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BY MARGARET MORGAN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Move over New Jersey Housewives and the Jersey Shore gang!
A new pilot TV program on single parenthood, Single Parents: New Jersey, is moving in. The pilot is in the final stages of filming with one of the last segments being shot at Vivas Restaurant in Belmar.
Chef/owner, Will Vivas, generously donated his restaurant where the cast of six single parents dined on empanadas and discussed the trials and tribulations of being a single parent in today’s troublesome economy, encouraging each other with mutual support.
For more than a year, the seed had been germinating in the mind of Jessica Fernandez, a 28-year-old single mom, who was determined to build a better future for her seven year old daughter despite hardship and challenges. Her motivation was to bring attention to the plight of single parents who are living on modest incomes, struggling to survive and provide stability in a happy environment for their children.
She also wanted to honor the memory of her closest friend, Heather Marchie, whom she lost in a house fire that also took the lives of two of Heather’s three children.
As Jessica explains, “All these reality shows portray people who live comfortable or affluent lifestyles. There is no reality show that tells the story of those single parents living on one income and trying to raise a child. There are strict income guidelines and the cost of day care keeps rising, making it virtually impossible to provide for one’s children on a single income. In this tough economy and job market, divorce is on the rise as well, creating more single parent homes.”Although Fernandez had little knowledge about how to create and produce a television show and no contacts, her idea kept prodding her to find a way to succeed with this project. Quite serendipitously, she met a producer through a friend at work. He gave her the confidence that her idea was a good concept and urged her to pursue her goal. Around the third anniversary of Heather’s death, through a Google search, Fernandez found Long Shot Productions, LLC, a full service television production company located in New York and New Jersey.
Knowing her idea was a long shot, she contacted Lisa Marie Latino, Executive Producer of Long Shot. Latino loved the concept and offered to join Fernandez in partnership to produce the pilot, Single Parenthood: New Jersey. With only two more segments to produce, as well as cast confessionals, they are well on their way to achieving their goal of having the pilot completed by October 22, at which time they will start pitching the show to the major networks.
The cast includes five women and one man, five single parents and one divorced single parent raising children. The series is meant to be entertaining, as well as inspiring, as these parents embark on a journey of self-discovery, meeting new friends along the way.
Creator/writer Fernandez has dug deeply in her research and says, “There are approximately 13.7 million single parents in the United States responsible for raising 21.8 million children. In a 2007 study by Latina magazine, it revealed that most reality shows are viewed by women and that viewers of both genders prefer shows to which they can relate.”
With the future of reality television taking over the airwaves, Fernandez strongly believes that a program reflecting the lives of what is becoming one of today’s most common types of family life will be hugely successful.
For further information, visit worldofsingleparenthood.com or go to Jessica’s personal blog at realworldofsingleparenthood.blogspot.com.
