My First Blog Post: Wow! They are filming in Keyport?

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first ever blog post! I’m super excited to have a place to write and just talk about things that interest me. Although I have a strong passion and will always have a place for science-based subjects, I’ve always adored writing and the english language as another form of self-expression. As Plato once said, “The beginning is the most important part of the work”, and from here, I am excited to start this up and can’t wait to see where this goes.

To begin with, I want to discuss my excitement and some background over the recent events of the filming that occurred in Keyport-Union Beach area. Many people (including myself) were extremely ecstatic over the recent events. Resident Victoria Pacheco expressed that she was “above the moon” over hearing the news, stating that “Film brings business to local communities and it’s an amazing process to watch,” something I totally agree with, potentially bringing even more positive attention to our little town.

Initially, in a now deleted Facebook post, I saw a flyer that was distributed to citizens from the production company to advise them of the filming process. Just from what I heard about the theme of the show being sci-fi-related, it had immediately garnered my attention. For my morning job, which is through the Clean Communities program (a job where I keep the community of Keyport clean doing tasks such as cleaning up litter, etc), my manager had told be ready early the next morning to clean up the areas marked off explicit for the film. On the day of filming, we had cleaned the reserved areas, and then followed it through with doing our usual duties across the rest of Keyport.

Production Car in front of McDonagh's Pub

Although I wasn’t able to witness myself cameras or actual film equipment (being that it was still early), I did manage to witness some of the production crew park in the designated areas, shown in a photograph I was able to capture in front of McDonagh’s Pub. Advising the citizens, along with the flyer,it was also broadcasted through the Borough of Keyport Facebook page. They state, “On Monday, July 22, a film crew from ABC Studios will be filming outdoor driving scenes on Broad Street by the waterfront and West Front Street for a new television series called “Emergence”.Please observe the instructions of Keyport Police Officers and posted signs. Filming is expected to take several hours during the day.For more information please contact ABC Studios at 551 722-4790.” Later that day, I had watched the trailer, and was impressed by the way the show was looking so far. However, I wondered why, in our small town especially, did they desire Keyport to be filmed. So I picked up my phone and called ABC Studios.

Although limited, the Spokesman I had reached out to on the phone said that the show would be filming around different parts of NJ, and to refer to the public information provided from the ABC webpage for more information. In doing some research, I was able to uncover from a variety of newspaper articles some of the actual locations around NJ and NY that filming was said to occur. This includes Keyport, Union Beach, Westfield, Middletown, and Greenport,NY. In addition to these, I was also able to uncover a casting article from the Waldron Casting Facebook page, describing that filming would occur in “Secaucus, New Jersey and in surrounding areas,” looking for a “photo double for a minor” with filming estimated to occur between now and December 2019, but as late as April 2020 for said double.

Filming Images (Courtesy: JakeaBob's Bay)

1913 Article About Filming

Now this isn’t the first time that filming had occurred in Keyport and surrounding areas before. This idea for a sidebar was inspired by this line from The Journal Publication’s article on the filming occurring, stating that “Keyport is going to be on national television — and this won’t be the first time!”. Exploring the ever so useful “Keyport,NJ” Facebook, a page that discusses local history and lore, is where I was able to obtain most of this information. One of the earliest examples within Keyport occurred sometime in the Winter/Spring of 1913 (shown in the article to the left) . Actress Violet Horner starred in a short film called Her Nerve, with the article stating “this place was the scene of the sensational climax in a private play Friday afternoon.”

1977 Rip Torn film article

In 1977, another article by author Lee Duigon stated that “the streets of Keyport were immortalized” in reference to the filming of Murphy’s Law by Welt Films starring recently deceased (as of 2019) actor Rip Torn. The film was likely not released, with no evidence present online, but as one of the admins of the “Keyport,NJ” page John Beach comments on his own Facebook post featuring the article that “at least we know somewhere in a can in Hollywood are scenes of Keyport in 1978.”

However, the most notable and renowned film I found (much thanks Jimmy McTernan) featuring our lovely shore town was the 1996 comedy-drama Big Night starring

actors/actresses such as Tony Shalhoub,Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini. It utilized local architecture in numerous scenes, making an appearance in one article showcasing the Pascal’s restaurant (the building which is the Mansion House on W Front) discussed that some borough official’s at the time were able to obtain a sneak preview of the film in New York City prior to its official release in January 24,1996. Keyport is actually listed as an official location for the filming of the movie according to IMDb. An Asbury Park Press article from Chris Jordan also stated that “Filming took place on and near Broad and Front streets in Keyport in the spring of 1995 and beach scenes were shot in Keansburg.”

Originally the show “Emergence” was an NBC based drama and is now picked up by the ABC network (Andreeva). From the official ABC page about their new show, it indicated that it is written and executively produced by Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, starring actresses such as Allison Tolman (playing Jo) and Alexa Swinton ( playing Piper). The basic plot follows Jo, a police chief, after she takes in a young child found near the site of a mysterious accident, with strange events following thereafter. “Emergence” is said to premiere September 24,2019, 10/9c, on ABC, and the official trailer can be found here. I personally am super stoked to see this show, and especially am intrigued to see if/how our local elements will be incorporated into the final piece.