Beloved Statehouse Reporter, Animal Lover Focus Of Hillsborough Producer's Film

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough's Tim Stollery, a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer, is premiering his latest documentary following Joseph Albright, "the longest-serving Statehouse reporter in the nation." (See the trailer below)

Stollery has teamed up with the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media (CNJLM) to create the documentary film "Saint Joseph," which has been selected to premiere at the 21st Annual Garden State Film Festival on Saturday, March 25.

"It is gratifying to see Saint Joseph in the Garden State Film Fest line-up," said Stollery.

The film follows Joseph Albright, a statehouse reporter and columnist who wrote for Hudson County’s Jersey Journal for 58 years before he died in May 2022 at 93 years of age.

In 2017, The Columbia Journalism Review did a magazine feature on Albright ahead of his 88th birthday, calling him "Saint Joseph" and proclaiming him to be "the longest-serving Statehouse reporter in the nation."

Inspired by the article, Stollery borrowed the headline "Saint Joseph," and created the documentary film, interviewing Albright, former governors, reporters, and residents of the Trenton neighborhood where Albright had been blessing and feeding birds and animals for more than 20 years.

When CNJLM heard about Stolley's efforts they took on the film as a project in 2021 in an effort to further the nonprofit’s mission of building strong communities through local journalism and civic engagement.

"We at CNJLM are delighted that 'Saint Joseph' has been selected and will premiere at this year’s Garden State Film Festival," said Richardson. "This work pays tribute to a titan of local news and reminds us of the immense value of quality local journalism."

"I got to know Joe Albright over the course of many years hanging around press row and covering news conferences in the state house," said Stollery. "I often saw him feeding squirrels and passing out random blessings, and I remember thinking … now there is an interesting guy."

Saint Joseph will premiere Saturday, March 25 in a block of six short films starting at 2:45 p.m. at the Berkeley Continental ballroom at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel, Asbury Park. For more information on screening times and locations, visit gsff.org.

Watch the trailer of Saint Joseph below:

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