Producer Cody Lassen knows his way around a film shoot. After working on multiple successful indie movies, he understands how to plan a production that’s not only easy for the director, but also easy on the wallet. That’s why he loves shooting in the Garden State.
“I’ve been singing the praises of filming in New Jersey to all my colleagues. It’s just so convenient, and you can save money at the same time with the great tax credits,” says Lassen. “And it can stand in for almost anywhere in America—in just an hour from New York City, you can find locations that look like Manhattan, parks that look like Central Park, and suburbs, as well as beaches and mountains.”
Lassen is onto something. Like many other producers and directors, he’s learned that Jersey is rapidly becoming a major film hub. With varied locations within a few hours of each other, an experienced local crew, and generous tax credits, the Garden State has become the fourth most popular place in the United States to shoot a movie or TV show (behind Georgia, New York and Los Angeles), and it is expected to move up to third this year.
Emily Blunt and Steven Spielberg chat on the Montville set of the upcoming film Disclosure Day, out June 12. Photo: Bobby Bank/GC Images
With three new film studios currently in development and roots dating back to the birth of the industry, it’s clear that New Jersey isn’t just Hollywood East anymore—it’s the original Hollywood making a comeback.
A key factor could be the dynamic and proactive New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, which provides concierge services to filmmakers. Whether a production needs a location that resembles Washington, D.C. (found in Trenton) or help navigating the permit application process, the commission will guide productions through it.
That, says Lassen, makes filming in places such as Newark and Montclair easy and cost-effective—as opposed to shooting in New York City, where he lives and where his office is located.
A six-bedroom Madison estate is featured in recent thriller The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. Photo: Lionsgate
“We chose New Jersey partly because the talent pool is already there—most people who work in the film industry in New York City live in New Jersey,” says Lassen. “And logistically, everything is so much easier there in the sense that, in New York City, whenever I call or email someone, they don’t have time for me, versus when I call the film commission in New Jersey—it’s literally like, ‘Oh, here’s my private cell phone number.’ We feel so welcome in New Jersey, like we’re members of the community versus getting caught up in red tape.”
When his production had a location fall through at the last minute, Lassen says, the film commission offered to brainstorm, hopping on a Zoom and helping them find a new one. “I think that’s smart business because then it gets people like me to say, ‘Well, I’d rather shoot movies in New Jersey.’ ”
Lassen and his team, alongside director Alex Wyse, just wrapped production on the indie film Actual Nobodies, out this summer. A key logistical advantage: The film’s editor, Sara Corrigan, is a Montclair resident, which streamlined the production process.
Filmmakers get even greater tax incentives when they use New Jersey crew members; they receive a tax credit for between 35 and 38 percent of what they spent, “so that goes back to paying back investors and to getting the film close to recouping its cost before it’s even released,” says Lassen.
New Jersey’s film tax-credit program is not only easier to qualify for and higher than New York’s, but we’re told that its paperwork process is more streamlined, and approvals are quicker. Payroll taxes are lower in the Garden State, too. Lassen is already set to take advantage of this again, with plans to shoot his next film, Junket, in New Jersey.
Jon Crowley, an Emmy Award-winning showrunner, producer and director, is the executive director of the film commission and the state’s biggest cheerleader when it comes to producing movies and TV shows here.
“You’ll never hear me call New Jersey Hollywood East. Why? Because Hollywood is New Jersey West, as far as I’m concerned,” he says. “As you know, New Jersey was the birthplace of film—in West Orange with [Thomas] Edison and in Fort Lee [where the first films were produced in the 1910s]. “So now, filmmaking has come back home to New Jersey.”
Illustration: Matt Hollings
The film commission was established in 1976, though it was less active then. These days, it helps filmmakers with all their needs, including location scouting, permits, working with towns and state agencies, and understanding the tax-incentive program. It also coordinates with vendors and suppliers for film shoots and helps producers navigate state and local regulations.
Crowley says the commission has become more aggressive with business development, reminding people why Jersey is one of the best states to make a film. The tax incentives, reestablished in 2018 under then Governor Phil Murphy (after former governor Chris Christie indefinitely suspended the program), have been a huge draw to filmmakers.
While tax incentives may open doors, New Jersey offers more. That’s why it was the only state that saw its revenue from the film industry increase in 2024, up 41 percent from the previous year, says Crowley. In 2024, New Jersey saw a record-setting $833 million in spending, with the major release Happy Gilmore 2, starring Adam Sandler, contributing a record-breaking $152 million in spending, including location fees, lodging, food and set construction. In 2023, the state saw $592 million in production spending. The 2025 numbers won’t be released until later this spring, but Crowley expects them to be higher than 2024.
Adam Sandler and Travis Kelce behind the scenes of Happy Gilmore 2. Photo: Scott Yamano/Netflix
The Garden State welcomed more than 550 productions in 2024, leading to the hiring of 30,000 crew members—nearly double the crew hires from the previous year. The substantial financial benefits to local communities are clear: Visiting film and TV crews rent hotel rooms, purchase gas and groceries, rent equipment, and utilize sound stages.
In late December, developers and state officials broke ground on 1888 Studios in Bayonne, anchored by Paramount. In 2027, Newark is set to welcome Lionsgate Studios, a $125 million site for production in an urban setting. At Fort Monmouth, a billion-dollar East Coast production hub for Netflix Studios is expected to open in 2028, signifying the company’s major commitment to the state.
Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning film A Complete Unknown on the streets of Hoboken. Photo: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Tom Bernard, who is co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics and lives in New Jersey, was one of the people who helped to revitalize the film commission here when Governor Murphy came into power. Bernard, who has worked in the industry for decades, says he has always lived in New Jersey and never in Los Angeles—in fact, he stipulates in his contract that he doesn’t have to reside in L.A.
When he became interested in getting the film commission up to speed, he says, “every movie you saw about New Jersey was made somewhere else. And so I started to investigate why there’s no active film commission in the state under Christie. There was a small office, but there was nothing really happening—there were no real tax incentives.”
With the changes that were made, there are now directors like Steven Spielberg and Paul Feig coming to New Jersey. When Spielberg filmed his upcoming sci-fi film, Disclosure Day, in Cape May, they rented hotel rooms, ate at local restaurants, and hired local crews. When Feig was in the Morristown area to shoot The Housemaid, star Sydney Sweeney and others dined out locally at Chef Freddy’s Table.
“All those things add up to a big plus,” says Bernard, who sits on the film commission board. “I don’t know how many movies were shot here that are Golden Globe and Academy Award contenders. But there’s a different kind of pride about having something that was filmed in the state that has made it on the national level.”
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