Gov. Mikie Sherrill didn’t need to remind folks of the nearly 100 vendors and nearly 5,000 attendees that had poured into the old Meadowlands Arena Thursday for the second annual New Jersey Film Expo.
She had better numbers:
- The 5,500 film and TV projects shot in N.J. since 2017;
- The $3.3 billion invested to produce them;
- The $2.3 billion in investment from Netflix, Paramount and Lionsgate for forthcoming brick-and-mortar studios;
- The more than 31,000 crew members hired in 2024 alone;
- The 10 Oscar nominations this year for films made in N.J., including Song, Sun Blue and Marty Supreme.
All of this is a result of tax incentive programs instituted by Sherrill’s predecessor, Gov. Phil Murphy — programs that recently were increased by the Legislature and extended until 2049.
It led to the recent headline in Variety detailing how New Jersey is the only state in the nation where film shoots were up in 2025 — and up by an incredible 45%.
That wasn’t lost on Sherrill.
The governor gave thanks to everyone in attendance, folks who had come to see “the incredible potential that our state has to tell the world stories and to capture the world’s imagination through film.”
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There were vendors pitching production packages, experts in lighting and audio. Those connected to best workers of this generation — and those training the next.
There were groups pitching ancillary necessities — lumber for props, fabrics for costumes, food for the crew.
There were those showing off their site locations — everywhere from Atlantic City to Fair Lawn and everywhere in between.
Jon Crowley, the executive director of the N.J. Motion Picture and Television Commission, has known the potential of New Jersey for decades. He’s known the state has needed to show it off to the industry for just as long.
“I wanted to create a space that would showcase our experienced workforce and our expanding infrastructure,” he told BINJE. “When I go out on the West Coast, they still don’t know.
“They ask: ‘Do you have enough stages? Do you have enough workforce?’”
The reason, Crowley said, is simple. So many other locations that pitch studios do not have much depth of services. New Jersey does. And it’s a huge differentiator, Crowley says.
“We have the third-largest experienced workforce in the United States,” he said. “Seventy percent of all the Teamsters live in New Jersey, and 30% of IATSE members live here.
“It’s incredible. We need to be able to show that off. This event allows us to do that.”
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Angelo Genova saw the potential of the industry years ago.
That’s why his firm, Genova Burns, not only has been a leader in legal services for the industry, but why he has become a part of it.
Genova helped establish the Screen Alliance of New Jersey.
“I’m very proud to be here today to watch how it’s evolved,” he said. “I give credit to Gov. Murphy for seeing the potential of not only attracting big studios but also seeing its potential at the granular level.”
That’s what made Genova Burns get involved.
“A lot of people focus on the celebrity side of this — the Hollywood stars and the major studios — but I understood that New Jersey had an incredible middle market of vendors and that people who did that business needed a platform to show off what they do,” he said.
That was all around him on this day, a true learning experience, Genova said.
“I would say that this is all new for half the people who came to this space today,” he said. “But they want to learn about it. They want to know how they can make a living on the periphery — whether it’s as a coffee shop owner at a location shot or a municipal worker trying to understand the permitting for a production.”
Genova gave a shout-out to Nick Day, the chair of SANJ, for his work to make the day possible.
“This event has become a platform for the film industry community,” he said. “It’s a place where people coming into the state can tap all of these resources.”
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Here’s a point that so many people made Thursday: New Jersey is not Hollywood East; Hollywood is New Jersey West.
Motion picture technology was created here. The first studios were here.
It’s time to bring them back, everyone involved said.
“Film is in our blood here in New Jersey,” Sherrill said. “It’s part of our history, and now it’s going to be a big part of our future.
“All of this progress is the result of smart, targeted investments that our state has made and strong partnerships. Those partnerships include industry, government and labor, and we’re going to keep building, keep filming and keep making it easier for companies like yours to grow and to thrive here.
“New Jersey is open for film business.”
Of course, there’s no better place than a film event to make a Back to the Future reference.
Crowley did just that from the main stage.
“I want to make a T-shirt for next year that says, ‘The birthplace of filmmaking is again its future,’” he said.
