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"Millburn USA: One of America's Greatest Towns"

Municipal government sponsors short video that explores Millburn-Short Hills life.

 


"Home is where you start from," T.S. Eliot wrote — and a new video sponsored by the township government boasts Millburn is one of the greatest places to start.  

The short documentary, now available online at the township's new 'landing page,' MillburnUSA.com, highlights everyday life of Millburn residents from commuting on NJ Transit to school events, such as the Strawberry Festivals. 

"I think it's wonderful," Mayor Sandra Haimoff said. "I think it's good for our town."

The six-month project, which cost the town $20,000, shows all the activities the town has offered from this summer's "Girls' Night Out" to the Annual President's 5K Cup and concerts in Taylor Park.

The township was approached in the beginning of the year to make a nationwide commercial but Haimoff said she didn't see the point. However, after seeing West Orange's promotional video online, the township committee was inspired to make the new video as a way to attract business and residents.

"I was literally blown away and I thought this is terrific," Haimoff said about West Orange's video, which took a more personal approach with the mayor narrating. "I didn't want to narrate ours because it would date the video."

Longtime resident Michael Becker, of Becker Communications, supervised the making of the film with professional videographers to "increase the knowledge of Millburn but also instill even more pride in one of America’s greatest towns."

Since Becker has been a resident for years, the mayor said the video captures his emotions towards the town. 

"This is not a commercial that is used on purchased "time" and then gets tired over time," Becker said. "This is a resource that as I said could or should last at least 10 years."

Along with the promotional video of the town, the company also created a new 'landing page' for the township. The site serves as a one-stop-shop for all information on township providing links to everything from the Paper Mill Playhouse to the Millburn Library

“The goal of this Millburn project we commissioned was to integrate all aspects of the township into one visual resource and display the information with great pride and emotion," Haimoff said. "We wanted our own residents to see this video and feel good about the place they live."

Related Topics: millburnUSA

Dazed not Confused

12:33 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012

Does anyone think this was a good use of $20,000 of our taxes? When will politicians realize that what we need now is lower taxes, not more frivolous spending.

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JKH

6:44 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012

This was an incredibly irresponsible use of $20,000. I am flabbergasted, frankly. I cannot conceive what this vanity project is for especially since no less than TWO such videos were already created by realtors---and frankly, better done.

This is Sue Adler's Millburn video--which can be found on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuwraaS4b2c

This is Lois Schneider's version and these were just two that came up when I entered Millburn on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBo1XrCk4YI

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sue adler

10:56 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Wow, $20,000? I paid $2,000 total for 5 community videos that were done by film students and they did a really great job.

JKH

6:55 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012

"longtime resident supervised making of the film" Oh.

Sounds like a sweetheart deal. Look--no doubt it was a lot of work and $20K is about what it costs, but this was COMPLETELY unnecessary. Beyond frivilous......they could have just as easily linked or directed people to the films the realtors already made.

I am sorry but this was highly irresponsible.

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greengirl

6:57 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012

One of these days my tax money will be used for something meaningful/useful that this town needs and not squandered on "nice to's". Maybe not.
With 20,000 residents I could think of a lot of things that everyone would be happy to spend a buck on.
A lot of people seem to have check books with no check on what they spend our money on. Was there even a simple poll to determine if this was in our best interest?

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J

12:03 pm on Friday, February 15, 2013

Great idea, but it's like "putting lipstick on a pig". So many other better ways to spend $20k..like maybe by hiring more experienced staff who don't expose the town to lawsuits, etc. Hey, that could say a multiple of $20k! One day a project like this might make sense, but not yet.

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