Thursday, November 12, 2026
Lights, camera, doughnuts? Oceanside native and former NBC and “Today Show” producer, Joanne LaMarca, along with producer Margo Bruton, recently went to Dunkin’ Donuts in Oceanside to shoot the first of several documentaries that will take place across the country about men and friendship.
LaMarca’s father, Jim LaMarca, 80, inspired the project. He began regularly attending the Dunkin’ Donuts in Ocean-side after he retired at age 68. After talking with several incoming patrons, a men’s chat group began to form and friendships were made. Local Oceanside seniors would arrive at Dunkin’, at 3151 Lawson Blvd., each morning over the years to join LaMarca and several friends to chat about various topics, from sports to politics and societal events. They garnered recognition among local patrons and their group gained several new members over time.
“It’s such a diverse group of men from different walks of life getting together and becoming friends who may not have ever become friends under normal circumstances, as younger men or working men,” said Joanne.
LaMarca soon found that groups that her father formed are not only prevalent in Oceanside, but there are others just like them around the country.
“I live in New Jersey,” she said, “and there are two groups of men who meet here every morning. And a friend of mine was telling me how her father meets in Virginia every morning, and the more I start talking to people, the more I realize that this is a real thing. When I started seeing these groups all over the place, I thought this is a phenomenon.”
The Oceanside documentary, which was shot on iPhones, is just the first of several. LaMarca and Bruton are planning to meet with other senior groups in Florida, Connecticut and New Jersey, as well as talking to health specialists about the mental and physical benefits of friendship.
LaMarca wanted to focus on men, in particular, because of the differences in how they create friendships.
“It’s important because of the friendships that we have to keep us stimulated. They keep our minds going,” said LaMarca. “Women repeat their stories to their friends. We’re always talking and we’re always bonding and we create a community where men are less likely to do that. These coffee groups keep them together. I think men and young men are forgotten when it comes to emotion. And I want them to take away how important it is for their mental and physical health to keep these bonds going. I think guys need to be emotional. And I think these friendships help them in so many ways and they’re important to have.”
The idea for the documentary has been in the works for about two years, but the pandemic put a hold on the project.
“I really think Covid took a toll on kids, and it took a toll on seniors,” LaMarca said. “And when their minds aren’t challenged, their minds slow down, and the loss of those ties and those bonds during Covid, I think, really was debilitating to them.”
The group has been together for years, with men ranging in age from 60s to 90s. Through the years many have come and gone and some have passed away. The documentary does not yet have its title, but LaMarca and Bruton project that between the research, the filming and the editing, the documentary will be completed by spring of 2023, when they can then pitch the project to film festivals and to production companies such as Netflix.
The documentary is still in its early stages, but LaMarca wants friendship to be the key message.
“It’s really about how as we grow older, we really need our friends and men have a harder time it seems,’’ said LaMarca. “We have a hard time keeping those friendships and maintaining those friendships. This documentary is all about how important those bonds are.”
