Why Was a Popular New Jersey Town Snubbed in the Credits for Bob Dylan Biopic?
Some Cape May residents are crying foul after their town was not acknowledged in the film credits for the recently released Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.”
Bob Dylan Biopic Snubs Cape May
The film, starring Timothee Chalamet, used Cape May as a stand-in for Newport, Rhode Island, but the credits failed to recognize the town by name.
In an interview with Condé Nast Traveler, the film’s director, James Mangold, described Cape May as “a beautifully maintained town with turn-of-the-century wood structures right on the water,” making it an ideal filming location and stand-in for Newport.
Writing in the Cape May Star and Awe, John Cooke, former manager of the Viking Motel depicted in the film, said, “For all the hoopla, inconvenience, and hospitality our city extended the production company, the least we could have expected was a thank-you to the city of Cape May, its leaders, and residents.”
Responding to a Philadelphia Inquirer question, a spokesperson for Searchlight Pictures, the film’s production company, said, “Specific locations are not credited in the end crawl.” However, the Inquirer noted that the government of Australia was thanked in the credits.
Curtis Bashaw, owner of the Congress Hall hotel that appears in the background of certain scenes within the movie, said the experience caught everyone flat-footed. He told the Inquirer that although he negotiated usage rights for specific properties within Cape May, he failed to negotiate credit acknowledgment.
While ending credits mentioned the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission with a note that “A Complete Unknown” was filmed in New Jersey with a “diverse cast and crew,” Cape May’s name was omitted.
In addition to Cape May, 20 cities and towns throughout 10 New Jersey counties were used for the $81 million production’s filming, including Westfield, Jersey City, Clifton, Millburn, Newark, Hoboken, Paterson, and Lower Township.