---

Producers of an independent historical documentary feature centered around the city’s history and current revival will unveil the film’s trailer at a fundraiser Sunday.

The film, “Asburied in Time,” begins its narrative journey at the time James A. Bradley founded the city, according to the film’s director and producer, Bridget Machete, a 24-year-old Rockland County, NY, native who, like so many others artists, was simply drawn to the city.

Through the course of the 90 minute film, Machete interviews current and former city officials, residents, vacationers, authors, environmentalists, activists, immigrants to the city and to residents who dealt with eminent domain issues.

Interviewees include Councilwoman Amy Quinn; Historical Society President Don Stine; Helen-Chantal Pike, author of Asbury Park’s “Glory Days: The Story of An American  Resort”; Dan Wolfe, author of “4th of July, Asbury Park”; Madonna Carter Jackson, who published two volumes of pictorials from photos her father, Joseph A. Carter, Sr. took of the city’s West Side; famed musician Glen Burtnick; and others.

“My favorite place I’ve ever been to is the Jersey Shore, and Asbury Park was the most unique place,” Machete said.

Rather than create a fictional film about the city, Machete chose to let those with strong ties to Asbury Park speak unscripted about the city they hold dear, with the city serving as a backdrop.

“Strong visuals of the beach at different times, new and old buildings, real vintage footage from 1940s and 50s, real life people and natives can tell a better story than a scripted Hollywood blockbuster,” Machete is quoted as saying on the film’s website.

Machete, graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a bachelor’s degree in screenwriting and film production. She started her own company, Machete Media Productions, after working as a production assistant for a company that produced TV commercials, she said.

Her first professional film, “Frostbite,” is a “campy horror fiction” piece, she said.

After “Frostbite” she decided to steer away from fiction and work on a documentary feature on a place, and chose Asbury Park.

Pre-production on the film started in March of 2013 and Machete began filming in June of that same year, she said.

The film addresses the old stigmas of the 80s and 90s that painted Asbury Park as a ghost town struggling to bounce back from the race riots of 1970s, she said.

Her ultimate goal is to show redevelopment on the waterfront is thriving and to paint the city in a positive light, she said.

“I still hear people say they don’t want to go to Asbury Park, they ask me, ‘does that place still look like it did way back when…?’ she said, “I tell them ‘It’s back and running — it’s one of the best places on the shore again’.”

The trailer release party and fundraiser will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28 at Langosta Lounge, located at 1000 Ocean Avenue. Tickets are $5 for entry. Suggested donation is $35.

Of the funds raised, 40 percent will be donated to the Save the North Beach Foundation to preserve an open swath of land located at Asbury Park’s North End Beach, according to Danuta Byra, public relations manager for the film.

Preservation of the North Beach is a topic also covered in the film, Machete said.

The remaining funds will be used for the film’s post production, promotion and entry costs for film festival submissions, Byra said in an email.

For more information, visit asburiedintimethefilm.com.

[Above film screenshot provided courtesy of Machete Media Productions.]

————————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook,  Twitter and Instagram. 

---