Filming Is On The Rise In Bergen County

Watch out, Hollywood. Here comes Bergen County.

After Gov. Phil Murphy reinstated a new, five-year $75 million film tax credit program last year as a way to spur economic growth and industry development statewide, production companies are taking notice of the Garden State.

Since then, several major studios have set up shop in New Jersey, including Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of “West Side Story” in Paterson and “Joker,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, in Newark. And, officials in those cities have embraced the productions, saying movie executives' decision to film there have helped raise their community's profiles.

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Bergen County officials say the amount of interest in shooting movies, TV shows and commercials locally has skyrocketed, prompting them to form a film office to handle inquires and permitting for filmmaking on county property.

“Bergen County has so much to offer to filmmakers,” County Executive James J. Tedesco said. “From forests and mountains in Mahwah to the Meadowlands, the cliffs of the Palisades, urban streetscapes, and quiet suburban streets, to our historic Courthouse and our varied parks and recreation areas — we can offer countless options to producers and directors looking to make movies and television.”

The new office will also work to promote filming in Bergen and assist producers in searching for filming locations in the county, contacting local officials regarding filming in municipalities and serving as a local point of contact for the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission.

Jared Lautz, who works in the office, said, “Since the tax credit took effect I’ve been the point person and the phone has been ringing off the hook. We probably get a dozen or so requests a week about filming.”

In recent months, Lautz has taken producers to scout various county-owned locations as possible filming sites. Just a few of those places include the Bergen County Courthouse, the old county jail in Hackensack and various county parks,

“Having film crews portraying the county gets our name out there. We know how beautiful it is here – we have mountains, forests, historic places and the Meadowlands,” he said. “It’s interesting to see an artist’s view. We’ve really got everything here.”

“There’s also a secondary economic benefit of bringing business here,” he said.

The county has hosted a variety of productions since then. Some of those include the upcoming Sopranos prequel, "The Many Saints of Newark," in Hasbrouck Heights, America's Most Wanted host John Walsh's Investigation Discovery series in Hackensack and Mahwah and Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee" in several towns.

Many commercials - include ads from Dunkin' Donuts, Walmart, Ikea, Weight Watchers and Crayola - have been filmed locally. Several public service announcements, including one from Monica Lewinsky's anti-bullying initiative, shot in Bergen, too.

Recent Productions Include:

• Features: Chemical Hearts (Emerson), Cul-De-Sac Cookout (Ridgewood), Dirty Sexy Saint (Bergenfield, Carlstadt), Hungry (Hackensack), Karate Christmas Miracle (Midland Park, Wyckoff), Listen (East Rutherford), The Many Saints Of Newark (Hasbrouck Heights), A Nice Girl Like You (Rutherford), The Other Child (Lyndhurst), The Subject (Closter)
• TV Shows: Admit One (Rutherford), Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee (Alpine, Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee, Tenafly), Diabolical (Alpine), The Enemy Within (East Rutherford), Evil Lives Here (Englewood), In Pursuit With John Walsh (Hackensack, Mahwah), Innovations (Woodcliff Lake), Little America Aka Dream (Lyndhurst, North Arlington, Rockleigh, Rutherford), Tricked (Rutherford), What Would You Do? (Ramsey)
• Commercials: Monica Lewinsky/Anti-Bullying PSA (Allendale), Affinity (Wyckoff), American Express (Fort Lee), Aquaphor (Ho-Ho-Kus), Betadine (Teaneck),Burlington Coat Factory (Garfield), Chase Bank (Rutherford), Crayola (Wyckoff), Dunkin' Donuts (Carlstadt), Ikea (Paramus), iPic Theaters (Fort Lee), JC Penney (Demarest), Kohl's (Closter), LG Mobile (Alpine), Mastercard (Fort Lee), Mattel (Old Tappan), MTV VMA's promo (Alpine,Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee, Tenafly), NFL Films promo (Ridgefield), NJ Lottery (Ridgewood), Ram Trucks Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Spot (Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Moonachie), Raymour & Flanigan (Paramus), The Learning Channel (Demarest), Visa (East Rutherford, Lyndhurst, Rutherford), Walmart (Hackensack), Weight Watchers (Allendale)

The renewed interest in filming in New Jersey is especially significant for Bergen County.

Nearly 100 years ago, Fort Lee was the motion picture capital of America, with numerous studios and production companies dotted along the Palisades.

“New Jersey, specifically Bergen County, is the birthplace of the motion picture industry,” said Freeholder Joan Voss. “Before there was Hollywood, there was Fort Lee, where the first motion picture studios opened in the 1910s, names that are still around today like Fox, Metro, Goldwyn, and many others. Now, a century later, we are excited to bring filming and television production back to Bergen County.”

After the film industry's exit, New Jersey didn't fallen off the map when it comes to productions though and neither did Bergen County.

Over the last 30 years, several popular movies have been partially filmed within Bergen County, including: Sophie’s Choice (Ridgefield Park), Tootsie (Fort Lee), Desperately Seeking Susan (Tenafly), Big (Cliffside Park), When Harry Met Sally (East Rutherford), GoodFellas (Fort Lee, Alpine, Lodi and East Rutherford), Casino (Fair Lawn), You’ve Got Mail (Teaneck), School Of Rock (Franklin Lakes), Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (Fort Lee), Spider-Man 3 (Alpine), The Wolf of Wall Street (Closter) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Oakland).

Former Gov. Chris Christie let the tax credit program expire because he believed it was expensive. He was also vocal on his criticism of MTV’s “Jersey Show” and opposed $420,000 in credits for the series, saying it promoted misconceptions about New Jersey.

Under the law signed by Murphy:

• Production companies can apply for savings of 30% on expenses from 2019 through 2023 if they film in North Jersey. It offers up to 35% if they film in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer or Salem counties.
• To be eligible, a film must spend at least 60% of its total budget through authorized vendors to do business in New Jersey or spend more than $1 million in qualified expenses in the state.
• The program caps the credits at $75 million a year for film productions between 2019 and 2023. That's up from $10 million under the previous program, which expired in 2015.
• Companies can also earn a 2% bonus if they meet a diversity standard of employing at least 15% women and other minority groups in key positions and on the production crew.

Following an April 2019 trip to Hollywood to tout the Garden State as a filming destination, Murphy said, “ New Jersey has been the backdrop for “hundreds of films, from classics like ‘On the Waterfront’ and ‘The Godfather’ to blockbusters such as ‘Independence Day’ and ‘War of the Worlds.’”

“In our meetings with the studio executives and talent agents, we hope to highlight not only that history, but also our renewed commitment to the film industry,” he said. "Our financial incentives, diversity of locations, and unparalleled accessibility make New Jersey a truly unique place to film a motion picture.

Steve Gorelick, executive director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, told NJTV that his office is dealing with “practically every major network, every major studio” and “not to mention a lot of independent production companies.”

There are also several more big name productions coming to the state soon, officials have said. And, there’s many being filmed right now, according to the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission, including ABC’s “The Emergence” and Universal Television’s “Lincoln.”

On Oct. 1, Murphy announced he planned to expand the film tax credit “based on interest since the Film and Digital Media Tax Credit was enacted last year.”

The governor seeks to raise the cap above $75 million a year and extend the credits beyond 2023, in hopes of landing television shows that have lengthy runs.

So far, the state’s Economic Development Authority has approved two rounds of film tax credits. In August, about $9 million in credits was approved to “West Side Story” and “Joker.” Two months earlier, $6.2 was awarded for four projects.