By Sunayana Prabhu
TRENTON – Film buffs can soon plot their vacations along the New Jersey Film Trail. The trail, recently established by state law, will showcase some of the state’s most iconic filming locations. The initiative aims to boost cinema-driven tourism and cement the Garden State’s growing reputation as “Hollywood East.”
“Before Hollywood, there was New Jersey,” Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a social media post after signing the legislation Sept. 9. She noted that more than 5,500 productions have filmed in the state since 2017. “Film is in our blood. It’s part of our history. We’re going to make sure it’s part of our future, too,” Sherrill said.
Under the new law, the state’s Division of Travel and Tourism will work with the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Development Commission and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) to identify and promote sites where notable filming has taken place. Those locations will make up the New Jersey Film Trail, stretching from courthouses and boardwalks to small-town main streets and waterfronts. All those sites will be officially recognized with physical markers and also listed online on the visitnj.org website.
New Jersey has long stood in for cities across the country and around the world, but with little recognition. According to the film commission, the entire production of the Bob Dylan biopic “The Complete Unknown,” starring Timothée Chalamet, was filmed in New Jersey. Cape May doubled for Newport, Rhode Island; Jersey City doubled for Greenwich Village in New York; and Stillwater doubled for Beacon, New York, but few know that. Now they will.
Building the NJ Film Trail
The Division of Travel and Tourism is building an interactive map on its website to serve as the trail’s central hub. The webpage will offer a searchable list of filming locations and a map that allows visitors to trace routes between them. It will include driving directions from multiple points of origin and, where available, public transit guidance to major stops. Each entry will feature photographs and a description of the filming that took place, similar to the text on the physical markers.
For locations that offer public access or tours, such as studios, historic theaters or guided walks through well-known neighborhoods, the website will provide practical details, including how to book, hours of operation and tour frequency.
The public will also play a role in shaping this map. The division is currently accepting online submissions through its website, where residents, film buffs, historians and private entities can recommend filming sites for inclusion.
The Motion Picture and Television Development Commission will verify that suggested locations are authentic before adding them to the trail. While the state will fund markers on public property, the law bars the use of public money to produce or erect markers on private land. Instead, the division is authorized to seek gifts, grants and other private support to cover those costs.
Assembly member William Moen (D-5), state Sen. John Burzichelli (D-3), state Sen. James Beach (D-6) and Assembly member Margie Donlan (D-11) sponsored the measure. According to the officials, the trail is both a celebration of New Jersey’s screen legacy and a tourism strategy. Officials said that by showcasing filming locations, the state can draw fans eager to stand where their favorite scenes were shot, while also channeling local spending to nearby restaurants, hotels and entertainment options.
State Encourages More Filming
The film trail comes amid an influx of film production to the state. The state offers tax credits of 30 to 35% for qualifying projects, plus a 2% to 4% diversity bonus, a major draw for filmmakers. According to a Variety magazine report cited on the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission’s website, those incentives have helped make New Jersey one of the Top 3 destinations in the United States for film and television production. The commission states that the film industry generated an estimated $834 million in total in-state spending in 2024, surpassing the previous $701 million in 2022.
Behind the scenes, New Jersey is also expanding its physical footprint in the industry. At Fort Monmouth, Netflix is building a major production complex on a 292-acre parcel in Eatontown and Oceanport, with plans for 12 soundstages totaling nearly 500,000 square feet. Paramount Studios is in a 10-year lease with 1888 Studios in Bayonne, where nearly 58 acres are being transformed into a major production hub. Lionsgate Newark Studios is opening a 270,000-square-foot studio development with six soundstages soon. According to the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, an additional 70-plus stages statewide, ranging from 5,000 to 36,000 square feet, currently offer flexible options for productions of every size.
The film trail already seems to have a built-in roster of locations familiar to audiences. Most recently, actors Henry Cavill and Kevin Hart were seen filming a Netflix spy comedy in Red Bank. After using Ideal Beach in Middletown for filming some scenes in “Happy Gilmore 2,” actor Adam Sandler recently returned to film “Grown Ups 2” in Keansburg. Actor Adam Driver’s “Rabbit Rabbit” was filmed in Middletown through the summer. Steven Spielberg, who spent part of his childhood in Haddon Township, previously directed two movies in New Jersey: “Catch Me If You Can” and “War of the Worlds.” More recently, Spielberg returned to Paterson and Newark to film “Disclosure Day.”
Beyond these high-profile projects, classics such as “The Sopranos” and “Friday the 13th” remain part of New Jersey’s filming legacy.
By formalizing a film trail now, the state is also pitching itself to the next wave of filmmakers who may produce projects here in the future. For movie fans, it’s all about their favorite shots that once flickered across theater screens and streaming queues. The courthouse steps, the lakefront cabins, the promenade will now be destinations in their own right, hiding in plain sight just off the New Jersey Turnpike or a county road – but all part of New Jersey’s evolving script as the original birthplace of motion pictures.
The article originally appeared in the September 24 – 30, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
