The short documentary, titled "Junk Mail," was shot in the Easton area over three days in the summer.
Junk Mail from Voyager on Vimeo.
A short documentary shot at an Easton-area senior center has become an Internet sensation, capturing more than 4 million page views in two weeks and spotlighting the plight of older adults.
The 10-minute film features Mary Tony, a 98-year-old Easton widow who takes a shuttle bus each weekday to the Easton Area Lifestyle Campus in Forks Township.
The 21-year-old filmmaker, Charles Frank, said he's a partner in the video production company that shot the documentary over three days in August at the senior center off Sullivan Trail and at Tony's Easton rowhome.
The response has been overwhelming, he said.
"I was blown away by how open and vulnerable and loving Mary was so quickly," Frank said. "Within three days I felt like she was my grandma. She was so willing to let people into her life and her home and be open.
"She's just incredible in that she's 98 years old and so wanting to live a full life in any way she can. And that's just inspiring for sure."
The film is titled "Junk Mail." In the picture, Tony describes how she rips her junk mail in strips and cuts it up to pass the time while at home.
"I have to do something," she tells the filmmakers. "Otherwise, go nuts."
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The film captures Tony's solitude but also celebrates the camaraderie of seniors who play shuffleboard, perform skits and frequent the senior center, which moved to Forks from Downtown early this year.
Frank said the film has ignited a discussion about the millions of older adults living alone in the U.S. Filmmakers stumbled upon the story while making another film about a Lafayette College student from Afghanistan who happened to volunteer there.
Frank, who grew up in western Massachusetts but is based now in New York City, said his expectations for its viewership were low.
"It's a long video. It's kind of slow," he said. "But we were so blown away that there was something universal about Mary and what was being said in it.
"The topic of the elderly is not something that's largely talked about. It's kind of a forgotten conversation and a forgotten topic. I think we accidentally tapped into a great conversation that people needed to talk about in a way that went viral and we never expected."
Tony's sweetness shines through as she interacts with the filmmakers and Debbie Mertz, who runs the senior campus in Forks.
"I can't wait until morning comes so I can go to it," she says in the film. "I like it down there. You meet friends, you talk to them."
The production company, Voyager Creative, launched the documentary on the platform Vimeo, where it became a top pick. Since then it's been picked up by the Huffington Post, MSNBC and celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher.
Mertz said Tony had no children but has loving nieces who tend to her needs. But her story is not altogether different from so many of her peers who look for companionship and purpose later in life, Mertz said.
"She is bringing to the forefront what is happening to so many seniors, and it's letting people know these senior centers are out there," Mertz said.
Frank said he's been flooded with requests from around the globe from folks who want to write Tony letters or send her packages. He's collecting them at his studio and plans to deliver them later this month, he said.
Mertz said she's been floored by the attention the film has garnered and the light it has shed on the value of senior centers.
"Charles kept saying you don't understand what you have here," she said. "He told me what we have is really special. Now I'm convinced: It is."
The lifestyle campus is organizing a red-carpet premiere of the film, staging it as an event for seniors, later in November.
"You don't know how it feels that you can make such a difference in somebody's life," Mertz said. "It's exciting."
Jim Deegan may be reached at jdeegan@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @jim_deegan. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.
