Movie and TV productions spent a record $833 million in New Jersey last year, topping the 2022 high of $701 million. This surge was driven by the reinstatement of the state’s Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program in 2018, which offers tax credits up to 40% for qualified production expenses.
The revival of the New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit has transformed the state into a prominent East Coast filming hub, earning it the nickname “Hollywood East.”
Even before the tax credits, New Jersey was frequently a go-to for film crews and is the birthplace of the modern film industry. Motion pictures were invented and first produced at Thomas Edison’s laboratory and studio in West Orange. It’s only fitting that the Garden State is a major player once again.
The New Jersey Film Tax Credit funding for fiscal year 2025:
- $250 million for New Jersey studio partners (same as prior year)
- $250 million for New Jersey film-lease production companies (same as prior year)
- $250 million for New Jersey film-lease production companies (same as prior year)
Tax Credit Do Over
This is not the state’s first time offering tax breaks for movie and television productions. In 2005, the state began offering a 20% tax credit on production expenses incurred in the state, which was capped at $10 million annually. The program was suspended in 2010 by then-Governor Chris Christie.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation in 2018 to reinstate and expand the program, recognizing the economic benefits of a thriving film industry. The bill, S-122, gives up to $75 million in tax credits for film production and up to $10 million for digital media over five years. Recent legislation in June 2025 extends the credit through July 1, 2049.
Filmmaking, Studios, Sound Stages in NJ
Last year, the state’s movie-making brought in $833 million across 556 productions and employed over 30,000 crew members.
New Jersey’s largest film studio is Cinelease Studios-Caven Point in Jersey City. Completed in 2021, it has three soundstages. Netflix is building a large-scale studio at the former Fort Monmouth in Oceanport, N.J., which is expected to be completed around 2028.
Lionsgate Studio is slated to open in Spring 2026. It’s in partnership with Great Point Studios and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. It’s located next to the Dayton Street School in Newark’s South Ward. Great Point Studios in Newark features multiple production stages. A second location in Newark is slated for completion in 2026.
In addition, 1888 Studios in Bayonne, near the Bayonne Bridge at Avenue A and West 1st Street, is being developed on the site of the former Texaco refinery. The project will include 23 soundstages, production support spaces, office spaces, a water backlot, and a 5-story parking garage. It’s expected to open in 2026 and already has a major tenant. Paramount has signed a 10-year lease for a significant portion of the facility, which will be used for its production and post-production needs.
Additional studios are already open or in the works:
✓10 Basin Studios: Kearny, offering a soundproof stage and support space. Open
✓Palisades Stages: Kearny, located perpendicular to the runways at Newark International Airport. Open
✓Parlay Studios: Jersey City, located at 6 Senate Pl., the production studio is 80,000 sf. Open.
✓Reliance Studios: Sewell, is a technical and production facility featuring a 15,000-square-foot, 65-foot-high clearspan area, a 65-foot interior height, and is equipped for various uses. Open
✓Sustainable Studios: Moonachie, offers a soundstage facility with 46,159 sq ft, 4,200 Amps of power, 75 tons of HVAC. Open.
✓Zen Space Studios: Passaic, is a 12,000 sf furnished daylight loft available for film & photography shoots. Open
✓WRECK’D Productions: Tinton Falls, the full-service media production studio, offers video and audio services.
✓Awakened Films: Madison has video production services and a state-of-the-art production studio. Open
✓Carteret Stages: Carteret is building a $1 billion 10-acre waterfront redevelopment project, which includes a 1.2 million-square-foot movie production studio complex. It will have a dozen 20,000-square-foot sound stages, a post-production facility, and studio offices. Still under construction.
For a complete list of studios, click here.
NJ Filmmaking Requirements
🎥Must be a feature film, television series, or show at least 22 minutes long.
🎥Meet spending thresholds: at least 60% of total production expenses in NJ, OR, qualified expenses exceeding $1 million per production.
🎥 Principal photography must begin within 180 days of the application.
🎥Include a “Filmed in New Jersey” statement or logo in credits.
🎥Qualified spend: 35% and 30% on qualified expenses within a 30-mile radius of Columbus Circle
🎥Labor: 35% on all above-the-line (ATL), which includes creative personnel and story rights. Plus the same for below-the-line (BTL), which includes technical crew, specialists, location, logistics, and facility costs
🎥Annual cap: $100M; and an additional $100M in tax credits for NJ film-lease partners (available FY 2025)
🎥Compensation cap: $500K per individual
🎥Minimum spend: $1M (or 60% of total production expenses in-state)
🎥Project Cap: None
🎥Additional uplifts: 2% or 4% on applications with an approved diversity plan
🎥Diversity plan: not required unless applying for the diversity bonus
Bonus Incentives:
🎞️Diversity Bonus: 2% or 4% additional credit for diversity plans and recruiting women and minority talent/crew.
🎞️Disadvantaged Municipality Bonus: An additional 4% for productions in designated distressed municipalities.
Filmed in New Jersey Across the Years
🎬When Harry Met Sally (1989): The original Giants Stadium
🎬The Amityville Horror (1979): Long Island and Toms River
🎬A Beautiful Mind (2001): Princeton University, Manhattan College, and in Jersey City at 100 Grand St., and the historic neighborhood of Paulus Hook, in Jersey City.
🎬Men in Black (1997): Mostly filmed in New York, with pivotal scenes set in Liberty State Park.
🎬The Royal Tenenbaums (2001): Entirely filmed in New York and New Jersey.
🎬On The Waterfront (1954): Filmed almost exclusively in Hoboken, the crew used the Hudson River,
the docks, Our Lady of Grace Church (exterior shots), Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (interior shots),
Hoboken Railway Station, and the 5th Street Pier
🎬The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): The Closter Plaza mall in Closter
🎬John Wick 2 (2017) and 4 (2023): In both films, New Jersey’s Journal Square PATH station
🎬Friday the 13th (1980) was filmed in various locations across the Garden State, including the Blairstown Diner in Hope, NJ, and Camp NoBeBoSco in Hardwick Township, NJ.
🎬The Sopranos (1999-2007): Here are just a few of the filming locations: Tony’s house was at 14 Aspen Drive in North Caldwell; The Bada Bing is in Lodi, and a real strip club named Satin Dolls; Holstens in Bloomfield; Rods Steakhouse in Morristown; Drew University in Madison; Asbury Park Boardwalk; Verona Park, Satriale’s Pork Store (a fictional store in Kearny, the building was demolished when the series ended), and Pizzaland, 260 Belleville Turnpike in North Arlington, New Jersey. The exterior scenes were filmed in Kearny.
🎬 The Godfather (1972): While it was mostly filmed in New York City, the iconic line, “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli,” was said at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. It was delivered by the character Clemenza after a murder scene.
🎬 Jersey Boys (2014): Filmed in Kearny on Elm Street, between Stuyvesant and Seeley avenues.
🎬 Clerks (1994): Filmed almost exclusively in Leonardo, New Jersey.
🎬The Basketball Diaries (1995): Hoboken, at Alfalfa Health Food Store, 1110 Washington St. In the movie, it was a candy store, Schnackenberg’s Luncheonette. The business closed its doors in 2019 after 88 years in operation.
Click here for a complete list of films shot in New Jersey.
