When Gov. Phil Murphy reinstated the New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program in the summer of 2018, the hope was that it would help the state grow a new sector.
By all accounts, it has done just that.
But sectors don’t grow based entirely on tax credits; there needs to be a team of pros behind them, assisting the industry along the way.
The New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission does that, under the leadership of Executive Director Jon Crowley, who works in conjunction with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and its team, led by CEO Tim Sullivan.
Earlier this month, their efforts were recognized on a global scale.
The New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission was honored as the winner in the Outstanding Film Commission category at the 12th Annual Location Managers Guild International Awards in Santa Monica, California.
The commission was honored for its involvement with the Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown,” which was filmed in North Jersey and released by Searchlight Pictures.
How good was the commission? It helped the studio re-create the energy of the East Village in the Kennedy years as well as scenes from Washington, D.C., Virginia and Upstate New York.
And it did it all without the use of CGI, or computer-generated imagery.
Crowley, while accepting the award, was quick to hand out the credit — to studios for coming to New Jersey, to the governor and the Legislature for making it easier for them to do so.
He also gave special thanks to David Schoner, a senior advisor to the NJMPTVC — and someone who has been with the commission for 40 years.
“This is for you,” he said.
The commission beat out a worldwide list of nominees, including one from Egypt (Egypt Film Commission), two from Canada (British Columbia Film Commission; City of Toronto Film Commission) and two others from the U.S. (Film New Orleans; Montana Film Office).
The NJMPTVC has been nominated for the award before — and there’s plenty of reason to believe it will be again.
On June 30, Murphy signed legislation to further enhance the program. This update increased the tax credit for New Jersey studio partners from 35% to 40% for qualified expenses within a 30-mile radius of Columbus Circle in New York. It also doubled the diversity bonus from 2% to 4%.
