Speaking at the seminar, Hudson County State Senator Raj Mukherji said that money spent on film and television production in our state has a high rate of return. For every one dollar spent on production in New Jersey, there is a yield of $6.30. Senator Mukherji mentioned some of the businesses that benefit from film and television production: catering, equipment and supplies, and lodging. He said that media production creates “a self-distributing creative economy.” Senator Mukherji discussed Paramount’s upcoming lease of a major portion of Bayonne’s 1888 Studios. Paramount will lease 1.1 million square feet of that studio complex. (Two slots remain for other potential tenants.) He projected an investment of $3 billion to $3.5 billion in the studios over the next decade.
During the seminar, the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission showed a video that promotes and explains making movies and TV shows in the Garden State. The film includes images of architectural renderings of the future Bayonne film studios. The video points to the state’s 35-40% tax credit as a major incentive for producing films in New Jersey. The promotional film stresses that New Jersey locations can double for places that are actually located far away. For example, Mayor Andre Sayegh of Paterson explains that buildings in his city have been located in three European cities. Actor Danny DeVito says in the video that New Jersey offers “the best of many worlds.” Other speakers pointed out that Atlantic City has doubled as Las Vegas in films and that a scene that was set in Miami was filmed in Long Branch. A brochure from the Motion Picture and Television Commission explains, “New Jersey has doubled for Washington, D.C., 1950s New York City, Africa, the Middle East, and so much more.”
One of the best moments at the film seminar was a story from Matthew Fleischmann, who scouts potential film locations. In Central New Jersey, Mr. Fleischmann saw an attractive home across a river. He dropped a letter off at the house in an attempt to get the owner’s permission to film at that property. Very quickly, he received a call back from a state trooper, who informed Mr. Fleischmann that he would not be allowed to film at that house, which is the home of Governor Phil Murphy!
The City of Bayonne is proud to be the future home of the 1888 Studios, just as we take pride in having been the location of one of the first film studios in the early 20th century. We look forward to a ground-breaking ceremony for the 1888 Studios in the very near future. We would like to thank the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission for the outstanding role that it plays in promoting media production in our home state.
