Lights, Camera, Action … In South Jersey?

PAULSBORO, NJ — Bright lights. Million-dollar sets. Movie stars booking reservations at posh hotels and restaurants.

This scene frequently plays itself out in Hollywood, California.

Officials in Camden and Gloucester County want it to happen in South Jersey too.

Therefore, they recently launched the counties’ first-ever South Jersey Film Office Cooperative to lend a helping hand to those production companies that are considering filming in the lower half of the Garden State.

“This is intended to provide one-stop shopping for the film industry with regards to picking out a site to film a movie or a show,” Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. told Patch.

“We want to try and highlight the assets that we have in our counties to attract the film industry here [and] are creating a website that will allow them to begin identifying potential sites before they even get here,” he continued.

The office will also help film productions with permitting processes, according to a press release.

Other nearby counties are encouraged to join Camden and Gloucester County in the initiative, an official closely linked to the project said.

“We look forward to welcoming participation from our neighboring counties,” Heather Simmons, Gloucester County Board of Commissioners Deputy Director, said in the press release.

Production companies that choose to film in New Jersey may qualify for the state’s Film & Digital Media Tax Credit Program, which provides credit against the corporation business tax for certain productions, the press release also said.

At least one Camden County resident was against the region’s involvement in the initiative.

"So, let's hand out tax credits so somebody can produce another neuron deficient reality show,” a Patch user who identified himself as Jeff from Gloucester Township said when asked if he thought it was a good idea or not. “That's a no if you are in doubt."

Cappelli felt the initiative’s positive potential outweighed any negatives.

The film industry “resulted in a half-billion dollars in economic activity in New Jersey last year,” he said in the interview. “That is significant. And we think it's going to continue to grow and it's quite possible that this will be a billion-dollar industry in New Jersey within the next couple of years.”

At least one Camden County resident was also receptive to the idea, saying it will give the state a chance to highlight its place in American history.

“I like the idea of having filming in Camden County,” Janet Hutchinson, co-president of The Haddon Fortnightly, told Patch. “We have one of the oldest towns in New Jersey with a strong historically preserved background and buildings that go back to some of the earliest years of our country’s birth.”

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