The announcement Tuesday that Paramount had signed a 10-year lease for at least 285,000 square feet of space at 1888 Studios in Bayonne certainly grabbed headlines in Hollywood, as it means yet another major production company is setting up shop in New Jersey.
The news certainly hit home in a few key East Coast locations, too.
The announcement is the first big deal since New Jersey enhanced its Film and Digital Media Tax Credit program on June 30, seemingly making it a more appealing place to film than Georgia or New York City, long considered the state’s top rivals for projects.
The update, sponsored by State Sen. Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City) and Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (D-Newark), included the following enhancements:
- Studio-partnered productions can get up to 40% in tax credits (up from 30-35%);
- And the program was extended an additional ten years, to 2049.
The push for Paramount
The announcement that Paramount will be the major tenant at 1888 Studios in Bayonne is a big deal for the film industry in New Jersey.
Here’s our take on the initial announcement, with thoughts from Paramount officials.
And here’s a look at why local (and state) officials deserve much of the credit for the deal.
All of this helped inspire 1888 Studios, which will be the largest campus-style production site in the Northeast, with over 1.1 million square feet of production space, 23 smart sound stages, and a 22-acre water backlot.
Andy Gordon, Paramount’s chief strategy officer and chief operating officer, specifically mentioned the incentives — all of which seemingly top competitor areas — in its announcement.
“Scaling our production and expanding our slate of world-class entertainment is central to our long-term strategy,” he said. “We’re thrilled to invest in the United States and in the region and lean into our creative momentum to spark economic growth.
“Thanks to highly competitive tax credit programs like New Jersey’s, the tri-state area is more attractive than ever before for production as we work together to create new jobs and empower more domestic production for America’s creative workforce.”
Tim Sullivan, the CEO of the N.J. Economic Development Authority, was thrilled to hear the acknowledgments, as they were confirmation of the vision of the state.
“We were able to refine and enhance the program on the heels of Netflix and Lionsgate, which led to Paramount,” he said.
It became official earlier Thursday, when the board of the EDA approved Paramount as an official studio partner of 1888 — a designation that makes Paramount eligible for the enhanced incentives.
Paramount/1888 Studios will help complete a trifecta of major studio investments, joining Netflix, which is creating a 500,000-square-foot facility in Fort Monmouth, and Lionsgate which is creating Great Point Studios (300,000 square feet) in Newark.
It has been an incredible run of success for the state since its initial film tax credit program was reinstated by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2018. In that year, the state had $65 million in production spending.
Last year, that number jumped to $833 million, including a record-number 556 productions, which helped create 30,000 jobs, the state said.
“We’re the only state of significance that is added to its filming volumes in calendar year 2025 — most states have seen a reduction in their filming volumes,” Sullivan said. “We’ve seen continued growth. We’re 10 times bigger than we were before the governor brought back the film of digital media tax credit.”
Sullivan said dramatically building up the studio industry in the state is a legacy initiative for the Murphy administration.
And while he understands others on the East Coast can enhance their competitiveness, too, he feels having these three studios — plus access to the incredible industry talent in the area — will help keep New Jersey ahead of the others.
“There’s some risk that other states will continue up the ante, but one of the things that I feel really good about New Jersey’s approach is that our premium incentive, the lease-partner program, requires meaningful bricks and mortar construction,” he said.
“If you look at Netflix and Lionsgate and now 1888, those are permanent investments. Once you build a building, you’re going to keep it full.”
That sense of permanence is key, Sullivan said.
“Some of the other states have put more energy behind the notion of, ‘Just make anything you want, and we’ll throw money at you,’” he said. “We have a program that supports on-location shoots – and that’s an incredibly important part of mix, but I feel good about the permanence of Netflix and Lionsgate and Paramount because they’re making long term commitments by spending capital.”
Sullivan feels the state’s efforts were smart for two key reasons:
“We didn’t add money to the tax credit program — we enhanced the value of the credits to make sure we were toward the head of the pack in terms of competing states,” he said.
And then there’s this.
“When you’ve got a good thing going, you keep going,” he said.
