How New Jersey Has Become “Hollywood East”

The New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program has led to a boom in film and television productions, with people now referring to the Garden State as “Hollywood East.”

Since 2018, New Jersey has offered tax credits of 30 to 35% for film and digital media productions occurring within the state, according to the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission (NJMPTVC). Productions have also been offered a 2 to 4% bonus incentive for meeting specific demands for a more diverse and inclusive workforce on and off screen.

“We are building more of an inclusive environment, and…we do have a long way to go with that…,” said Elizabeth Parchment, lead of the state’s Film Ready Program. “[That’s] the industry in general, no matter what state you go to. And I think that we have made significant strides in that.”

Thanks to these incentives, New Jersey has hosted several more prestigious and successful film and television productions. Notable examples include “Joker,” “West Side Story,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “The Many Saints of Newark,” “The Equalizer,” “Terrifier 2,” “Severance,” “Smile,” “Oppenheimer,” “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live,” “Happy Gilmore 2”, and “A Complete Unknown.” 

For its work on “A Complete Unknown,” the NJMPTVC won the award for Outstanding Film Commission at the Locations Managers Guild International Awards on August 23, 2025.

“In addition to our great commissioners and hard-working staff, a big tip of the cap to NJEDA leadership and a Governor, Senate, and Assembly who support the filmed arts,” wrote Jon Crowley, NJMPTVC’s executive director, on LinkedIn.

With such a large number of films and TV shows made in New Jersey, the money spent on these productions has generated increasing revenue for the Garden State. Variety reported that New Jersey hosted 547 projects with a total qualified spend of $592 million in 2023. The following year, all the projects filmed in New Jersey were expected to reach a total spend of over $600 million. 

According to David Smith, vice chairperson of the NJMPTVC, the total qualified spend in New Jersey in 2025 has reached around $800 million, as of Aug. 22.

“It’s been a great year,” Smith said in an interview with New Jersey Urban News. “It’s gangbusters. We had the last quarter of 2024, we had more feature films than either California, New York, or Georgia. So that carried over into 2025. We’re going to have a record-breaking year. This is just my personal opinion: I think when we get into 26’, 27’, we’ll be over $1 billion.” 

This increasing success has been attributed to filmmakers returning to the state to shoot even more projects, having enjoyed their past experiences working in New Jersey. For example, Adam Sandler recently filmed his next movie, Roommates, in New Jersey after filming “Happy Gilmore 2” throughout the state.

The rise in film and TV productions has also given state residents the chance to share the spotlight. Specifically, director Steven Spielberg has filmed scenes for his upcoming UFO blockbuster in municipalities throughout New Jersey, with locals being called to join him on the set as paid background extras.

Other recent productions include “The Housemaid,” starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, which was filmed in Bergen County. The Garden State also hosted filming in Asbury Park and Montclair for “Deliver Me from Nowhere,” a biopic about one of New Jersey’s greatest sons, Bruce Springsteen.

Michael Uslan, NJMPTVC Chairperson and Executive Producer of the “Batman” film franchise, discussed the recent success of productions in New Jersey at the Indie Street Film Festival in Red Bank.

“I think the most important thing for us is that we take pride in the fact that we get repeat business, that people who come here and produce here have such a great experience that they come back again and again…,” said Uslan, “And, repeat business is probably one of the strongest indicators that what we’re doing is right.”

With film and TV productions flooding into New Jersey, the history of cinema has come full circle since the industry began in the state. Not only did Thomas Edison create the world’s first film production studio, The Black Maria, in West Orange, but film giants like 20th Century Studios, Universal Pictures, and Solax also started out as studios in Fort Lee.

Today, major studios have broken ground in New Jersey, with Lionsgate establishing a new studio in Newark. Bayonne will also be the site of the 1888 Studios. Upon completion, it will be the state’s largest film and television production studio, spanning 1.6 million square feet.

Streaming giant Netflix will also construct a new production studio out of Fort Monmouth. Once it’s finished, Uslan claims that Netflix’s production facility will have an “incalculable” impact on the state’s economy.

“We’re talking about thousands of construction jobs, ten thousand of permanent jobs,” Uslan said in an interview. “You’re talking about all of the money that is going to be spent locally, whether it is on tolls on the parkway or car rentals or truck rentals, catering, hotels, gas stations, hardware stores, [or] restaurants.”

Over the past decade, New Jersey has emerged as a substantial hub for the film and television industry, which has become a significant contributor to the state’s economic growth. Though the Garden State’s business and resources continue to grow, the NJMPTVC aims to forge a distinct identity for New Jersey within the entertainment industry, rather than turn it into “Hollywood East.”

“We have a great crew. We got great locations. So New Jersey is going to be New Jersey,” said Smith. “We will always have the folks. We’re not looking to take the place of California or to take a place in New York, but…with the best in the nation tax credit program, naturally, they want to look to New Jersey first.”