2009 MOVIES UNDER THE STARS REMEMBERS THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND RETURNS TO CONSTITUTION PARK

The Fort Lee Film Commission presents its 2009 Movies Under the Stars program sponsored by the Fort Lee Suburbanite. This summer the theme of the series is films produced or set in the 1930s as we remember The Great Depression. The programs start at 7:30 PM and feature trivia contests with prizes. Films screen at sunset. Please bring lawn chairs / blankets as seating is very limited. The Fort Lee Film Commission and the Fort Lee Human Services Department encourage all attendees to bring canned goods that will be collected prior to each film screening. All donated canned goods will be collected for the Fort Lee Food Bank. Call (201) 592-3663 for further information. Location of event is Constitution Park on Linwood Avenue.

JUNE 10 - GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933

JUNE 24 - PAPER MOON

JULY 8 - SEABISCUIT

JULY 22 - BUGSY MALONE

AUGUST 12 - STAGECOACH

AUGUST 19 BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

SEPTEMBER 2 - THE GRAPES OF WRATH

SEPTEMBER 16 - 70th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING OF THE WIZARD OF OZ

FORT LEE FILM COMMISSION PRESENTS 2009 BATTLE OF THE HIGH SCHOOL BANDS JUNE 17th @ 7 PM AT THE FORT LEE COMMUNITY CENTER

The Fort Lee Film Commission opens its call for entries for this 2009 event. All high school age bands are encouraged to send their CD's / web links to the Fort Lee Film Commission at ftleefilm@aol.com and call us at (201) 592-3663 to apply for this festival. The top prize is $500. The event location is the indoor stage at the Fort Lee Community Center (1355 Inwood Terrace). Deadline for application is June 1, 2009.

 

Fort Lee Film Commission Presents Spring 2009 Cliffhanger Film Festival:  Politics & Film

This unique film festival will run for 7 consecutive weeks and is free to the public.  The location of our screenings is the Mayor & Council Chamber in the Fort Lee Borough Hall (309 Main Street).  All programs start at 7 PM.  Call (201) 592-3663 for details or visit www.fortleefilm.org.

ALL FILMS INTRODUCED BY A MEMBER OF THE FORT LEE MAYOR & COUNCIL

April 25 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

May 2 - Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

May 9 - Hail the Conquering Hero (1942)

May 16 - Seven Days in May (1964)

May 23 - All The President's Men (1976)

May 30 - Good Night and Good Luck (2006)

June 6 - The Last Hurrah (1958)

 

Fort Lee Film Commission Movies & Music Under the Stars

We look forward to our 2009 Movies Under the Stars and Music Under the Stars programs - thank you for a great 2008 season under the stars!

Above: The "Party Dolls" kick off the Movies & Music Under the Stars program on June 11 before a crowd of nearly 500.

2009 Jersey Filmmakers of Tomorrow "Best of the Fest"

Coming Soon

 

 

 

2009 Jersey Filmmakers of Tomorrow High School Student Film Festival

Applications will be available as of May 1, 2009 for the 2009 Jersey Filmmakers of Tomorrow Student Film Festival - download a 2009 application here. Screenings of the films of selected finalists will occur in the Fall of 2009 at the Cedar Lane Cinema in Teaneck. Please call (201) 592-3663 for details.
We congratulate our 2008 JFOT Best of the Fest winner Josh Pomponio for his award winning film "Privacy Report"

*Right click anywhere on the movie and choose 'Play' to start.

Bergen County Film Commission

The Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders created the Bergen County Film Commission on September 19, 2007. The Fort Lee Film Commission worked with the Freeholder Board to establish this countywide film commisison to promote filmmaking in Bergen County.  We hope to work with this newly established commmission and to participate on this commisison to advance the mission of the Fort Lee Film Commission in the areas of student filmmaking, film preservation and promotion of film shoots and film production in Bergen County.

Fort Lee Film Commission produced documentary on the first woman director in cinema history, Alice Guy Blache, is in production with a target date of 2010 for airing on the New Jersey Network.

The Fort Lee FIlm Commission will participate in the Whitney Museum Fall 2009 Alice Guy Blache Retrospective.  This will be the largest film retrospective to date on this first lady of the cinema.  We will highlight her role as the owner / operator of Solax Studio in Fort Lee.  The Fort Lee Film Commission will be filming the Whitney Museum retrospective for inclusion in our documentary on Alice Guy Blache.  We hope that this work will lead to Alice Guy Blache's entry into the Director's Guild of America.

Save New Jersey Film!

Help save the film industry in the Garden State!

Governor Corzine has eliminated funding for the New Jersey State Film Commission starting July 1, 2008.  That means they will no longer exist.

Beginning June 30, 2008, the Government of the State of New Jersey has decided to eliminate the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission from the state budget. Filming in the state of New Jersey generated $92 million dollars last year, money spent to employ New Jersey residents, as well as purchase goods and services from New Jersey businesses.

The Fort Lee Film Commission and the Bergen County FIlm Commission work closely with our colleagues at the state film commission and they have assisted us in bringing major film production to Bergen County over the years.  New Jersey is the birthplace of the American Film Industry.  Thomas Edison built and operated the first movie studio here in New Jersey.  Fort Lee was the first film town in America, the site where Universal Studios and Fox Films was born.  How can we as a state with this film history allow for the destruction of our state film commission, a commission responsible for bringing in millions of dollars of revenue and jobs to New Jersey each and every year?

Please visit this link to sign a online petition to save our state film commission:
http://www.savenewjerseyfilm.com

The Fort Lee Film Commission and the Bergen County Film Commission thank you for joining our successful efforts to save the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission.

For ticket information on the September 25-29 Reel Jersey Film Festival, visit the Bergen County Film Commission web site or call 201-592-3663.

HOLLYWOOD ON THE HUDSON - New Book Authored by Fort Lee Film Commission's Richard Koszarski

Rutgers University Professor and film historian Richard Koszarski's new book HOLLYWOOD ON THE HUDSON is available in book stores. This comprehensive study of the film industry on the East Coast tells a unique story that has not been well documented over the years. When the film industry left for California there remained a vibrant and active film community in the New York City / Fort Lee, NJ area. Professor Koszarski uncovers the facts and details of this interesting chapter of American film history.

Left to right - Fort Lee Film Commission Chairman Nelson Page, 2006 Barrymore Award Honoree Academy Award winning actress Celeste Holm, Fort Lee Film Commission executive Director Tom Meyers and Jersey Filmmakers of Tomorrow Festival Director Christina Kotlar at the Lafayette Theatre during the 2006 "Evening with Celeste Holm" tribute (photo by Donna Brennan).

The Fort Lee Film Commission recently completed a two-year restoration of the only known existing print of the first surviving American film version of Robin Hood. This film, made at the Eclair Studio in Fort Lee in 1912 (current day site of Constitution Park on Linwood Avenue), was restored from a 16mm print and 35mm nitrate elements provided to the Film Commission by the late film collector Al Dettlaff. The film was restored and blown to 35mm. Fuji Films donated the film stock and the restoration process was directed by Sirk Productions' Kris Fraga, Marc Perez, John Sikes and B.B. Enriquez. Metropolis Film Labs of Manhattan under the direction of Jack Rizzo performed the lab work. Film historian and commission member Richard Koszarski led the restoration team in the reconstruction of inter title cards and insertion of 35mm elements. The Film Commission premiered Robin Hood at a June 23 screening at the Fine Arts Theatre in Hollywood, California. Pictured at the screening are film historian and Entertainment Tonight movie critic Leonard Maltin (center), Film Commission Chairman Nelson Page (left) and Film Commission Executive Director Tom Meyers (right). The Film Commission will hold the New Jersey premiere of "Robin Hood" during the October "Jersey Filmmakers of Tomorrow" program.

Photo by Donna Brennan

Teens of the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center of East Los Angeles Complete "The Lou Costello Project" Film

The teens of the Lou Costello Jr. Recreation Center premiered their film "The Lou Costello Project" on June 24 at the Fine Arts Theatre in Hollywood, California. This film, produced jointly by the Mary Pickford Institute and the Fort Lee Film Commission, details the history of the Center and its founder Lou Costello and highlights the life of the kids of the Center today. A special thanks to documentary filmmaker Andie Hicks of the Mary Pickford Institute for her work with the teens of the Center. The Fort Lee Film Commission hopes to enter this film in film festivals across the country including the 2007 Garden State Film Festival.

Former FLFC Chair Lou Azzollini, Chris Costello, FLFC Exeuctive Director Tom Meyers, FLFC volunteer Scott Manganelli and Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center Recreation Coordinator Louis Euzarraga are pictured holding photos of Lou Costello at the Center.