Charity found between ‘Rock and a Heart Place’

Documentary follows Holiday Express troupe bringing cheer to needy

BY KATHY HALL Correspondent

BY KATHY HALL
Correspondent

Filmmakers Mike Sodano and Nancy Sabino (at right) went behind the scenes with musicians and volunteers for Holiday Express (above) to produce a “social issue documentary that rocks.” Filmmakers Mike Sodano and Nancy Sabino (at right) went behind the scenes with musicians and volunteers for Holiday Express (above) to produce a “social issue documentary that rocks.” For 25 years, Mike Sodano spent his time producing marketing videos and corporate events for Fortune 100 companies, but production partner Nancy Sabino’s invitation to attend a fundraising dinner-dance gave him a new focus.

Sodano and Sabino are the producers of “Rock and a Heart Place” a documentary about Monmouth County’s Holiday Express.

Sabino first saw the group at St. John’s Soup Kitchen in Newark, where she volunteers, and she spent a year getting Sodano interested in the project.

The pair are partners in JerseyDocs, a documentary production company that had previously produced “Greetings From the Parking Lot,” a study of Bruce Springsteen fans.

Prior to being exposed to Holiday Express, Sodano was cynical about the effectiveness of nonprofits, which he saw as “useless efforts in a sea of endless need, and not personally satisfying.”

“I got involved in ‘Rock and a Heart Place’ through the music side,” he said. “The band just took the stage and I said ‘Oh my God! Who are these people?’

Sabino and Sodano met with Tim McLoone, the founder and driving force behind Holiday Express, a nonprofit, all-volunteer group that brings holiday cheer to those in need.

Eventually, they got permission to produce “a social-issue documentary that rocks.” According to their press kit, “Rock and a Heart Place” takes viewers into the front seat and behind the scenes as Holiday Express’ 150 volunteers and 50 musicians cram 50 shows into the 30 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2001.

Holiday Express events include a visit from the Grinch, Frosty the Snowman and Santa. While musicians and dancers rock on stage, volunteer “elves” move through the audience, painting faces, helping with arts and crafts, dancing, smiling and giving plenty of hugs.

Some locations get a complete holiday meal courtesy of Holiday Express, and no one leaves the party without a gift bag personally created for each audience member. This year more than 15,000 gift bags will be packed and distributed from the organization’s Monmouth County warehouse.

“There may be other groups who do certain parts of it, but it’s the package that Holiday Express puts together — the performance, the parties, the gift bags — that is unique,” Sodano explained.

To make their film about the volunteer spirit, the pair enlisted friends and family.

“Being in the business for 25 years, we know a lot of camera and sound people. A lot of craftsmen donated their time and talent. We applied for grants and got private funding from friends and relatives. We also got a lot of in-kind donations,” Sodano said.

More than 120 hours of tape were shot for the 82-minute film. As experienced documentary filmmakers, Sodano, Sabino and their crew knew how to capture their subjects being themselves.

“You have to establish a trust factor with your subjects in order for them to welcome you and to allow you to blend into the background,” Sodano said. “They just go about what they have to do … The story unfolded in front of us.”

The filmmakers became beguiled by Holiday Express’ warmth and humanity.

“What we didn’t anticipate was the effect that living with these people would have on us and how what they do is so important,” Sodano said. “When you turn around and your cameraman has a tear in his eye, that’s a testament to what Holiday Express does.”

“Rock and a Heart Place” is narrated by McLoone and director of operations Amy Robinson, Holiday Express’ only paid employee.

“Tim is the big-picture creative one; Amy is the realist, the practical side,” Sodano explained

Sodano and Sabino spent two years editing the film and finding the right way to tell the story.

“We captured performances, the effect that the group has on the audience and we captured the behind the scenes, the part that people don’t see. The blood, sweat and tears, and the problems that go into putting these events on in such a short amount of time.

In the editing you want to put it together to affect the audience the same way you are affected,” he explained. “It’s about the power of music that warms you from the inside out.”

The producers see the film as an exploration of personal and civic responsibility.

“What struck us was, does it take a national tragedy for everyone to look and say, ‘I should lend a hand?’ ” Sodano asked. “Holiday Express is a unique, grassroots organization that grew out of the dream of one man to help people during the holidays, not just write a check and give out food. They help people with the intangibles. They acknowledge the people and they do it every year.”

Three examples from Holiday Express’ diverse audience are profiled in the film: Mildred, a vibrant 93-year-old who lives in a nursing home; Haas, a shy and gentle 6-foot-5, 300-pound homeless person who takes instant photos and fancies himself a “Polaroid artist;” and Devan, a 15-year-old with multiple physical and mental handicaps who lives in a residential hospital and is confined to a wheelchair.

“We had a whole first rough cut that ran along the lines of ‘What do you do during the holidays? Here’s what these people do,’ ” Sodano said. “You make time for the things that are important to you. We were just struck by that. These people don’t even consider time an issue even though they are working up until Christmas eve.”

The pair is seeking a distributor for the film, which was screened recently at the Red Bank International Film Festival. They are applying to film festivals, although Sodano notes that there are hundreds of films that are invited to festivals and still have no distributor.

“The making of the film is the easy part,” Sodano said, “The distribution of the film is the really difficult part. Even if it took three years to make it, it will take another two to get it out there. It’s a very difficult start-to-finish type of business; you need passion, patience, and perseverance.”

JerseyDocs’ marketing strategy for “Rock and a Heart Place” includes an outreach program to community groups whose constituents will benefit from seeing the film. According to its Web site, “The target audience for this film is the 25–60-year-old, middle-class individuals and families who feel something is missing in their lives. These individuals have considered using their talents for the common good but haven’t, as yet, found a suitable outlet.”

They are also contacting schools and community service groups who can use the film as a call to action. “Everyone we’ve shown this film to has walked out of there inspired to volunteer to do something,” Sodano, who is now a convert to volunteerism, said.

“That spirit is something that really needs to be taught. In school there is a mandate to teach civic education. Here’s a prime example of how civic responsibility can be fun, resourceful, how you can use your talent in a way that you may not have thought of. Here’s a group of musicians and people who have a talent for organization. If you have a spark of creativity, you can help your fellow man,” he concluded.

Upcoming Holiday Express public performances include the Red Bank Tree Lighting on Friday and two fundraising concerts, Dec. 7 at NJPAC and Dec. 20 at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. The group will travel to the hurricane-devastated regions of the Gulf Coast during the week of Dec. 12.

Upcoming screenings of “Rock and a Heart Place” will be posted on rockandaheartplace.com.