CATCH HER (AND THE GUY)
Worcester lover Andrea Ajemian has us in her Web
By Robert Newton

Man, if I were any more of a fan of local filmmaker Andrea Ajemian, there would be a restraining order involved. While I may not be totally Hinckley for her, I have been known to sing her praises, often and with great gusto. Apart from her obvious drop-dead good looks, perpetual smile and jolt of positive energy she brings to any room, she has ambition and an ability to get others excited about whatever she chooses to bolster by virtue of her involvement, and that’s what’s most attractive about her. The latest project from this charismatic, 32-year-old, Worcester-born, Rutland-raised dynamo is “Worcester Love,” a Web-native series spotlighting the finer – or more precisely, funner – points of our fair city.

Anyone with an Internet connection can view the results of her efforts to date free online at www.WorcesterLove.com (and on the just-released Season 1 DVD dubbed “The Video Guide To Everything There Is To Love About Central Massachusetts). But apart from your duty as a proud Worcesterite, are they worth watching? Honestly, the episodes are a real hoot, and you should watch them all right now. Okay, after you finish reading this.

Pairing with her frequent film collaborator and master goof, Kaz Gamble, Ajemian sweeps the corners of Worcester County, leaving no gemstone unturned. In the first season, which ran 10 roughly 5-minute episodes, the duo visited places as familiar as Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace and the Halloween Outlet, and the less well-known, like the Alta Vista Bison Farm in Rutland and the lovely Audubon preserve at Worcester’s Broad Meadow Brook. Their coverage is unfalteringly enthusiastic, with Ajemian, for the most part, playing the smiling, sensible one while Gamble cuts up like a kid unleashed. And considering that the Writers’ strike shows no signs of letting up, the “webisodes” may be getting a lot more play as Season 2 approaches and more people turn off the same ol’ tube.

Speaking of Season 2, future episodes promise to detail Worcester’s art scene, its no-longer-just-a-pipedream Canal District, the Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre and the Community Harvest Program in Grafton. And as Worcester Love continues to check points of interest of its map, so too do they continue to add the support of prominent sponsors like Fallon Community Health Plan, Davis Publications and Worcester Fitness.

Ultimately, Ajemian’s work goes beyond just reminding people why they should not apologize to their friends in Providence and Boston for not being from Providence or Boston. Through her body of film work, which started off with the micro-budgeted Rutland U.S.A. in 2002 and came full circle with the $1 million+ ‘80s spoof We Got The Beat, which is still in production, she has shown that with the right combination of talent, enthusiasm and determination, a career in the movies is not as far-fetched as a sandlot moppet aiming for a career in the Majors or a blacktop baller fixing on the NBA. And with a camera and laptop costing less than even a crappy used car now, it’s within the reach of millions to tell a story with warmth and flair, just like Andrea (and master goof Kaz). Keep it up, folks, and we’ll keep watching.•••