Harry Kaufman stood wearing headphones, dancing in front of a Saturday Night Fever poster in a Paterson Plank Road apartment. He is the owner of Kaufman Productions, a company that provides party planning services for bar mitzvahs. Suddenly his joviality was interrupted by a phone call. Taylor James, Harry’s star emcee, has gotten offered a job at another, rival entertainment company.
“And cut,” yelled the director, and the crew pauses from filming the scene from the independently produced film “Glow Ropes.”
Glow Ropes is the story of the rise and fall of a bar mitzvah emcee, a subject that, according to the producers, has never been done before.
Secaucus Resident Alex Alzate is the producer of the film, which takes place in northern New Jersey and New York. Seventy percent of the film takes place in New Jersey, with some scenes in Alzate’s apartment and one on Paterson Plank Road.
Writer and director George Valencia is a New Jersey native, having grown up in Lodi. He previously directed three short films. “Moment to Moment” won the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival in 2003. “The Most Beautiful Thing in the World” was filmed in Italy with subtitles, and “When I Grow Up,” will air on Showtime during Hispanic Heritage month in September.
“If it wasn’t for the director’s fearlessness to complete this and to achieve and excel, I or the cast would never have gotten involved,” said Alzate. “We all believe in the project.”
Alzate, Owner of Point One Advertising in Englewood, said the production team and crew got together through networking and friendship (the cast and production team includes “Scrubs” star Judy Reyes). He has lived in Secaucus for two years and says the town is very welcoming and a good location for a person in his line of work. “It’s centrally located, close to New York City, you can access the Turnpike, and it’s not far from my office,” Alzate said.
Glow Ropes
Glow Ropes is a comedy aimed at an ethnically diverse audience with an age range of 13 to 50. The movie follows the career of young bar mitzvah Master of Ceremonies Taylor James as he is wooed away from his job hosting bar mitzvahs in New Jersey to the allure of Manhattan by a renowned party planner, Vanessa Dupree (played by Reyes).
He quickly partners up with the star of the industry, Sebastian, and the two become famous. Eventually, Taylor is exposed to the corruption and ill-intent that surrounds his newfound lifestyle.
Bar mitzvah, big business Alzate said that the bar mitzvah industry is big business.
“The last bar mitzvah I went to was $350,000,” Alzate said.
Valencia was previously in the bar mitzvah entertainment business, having hosted with HBO star Ali G at one point.
Independent film
“Independent means we’re funding it ourselves. We didn’t go through a production house,” said Alzate.
Alzate says a film of this length can take three months to film and another three to four months of post-production to complete.
The movie is being funded through private investors and will be marketed on the film festival circuit, where the producers will try to secure distribution from a major studio.
The second way to sell the film is to go to TV Networks. The third is video rentals and pay-per-view, and the fourth is to target other markets around the world.
An episode from last season’s Sopranos was filmed at a gas station on Route 3 in Secaucus.
With development coming up in the south end of town, Mayor Dennis Elwell hopes to attract further film production companies, believing that they have a positive effect on collateral businesses. Members of the Glow Ropes crew got their nails done at the salon next door.
According to a public relations representative for the film, the continued shooting of the film has been postponed since last weekend’s shoot.