New Jersey's Film Spending Hits $1.2 Billion as Hollywood Returns

New Jersey's film and TV spending reached $1.2 billion in 2025, up from $67 million less than a decade ago, according to production data firm ProdPro — a rise that places the Garden State behind only California, New York and Georgia. While Los Angeles filming has plunged to historic lows, the state where Thomas A. Edison built the first motion picture camera at his West Orange laboratory in 1888 has become one of the nation's hottest production destinations.

Nearly three dozen major films and TV projects shot in New Jersey in 2025, double the count of five years ago, ProdPro said. Over the same 2021-2025 period, California's film spending declined 37% to $5.2 billion.

What changed the equation?

In 2018, New Jersey adopted transferable tax credits of up to 35% for companies filming in the state, under then-Gov. Phil Murphy. The program has since expanded. Unlike California, New Jersey allows a portion of salaries of actors and other big wage earners in the credit calculation, and imposes no per-project caps. Unlike New York, producers do not need to shoot on a certified film stage to qualify. Last year, the state extended the program to 2049.

Three companies — Netflix, Paramount and Lionsgate — hold "studio partner" status, earning a 40% base tax credit on qualified expenses in exchange for a 10-year commitment, plus access to an additional $150 million annual incentive pool.

"Shows follow the money, and the money in this instance is tax incentives," said Robert Halmi, founder of Great Point Studios, recalling Murphy's first pitch: "What would it take to get you guys to come to New Jersey?"

New Jersey can also draw New York talent for union shoots within the city's Thirty-Mile Zone, and an estimated 20% of New York-area film crews live in the state.

The productions in play

Adam Sandler and Chris Rock are shooting "Grown Ups 3" for Netflix. Dan Levy's Netflix series "Big Mistakes" shot in Metuchen. George Clooney and Annette Bening filmed at Baron's Drug Store in Westfield. Fox's "The Masked Singer" left Los Angeles after 14 seasons for the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford. Robert and Michelle King are producing the CBS drama "Cupertino" in a converted Kearny warehouse — passing over California despite the show's Silicon Valley setting.

"We are welcome here. ... The governor of New Jersey came to our set," Robert King said. "They really want the talent coming in and all of the infrastructure that gets built up around it."

The studio build-out

Netflix is constructing a $1-billion complex on 292 acres at Ft. Monmouth, supported by up to $387 million in state credits. The streamer paid $55 million in 2022 for the land, finalized the purchase late last year, and plans about $850 million for 12 soundstages totaling 500,000 square feet. The first phase should finish by next fall. Netflix filmed nearly 20 productions in the state last year.

Great Point Studios is building a $200-million, 270,000-square-foot complex in south Newark with Lionsgate as anchor tenant, minutes from Newark's airport and 12 miles from Manhattan. The 12-acre site supports six soundstages, with the first phase due by June. Construction foreman Leon Lee, who grew up in Newark, said: "It will give this area a nice facelift. Businesses and stores will follow."

French investor Arpad "Arki" Busson plans 1888 Studios, a $1.2-billion complex at the foot of the Bayonne Bridge with 17 buildings on 58 acres, backed by up to $400 million in Aspire Program credits. Paramount signed a 10-year lease for nearly 300,000 square feet, qualifying Skydance-owned Paramount and CBS productions for the 40% credit. The family is seeking financing to begin construction next spring and open in 2029.

New Jersey's film industry gained nearly 2,000 jobs last year, among the fastest growth in the country. "It's not just dump-trucking money to create something out of nothing and then, as soon as the incentives dry up, it's bye-bye," said Evan Weiss, chief executive of the state's Economic Development Authority. Gov. Mikie Sherrill said the growth "demonstrates what is possible when government serves as a strategic partner in economic development."

What does this change for producers and crews? A state now committing credits through 2049, thousands of new below-the-line jobs, and — if the Ft. Monmouth, Newark and Bayonne projects deliver — a "Hollywood East" with capacity to relieve the studio-space shortage that still pushes some projects to New York.