Read a review of our film!

Click here to read a review of our film from TCNJ's newspaper, the Signal. Thanks to Pete Spall for writing!

NJ Colleges - BOOK us!

Thank you all form your comments and emails on the last post.

But now I am writing to college students. On Friday October 3rd we will be on "The Early Late Show" at TCNJ . . . and will be showing the film there on Wednesday October 15th . We will also be selling our awesome t-shirts . . . which you will need a fabric pen to appreciate to the fullest (I cannot divulge anything else).

So . . . if you are at a NJ college, we are interested in coming to you . . . showing part of the film, having Steve talk and having a brief PowerPoint presentation on the history of NJ and cluing you in to where this "divide" is.

Wouldn't it be great for your college organization to host us? (and it would look good on your resume). As we do the film festival circuit and wait for the national and international replies . . we want to keep our momentum going. We definitely have the most fun interacting with the young people of NJ because when you go to an NJ college - that is the first time the North-South divide slams in your face!

As a former history teacher (Steve) I can say that I have the confidence that I can keep a room of drone bees interested. And we're also in the works to have it be an educational DVD cut for classrooms as well. . . so tell your professors too!

We want to visit your college/ university. . . . let us know.

Email to: nsjersey[at]yahoo.com

Old clip: at TCNJ

Here is what we did at TCNJ in October.

My hometown, Ewing, North or South?

When asked, "Why did you start this project?" I have often cited that many people who grow up in Mercer County ask this question often.  For instance, there are many facebook groups dedicated to North and South Jersey and one of them debated "getting rid of Mercer" . . . . and did. 

It was feeling like we didn't fit in anywhere.

In Mercer, we really are our own entity. Princeton-Trenton is considered to be its own metropolitan area, even though the influences from New York and Philadelphia are both quite high. Well now, my hometown, Ewing, is in the spotlight.

Arguments for North:

-Residents get nearly all the New York news and sports' channels on basic cable with the exception of NBC 4 out of New York, though they do get it on HD.
-It is North of Trenton
-As of 2000, the county is considered to be part of the New York metropolitan area (if you ignore the smaller Trenton-Princeton metro area referenced above)
-No Wawas in the town, but there is a prominent 7-11 close to TCNJ (and I rarely, if ever, visited a Wawa when in High School  . . . except that dingy one near Princeton University).

Arguments for south:

-It is a "hoagie" here and "Pork Roll" . . and since Pork Roll was actually invented around this area, don't EVER call it Taylor Ham.
-Closer in miles and driving distance to Philadelphia
-Township borders the Delaware River
-Septa train line connects town with Philadelphia

Reasons for confusion:

-Both local newspapers cover Philadelphia AND New Jersey/ New York sports' teams; it was common to see teachers and students fighting at my High School over the Giants and Eagles.

-It is easy to get the NJ Transit train out of Trenton to go to New York or the SEPTA R7 to Philadelphia, also out of Trenton.

-In our documentary one girl summed up the feelings that many have in Mercer. When interviewing her on the campus of TCNJ, she told me that she was a Yankees' fan and grew up in Burlington County her entire life. She said that she was messed with by Philly fans often, but once she crossed into Mercer, she felt "it is now OK to be a Yankees fan." Certainly the Yankees don't dominate the area, as there are many Phillies' fans, but in Mercer, "It is now OK."

So Mercer County's slogan could be: "Mercer: the county where's it's OK to root for any sports' team and not get thrown out of the bar. . . . well unless you're a Dallas fan."  

Though you may say it's an argument for Central Jersey - try finding any other counties like this one.  It could be just my native pride - but there is no other place in Jersey like it.  But please vote above and we'll see if it's closer than the Asbury Park vote . . which turned out to be: 63% North to 36% South.

Get out your notebooks & maps

We were at TCNJ today and it was eye opening. I had to cut A LOT here just to trim it to 6 minutes (a long highlight for us). The centrally located town of Ewing provides the setting for the campus, which is perfect as you will see when the guy talks about how antennas had to be tilted certain ways to get Philly or New York channels years back.

Going to college in NJ is one of the first times students from this state run into the "culture shock" of North and South Jersey: you say where you're from and get judged by others who are from somewhere different. This is where the debate starts many times and thanks to TCNJ we were able to witness a lot: best friends saying completely different answers . . . people realizing that there are cultural differences among them, but they are most definitely united on campus about Wawa, though there is a 7-11 right down the street. We think we also got to the bottom of some counties in terms of North/ South. . . but you judge.

I editing all of these really fast, keep that in mind. I'm losing sleep but doing it because people are really watching now! We are definitely starting to gain a following.

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