Film work helps net $180K for road project
Student filmmakers boost grant application for grass median
BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer

OCEANPORT - - When Oceanport was seeking grant money to turn East Main Street into a more pedestrian-friendly roadway, borough officials called on two college students who grew up in Oceanport for assistance.

As part of the application process for a Community Development Block Grant to fund roadway improvements in front of the borough's senior citizens housing complex, the two young men volunteered time to produce a film to support the grant application.

The borough learned last month that not only did it receive the county grant money for the project, but also the application ranked fifth among more than 20 other applications in the county, according to Councilman Gerald Briscione.

"Oceanport has a long history of volunteerism," said Briscione last week. "It is especially satisfying to see these boys jump up to help us in such a meaningful way.

"I thought the film was great. It was very professionally done," he said. "While other towns have to pay for this to be done, we were fortunate to not have to pay."

Jonathan Grimm, 22, and Giancarlo Fiorentini, 21, both film majors in their senior year at New York University (NYU), came back to Oceanport this summer to record the five-minute film for the borough.

For the video, they interviewed Mayor Lucille Chaump, traffic safety police and several senior citizens who are witness to the traffic conditions in front of the housing complex, to enhance the application, Briscione said.

"This is not the first time the boys helped out the borough," Briscione said. "They also did a grant film for a project [in the borough] several years ago.

"I know their families and know they are both interested in film," he said. "I thought I would ask. The alternative would have been for me to take my camcorder out there."

Both young men said they were happy to offer their services to help the borough.

"It is very gratifying," Fiorentini said last week. "We are glad to be able to help out even if it is in a simple way. We were happy to help in whatever capacity we could."

The borough was awarded $180,000 to construct a grass median with curbs in the middle of East Main Street, according to Briscione.

The project will also include creating curb cuts along the roadway and the median to create a handicap-accessible walkway, Briscione said.

"It is a wide street, and traffic flows quickly," Briscione said. "In the past 10 years, two pedestrians were killed there. The idea now is to get the crosswalk handicap accessible and put up signage."

Currently there is a crosswalk on the roadway, but traffic does not slow for it and pedestrians do not always use it, he said.

"We want to identify the crosswalk and put up signage so traffic will slow and people walking will be diverted to use it," Briscione said.

He added that the grass median will also allow for pedestrians to cross the roadway halfway and remain in a safe area while waiting to cross the other half of the street.

The Borough Council applied

The Borough Council applied for the block grant in May and before submitting the application, Briscione explained that the council and the borough's community development group had to hold a meeting to identify what areas in the borough needed improvement and meet the criteria of the grant.

"[The grant] is awarded to fund low- and moderate-income areas for some ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] needs," Briscione said.

"We identified the street in front of the Oceanport senior building, which is an income restricted building," he said.

The project will be a continuation of a project currently under construction at East Main Street, according to Briscione.

As part of a developer's agreement for the Jockey Club Estates project at the corner of East Main Street and Port-au-Peck Avenue, Hovnanian Developers has agreed to construct a grass median on East Main Street, Briscione said.

As part of the application process for the grant, a video to provide a visual demonstrating the need for the project had to be submitted.

Briscione said the borough reached out to the students at NYU in July and the film was completed and submitted by the August deadline.

Oceanport is expected to receive the money anywhere from January through August and the project is anticipated to take two months to complete, according to Briscione.

Grimm and Fiorentini grew up in Oceanport, attending Wolf Hill and Maple Place Schools, and graduated from Shore Regional High School in 2004.

Grimm went on to Marist College in New York and Fiorentini attended the University of Delaware for their freshman

years.

Both wanted to pursue filmmaking as a career

and transferred to Tisch

School of the Arts at NYU

as sophomores in the

summer of 2005 to major

in film.

During their first year at Tisch, each individually made films that were accepted into the "Sight and Sound Showcase" of the best student films in 2006.

The following year they worked together writing, directing and producing a comedy film titled "The Experiment." The film was accepted into the NYU Showcase of the best student films for 2007 and went on to win first place at the STEBA Film Festival at the Lowes Theater in Manhattan.

The two students are currently attending school and working for Collegehumor. com as writers, directors and editors for episodes of the online television show CHTV.

In addition to filming the video for the most recent grant, Grimm and Fiorentini also made a film four years ago at the request of the mayor and council, according to Briscione.

They made a film to demonstrate the need to improve the First Aid Squad building, which helped the borough receive a $45,000 state grant for the project, according to Briscione.