By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
MONMOUTH COUNTY – Is your town ready for its close-up?
Throughout New Jersey, localities are registering scenic parks, architectural and historic sites, and unique homes with the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission to be considered as potential filming locations as part of a new initiative, Film Ready New Jersey.
Launched in April by First Lady Tammy Murphy, the program’s database is available for coming film production studios like Netflix, and those already here. The list also includes local businesses that can aid film and video production, from suppliers to food operations.
“The Film Ready New Jersey program will not only ensure municipalities are prepared to accommodate on-location filming, but it will educate municipal leaders on how to market their communities as ideal filming destinations, helping show the world all there is to love about our state,” Murphy said. “As the film industry in our state grows, so will our tourism and economy.”
According to the commission’s marketing director Elizabeth Parchment, nearly 30 municipal and county governments in North Jersey have embarked upon the five-step certification process to date. There are 3,995 locations, totaling 62,415 images, registered in the database, and 150 new businesses and freelancers have been added to the Production Services Directory, an online listing of nearly 2,000 New Jersey professionals and services. The list also includes certified minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses that cater to the film, television and digital media industry.
“The Film Ready New Jersey program is designed to educate municipalities and counties about hosting film and television production and assist them in the process,” Parchment said in an email response to The Two River Times. “We expect to announce the next cohort of film-ready communities within the coming weeks. Additionally, (the program) was just launched in South Jersey with another 20 towns work- ing on becoming a designated film-ready community.”
Regarding the proposed Netflix studio, Film Ready New Jersey’s production coordinator Joe Marra “has thoroughly scouted and photographed towns in the vicinity of Fort Monmouth,” Parchment said. “This visual material has been provided to Netflix so they will have a better overview of the practical locations that are available just minutes from their studio site.”
Other studios and production facilities are already operating or on the drawing board in New Jersey, including Cinelease Studios in Jersey City, Ironbound Studios in Newark, 1888 Studios on the Bayonne waterfront slated for late 2025 completion, and the just announced ACX1 Studio coming to The Pier Shops space on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
Monmouth County municipalities were invited to a Film Ready Workshop in June, the first step toward certification, Parchment said. Afterward, towns signed up to continue with the next steps to becoming a certified film-ready community. Allentown, Asbury Park, Eatontown, Fair Haven, Holmdel, Keyport, Ocean and Matawan are currently working toward certification.
After a workshop, a county or municipality must designate a liaison, adopt a formal permit process, photograph and upload film locations, and submit a list of local resources. The liaison must be employed by the applying entity and “be a skilled and knowledgeable official who knows the ins and outs of their communities,” Parchment said. The municipality must then either pass a film ordinance “that promotes media production” or adopt “administratively enforceable guidelines recommended by the NJMPTVC.” At least five local resources must be submitted that can include caterers/food trucks, restaurants, lodging, construction and office supplies, car rental and security services.
Eatontown, which contains portions of Fort Monmouth where Netflix hopes to build its second-largest production studio in the world, is nearing the end of the process. Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr. said the council unanimously approved the required ordinance Oct. 11 while the compilation of photos and businesses has been ongoing. The borough has already fielded inquiries regarding filming, he said.
“The designation provides a framework so municipal departments like police and fire can coordinate,” Talerico said. “It would position the borough to be more welcoming to receiving filming and open Eatontown and its businesses to many opportunities.”
Kathy Muscillo, the borough’s zoning officer, has been appointed liaison and will coordinate among municipal agencies, local business and property owners, and the production firms.
Eatontown is also eligible and has applied for a grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Film & Digital Media Studio Infrastructure Grant PILOT program designed to support site, infrastructure and transportation improvements by governmental property owners that support a media production facility. Borough officials hope to acquire funds to offset costs associated with the proposed construction of a new Department of Public Works facility on fort property. Grants awarded could range from $50,000 to $4.475 million to any one applicant or project up to 100 percent of an approved project’s cost, officials said.
“The Film Ready New Jersey program… has been enthusiastically embraced by local officials and communities ready to welcome filmmakers with open arms,” Parchment said. “The largest cohort of film-ready communities will soon be announced and we expect record levels of production to resume in the Garden State now that the WGA strike has ended and once the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved.”
Netflix is working its way through the lengthy process that if successful, will clear the path for the global entertainment firm to build a 12-soundstage complex on almost 300 acres in the Eatontown and Oceanport sections of the fort, which could open in five to seven years.
The New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission officially joined the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in September. According to Parchment, “The Commission has long partnered with the NJEDA, but as a combined entity, we are better positioned to capitalize on the momentum of the film and television industry in all regions of the state.”
The article originally appeared in the October 19 – 25, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
