Entrepreneur Graduates Bergen LEADS Leadership Program and Celebrates Fort Lee's Luminous Film History

Entrepreneur Joyce Luhrs of Leonia, New Jersey graduated recently from the Class of 2016 Bergen LEADS. The program is Bergen County’s first and only civic leadership sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Bergen County in Hackensack, New Jersey. Bergen LEADS, a 10-month unique experiential learning and leadership seminar series, is designed to prepare aspiring and acknowledged leaders to tackle the unique challenges and embrace the opportunities in Bergen County.

The Bergen LEADS class presented, 'Take 2, Bergen: Bergen County Film Through the Years', in a public forum at the Ciccone Theatre. The presentation examined Bergen County's lengthy and extensive past, present and future in the film industry, provided current key film locations and offered recommendations to increase the number of movies made in the area. Film and television notables Roger Paradiso and Gary Donatelli moderated the discussion. A vendor display and the graduation ceremony followed.

Film History Celebrated

Ms. Luhrs worked with other seminar participants to research Bergen County's lengthy and rich history in the film industry that continues to this day.

"In Fort Lee, New Jersey, 17 studios were headquartered in the borough producing one movie after the other with an A list of leading actors and actresses that featured Pearl White, Theda Bara, Fattie Arbuckle, Mary Pickford, members of the Barrymore family and many others. Contemporary television shows and movies have been filmed in various locations in Fort Lee such as Law & Order SVU and The Thing About My Folks with Peter Falk and Paul Reiser," she said.

During the presentation, Ms. Luhrs encouraged people to embrace Bergen County's history and visit Fort Lee, the site of the first motion picture studios in the United States.

"The Fort Lee Film Commission provides tours of various historic motion picture sites in the borough and other programs that focus on the film industry. The Fort Lee Museum frequently presents exhibitions that spotlight the rich culture and the prominence of film and television in this area," said Ms. Luhrs.

"Joyce's passion and commitment to the arts in Bergen County was a huge asset to the class project on the film industry. Whenever you bring people of different backgrounds and experiences together for a common cause, the result is always much greater than the sum of the parts," said Lynne Algrant, Chief Executive Officer, Bergen Volunteer Center.

Under the guidance of former Bergen County Executive William “Pat” Schuber, who served as the Bergen LEADS Seminar Director, participants were immersed in stimulating courses for ten months that introduced topical issues of local importance and allowed them to explore their leadership styles, enhance their leadership capacity and become meaningfully engaged in helping to solve strategic issues facing Bergen County.

Community Leader

Ms. Luhrs has volunteered in various capacities in the community. She has served on the boards of directors of several organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Northern Valley (LWVNV), Leonia Arts, the Hispanic Business Council Scholarship Foundation of NJ, Inc., among others in various capacities. With the LWVNV, she served as Co-President, Co-Vice President, and Public Relations Chair and previously served as Membership Chair of the League of Women Voters of Leonia. In 2014, Ms. Luhrs was honored by the LWVNV for her many years of service on the board of directors marketing and publicizing the organization's mission, activities, and events.

Her company, Luhrs & Associates, is a results oriented marketing, public relations, social media and management services firm that works with businesses, celebrities, artists, nonprofit organizations and schools. In 2013, Metropolitan Opera legend Lucine Amara, artistic director of the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera, a nonprofit organization based in Fort Lee and the house opera company of the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey, presented her with Verismo Opera's achievement award in recognition of Luhrs & Associates' successful public relations and social media campaign on behalf of the only grand opera company in Bergen County.

Ms. Luhrs has received leadership fellowships from various institutions, including LEAD New Jersey, the University at Albany-State University of New York-Center for Women in Government & Civil Society of Rockefeller College, the City of New York-Urban Fellowship and the Washington, D.C. based Institute for Educational Leadership’s Education Policy Fellowship Program.

Photos:

1) Joyce Luhrs Photo Credit: Luhrs & Associates

2) Pearl White

3) Theda Bara