During a pivotal scene in the Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, Jeremy Allen White, as Springsteen, sits in a timeworn restaurant booth beneath the buzz of fluorescent lights, facing the actress Odessa Young, as his love interest, Faye Romano. It’s here that she confronts him about refusing to face his fears and retreating into Nebraska, Springsteen’s sixth studio album and a marked departure from the rock sounds of the E Street Band. That booth—no-frills, set for two, and topped with diner staples like ketchup and hot sauce—is a perfectly Jersey backdrop for such an intimate conversation. Off-screen, the scene gave a taste of Hollywood to the location where it was filmed: Frank’s Deli and Restaurant in Asbury Park.
New Jersey’s boom in film and TV production over the last few years has given a boost to small businesses in the state, from shops and restaurants, like Frank’s, that are seen on-screen, to businesses that are involved behind the scenes, from catering companies to hotels. It’s a welcome proposition for many small businesses that could use the financial benefits and exposure to new customers as they face increased competition from online retailers, rising rents and other challenges. And it can be a lot of fun.
For Frank’s, a local favorite in Asbury Park since 1960, the Deliver Me From Nowhere opportunity came courtesy of a familiar face: a location scout who loves the place. “She’s been coming here for years and thought this old-looking place would work for an ’80s film,” says owner Joe Maggio.
For just a handful of scenes, Frank’s underwent a full Hollywood transformation. “It’s unbelievable, the amount of production,” Maggio says. “They emptied the store out, put up all their stuff, filmed, and put it all back together again.” Maggio was compensated for the three days his doors were closed. “It wasn’t, like, lots of money,” he says, “but just the business I lost.” The trade-off even came with an unexpected cameo. “I’m the guy by the grill—they changed my name from Joe to Tom.”
Since filming wrapped, the effects have extended beyond the big screen. While regulars haven’t changed their routines, Asbury Park tourists have. “There’s a picture of Jeremy, me and my son—and then one with Bruce—that everyone takes pictures of now,” says Maggio, himself a big Springsteen fan.
In Cranford, the gourmet sandwich shop Sub-Ology didn’t make an appearance on the big screen, but it did benefit from Steven Soderbergh filming his 2024 supernatural thriller, Presence, in town. During the shoot, Soderbergh became a fan of the spot—and its $15.99 spicy tuna sub, which he regularly ordered for lunch. When filming wrapped, the production team gave Sub-Ology staffers baseball caps with the shop’s name stitched on the front and Presence on the back.
Soderbergh’s fondness for the shop led to a roughly $1,200 catering order for the movie’s premiere at the Cranford Theater, says Sub-Ology owner Paolo Fontana. (Cranford is one of nearly 50 communities designated by the state as Film Ready, welcoming productions with open arms and making the process easier for crews.)
On a larger scale, Clifton-based Skopos Catering has provided its services, from boxed meals to buffet tables, to productions including the 2024 crime comedy Riff Raff (starring Ed Harris, Jennifer Coolidge and Bill Murray), Project Runway, and projects for HBO and NBC. For a mid-budget movie, the average craft service, or catering, costs $20,000 a week, estimates CEO Thomas Maroulakos.
Beyond food, businesses from stores to hotels have benefited from the industry boom. In 2024, director James Mangold transformed downtown Cape May into Newport, Connecticut, for his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. Production ran from May 12 to 17, utilizing the seaside city for key scenes featuring Timothée Chalamet as a young Dylan; the Victorian Motel stood in for Newport’s historic Hotel Viking. Local hospitality group Cape Resorts provided hotel rooms for 470 cast and crew members at its properties, including Congress Hall and the Beach Shack, says Barbara McCann, Cape Resorts’s director of sales. More rooms were allocated for meals and background-actor holding areas. The timing of the shoot during the quieter shoulder season, right before the summer, was ideal.
Adam Sandler seen filming outside of Nana’s Deli in Livingston in 2025. Photo: TDNick Photography
While Jersey’s diverse environments and generous tax credits have given studios incentives to film here, collaborations with small businesses ensure the support goes both ways. Sometimes, that support comes from the stars themselves, like Adam Sandler, who lived in Jersey while filming Happy Gilmore 2 in 2024 and two more Netflix films in 2025. Sandler was spotted at several small shops—like Lokl Café in Morristown and Goldberg’s World Famous Deli & Bagels in Millburn—eating, chatting, taking photos, and giving the businesses invaluable exposure via social media.
“You can see how much influence a celebrity would have over a business, or helping a business, just by simply eating there or mentioning it,” says Fontana, of Sub-Ology. “Because people do come and are intrigued and want to see it.”
The world’s first movie studio. The country’s first film hub and drive-in cinema. The coining of the term “cliffhanger.”
New Jersey’s diverse towns are excellent shoot-ready chameleons that easily mimic cityscapes, suburbs and other locales.
