During the Covid pandemic, Short Hills resident Tanya Lashley had a brainstorm about how to help struggling local businesses. A real estate executive with a background in advertising and sales, Lashley had recently taught herself how to produce some videos. Watching an ineffective ad online, she had an epiphany.
“If you see an ad and this woman says, ‘I use Tide,’ you don’t care,” she says. “But if you see your town or someone you know, you pay attention.”
Her idea: Make a sitcom about the community, and, in turn, get foot traffic into local businesses.
With sponsorship from local merchants and service providers, Lashley launched the Meet Me In web series in spring 2023.
Her first edition, Meet Me in Millburn, follows a California advertising executive (played by Lashley) as she adjusts to life in New Jersey; the action takes place over 17 short episodes.
Residents co-wrote and performed in the videos, drawing laughs from relatable hot topics like four-way stop-sign protocol, and giving attention to area professionals (for example, the photographer at a fictional social club is real sponsor Eric Richards).
A second series, which wrapped in July, focuses on Montclair and has a similar arc, with the addition of a roving reporter who interviews business owners.
Lashley says she’s been getting so many requests to highlight other towns that she’s expanding her efforts statewide.
Her web series Meet Me in New Jersey, which is set to premiere this winter, covers several counties, focusing on young singles and, possibly, influencers.
“People love filming together and seeing themselves,” she says. “They become local celebrities.”
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