-profits. So far, we have thirty-five people taking part in the challenge.”
APAC provides each contestant with a production package available to download from August 5th at 10 a.m. (See link below). The production package includes a theme, line of dialogue, a prop, and a scene-specific Asbury Park location. The film must be shot entirely in Asbury Park and uploaded to the website no later than Monday, August 26th at 6 p.m.
“This is a challenge that stretches our imagination and those of the participants,” says Sodano. “Most of the participants are first time film makers, so once they have a film under their belt, they can use it whatever way they want. Last year the Second Prize winners went on to enter their short with the Jersey Shore Film Festival and it won Best Comedy Short. Another filmmaker entered their short into the Garden State Film Festival and it won Best Short.”
The top ten winning entries will be screened at the Premier Event taking place at the Jersey Shore Arts Center on Sunday, November 3, 2024. A selection of AP’N3 entries will also be screened on APTV, the local cable channel, and on the YouTube channel of the Asbury Park Arts Council.
Sodano says the judging panel is made up of experts and cinephiles. “We have teachers, professional filmmakers, others involved in film who evaluate the films on a number of standpoints.”
APAC is a 501(c) nonprofit organization established under the guiding promise that the arts have been — and will continue to be — critical to the overall health and development of our community. The board members include: Carrie Turner, Michael Sodano, Jenn Hampton, Bob Ellis, and Paul McEvily. This year they have hosted Asbury Park’s Got Talent, Filmmakers Meetup, Connor Kane Photography Show, Asbury Park Panel and Mural Tour, a Black History Month art event at Asbury Park Library, Music Mondays pop-up at Springwood Park, Sewer Plant Mural Project, Lake Street Light Pole Beautification, and For Artist’s Sake Lectures.
Filmmakers Invited to Register for Annual Film Challenge
The Coaster
by the Coaster Editorial Staff
The Asbury Park Arts Council is hosting the third annual AP’N3 Film Challenge.
This is a competition where participants create three-minute films shot in Asbury Park over the course of three weeks from Aug. 5 to Aug. 26.
The “challenge” lies not only in the short time frame but that each film must include a required theme. As in the past, APAC will manage the challenge through the FilmFreeway web portal where entrants register and submit their final films.
Each film will be judged by a panel of industry professionals and the top-rated entries will screen at an event, scheduled for Nov. 3. The top three films and an audience favorite film will receive cash prizes.
Nancy Sabino, executive director of the event said, “We are so pleased to give everyone a chance to showcase our city in film. You cannot believe the creativity that can happen in three minutes, and we are always pushing the envelope to offer help and community to those with talent and determination.. The Challenge is the only film-making event in Asbury Park. Everyone starts somewhere.”
Carrie Turner, APAC executive director, said, “AP’N3 is meant to be a fun exercise, open to the whole community, that invites people who live in or visit Asbury Park to share a story. We were excited by the increase in entries from 2022 to 2023 and believe we are developing a valuable avenue for creative expression in our city.”