New Jersey Emerges as a Major U.S. Film Production Hub

In 2018 former Governor Phil Murphy reinstated New Jersey’s film-and-digital tax credit after a decade-long suspension. The credit was extended with a commitment of $439 million annually through 2049, giving producers a reliable financial incentive. Production activity has risen sharply: 73 projects used the program in 2025, up from 46 in 2024, and total on-location spending is projected to exceed $1 billion in 2025, compared with $833 million the year before.

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New Jersey’s connection to moving pictures dates back to Thomas Edison, who built America’s first studio in the state. Edison’s aggressive patent enforcement pushed early filmmakers westward, eventually creating Hollywood. The modern resurgence mirrors that history: tax incentives that once drove productions away are now pulling them back.

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• “I Play Rocky” – $27 million budget, earned $10 million in state incentives.

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• Recent high-profile shoots: Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” Mangold’s “No Direction Home,” and Adam Sandler’s “Happy Gilmore 2” (budget $152 million, 64-day shoot).

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• Studio investments: Netflix is allocating $1 billion for 13 soundstages at Fort Monmouth; Paramount plans $1.2 billion for 23 soundstages in Bayonne; Lionsgate will anchor a new Newark studio.

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• Workforce advantage: 70 % of Teamsters in the region live in New Jersey, reducing commute times for crew members.

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State officials credit the long-term nature of the credit for giving entertainment companies confidence to establish permanent facilities. The New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission highlighted the state’s “major-league-level talent workforce” and its proximity to New York as key draws. Location manager Katherine Delaney described the film office’s hands-on assistance with permits and scouting as essential to successful shoots.

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Filmmakers cite New Jersey’s geographic diversity—urban streets, rural towns, and a desert-like area—as allowing a single state to double for multiple locations. Production teams praised the ease of securing sites, such as a 15-mile stretch of train track for a chase sequence in “Disclosure Day,” and the rapid permitting that let the “Joker” crew transform downtown Newark into a 1980s-style New York.

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• “People don’t realize how many different locations there are in New Jersey,” — Farrelly

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• “Jersey was known as the home of Tony Soprano and Snooki,” — Tom Bernard, head of Sony Pictures Classics

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• “New Jersey has worked its way up to being one of the top states in the nation for the film industry, and we won’t stop now,” — Mikie Sherrill, elected in 2025

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• “You can have all of the incentives in the world, but if you don’t have the support of the state, it’s meaningless,” — Katherine Delaney, location manager

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The state will continue funding the credit at current levels and support construction of new soundstages slated for completion over the next several years. Representative Sherrill’s office indicated the legislature will review the program’s performance annually, with no sign of scaling back the $439 million allocation. As studios cement a physical presence in New Jersey, on-location spending is expected to keep climbing, solidifying the Garden State’s role as a central hub for U.S. film and television production.

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