One Strand At A Time

Many locals know Libby Christensen as the chatty owner of the a Maplewood hair salon that has served the community for 30 years.  Salon regulars can’t miss her long, straight blonde hair or her Scottish accent, laughing as she styles her clients’ hair.

Starting next week, Christensen’s unique charms and sensibility will be enjoyed not just by her salon’s clients, but by movie audiences as well. Split Ends, a film she co-wrote, has been making the rounds at festivals across the country, and makes its Garden State debut next week. The film, which features New Jersey locations and talent, was born out of the salon.

“My clients were really the ones who encouraged me to write,” Christensen said. “I’m constantly telling stories at the salon and people kept on saying ‘you should write, you should write’ and so I did!”

The movie centers on a Scottish-born owner of a New Jersey hair salon who negotiates life and love in a changing town. Libby describes Split Ends as a romantic comedy, and, despite what seems like compelling evidence to the contrary, denies the film has an autobiographical bent.

“While the film focuses on the life of a New Jersey hair stylist, it is fiction!” Christensen said. Indeed, unlike Split Ends main character Lizzie Munro. a single woman struggling with romantic and economic foibles, Christensen has been safely ensconced in a happy ending for some time. She met her husband Art, owner of Maplewood Bed & Breakfast Les Saisons, while walking in South Orange.

“We were walking in opposite directions, but we both did a double take,” laughed Christensen, who, 11 years later, now juggles seven children, eight grandchildren, and several different businesses.

Her foray into filmmaking started about nine years ago, when the Maplewood resident took a one-night screenplay writing class at the South Orange Public Library.

“The fact that I had my very first screenplay filmed is a fact not lost on me. It truly takes a village,” she said.

It also helps when your village is full of creative and talented people ready to help. Gilar Zalon, a client, close friend and an actress, helped Libby with the screenplay. Gilar, along with her partner Bob Pusitani, own Back Pocket Productions. Zalon won a New Jersey Director’s Choice award for her film “Dream House." “Without their help, none of this would be happening,” said Christensen.

Christensen was able to secure several big names to her film. Vincent Pastore, aka “Big Pussy” from The Sopranos, plays the mayor of the movie’s fictional New Jersey town Manningtree. Libby’s husband connected with the Sopranos star through his work on Pastore’s television show Repo Man.  Peter McRobbie, who played Jake Gyllenhaal’s father in Brokeback Mountain, is also in the film. Dorothy Lyman, who starred in the television show Mama’s Family and later directed over 70 episodes of The Nanny, directed the film.

Christensen isn’t the only Maplewoodian involved with the movie. Kevin, the bartender at St. James Gate, plays a bartender in the film, and Township Committee member Jerry Ryan has a small role. Her husband Art and three of their eight grandchildren are in the movie as well.

Fame and celebrity are not new to Libby. She worked as singer Connie Francis’s hair stylist for 25 years. In fact, she asked Connie to be part of the film but she had to decline. “She is working on a film on her life story so it was a conflict of interest,” said Christensen.

In addition, Christensen was featured in a New York Times article in 2002, "My Job: A Lifetime of Making Split Ends Meet."

“I thought it was so clever and we decided to use part of it as the title of our movie,” Christensen said.

Libby is not shy to admit that she reached out to anyone and everyone in order to turn her dream into reality. “I sent Donald Trump a copy of my screenplay. He nicknamed me ‘Scotland,’” laughed Christensen.

She also reached out to fellow Scot Sean Connery four times. “I am unrelenting.”

The movie, which was shot in New Jersey locations, including Clifton, Orange and Maplewood, was filmed in three weeks with an estimated budget of $150,000. “We are in the process of finding a distributor,” says Libby. In the meantime, Libby is beyond thrilled her movie has been accepted into numerous film festivals.

“We were just in Miami at the Women’s International Film Festival,” said Christensen. “Seeing my film on the big screen was an absolute high.” Next, Split Ends will be shown at the Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park on Sunday, April 5 at 1 p.m.

“The theater has 1,600 seats and I want every one filled by Maplewood and South Orange residents,” Christensen said.

Perhaps a road trip is in store?