📽️ Netflix hit a major construction milestone at its Fort Monmouth studio project.
➡️ Over 20 major film and TV productions were underway across NJ in one season.
🔴 State officials say there are now over 60 localities certified as Film Ready for crews.
A new milestone for the roughly $1 billion Netflix production studio being built in Monmouth County is just another sign that the New Jersey film business is booming.
That’s according to Jon Crowley, executive director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission.
In a recent interview with New Jersey 101.5, Crowley says he can see the progress first-hand, as he drives near daily past the production facility taking shape at the 292-acre swath of land that formerly housed Fort Monmouth.
New Jersey film crews really are everywhere, with more than 20 major productions underway this season alone.
NJ Film Industry boom, on location photo during West Side Story in Paterson (Courtesy Kat Delaney)NJ Film Industry boom, on location photo (Courtesy Kat Delaney)
More New Jersey towns are becoming film-ready
As of June, there are at least 63 certified localities — municipalities and a few counties — under the state’s Film Ready program.
With 564 municipalities statewide, there previously was also that many different sets of regulations for prospective film projects – until the process was streamlined.
Crowley said as word spreads and communities see the impact and benefits of getting certified, he wouldn’t be surprised if the state was closer to 90 Film Ready localities by year’s end.
Many of those locations and crews involved Netflix projects, as the company has already filmed more than 20 titles in New Jersey.
Those include recent hit “Office Romance,” as well as “Big Mistakes,” “The RIP,” “A House of Dynamite, “The Beast in Me,” and “Happy Gilmore 2.”
First Lady Tammy Murphy and reps from the Governor’s Office and NJMPTVC join Adam Sandler at Fiddlers Elbow(Courtesy njeda.gov)Happy Gilmore 2 Netflix First Lady Tammy Murphy and reps from the Governor’s Office and NJMPTVC join Adam Sandler at Fiddlers Elbow(Courtesy njeda.gov)
Adam Sandler’s long-awaited comedy sequel was also a record for New Jersey film production, as “Happy Gilmore 2″ spent $152.5 million in communities during 64 days of filming around the state.
That was the highest spend by a single production since the state’s film tax credit program was reinstated in 2018 by then-Gov Phil Murphy, according to the commission.
Other Netflix productions that were shot in state include upcoming films “72 Hours,” “The Whisper Man,” “Here Comes the Flood,” “The 99’ers” and “Little Brother,” which debuts on Netflix this Friday.
Read More: How New Jersey’s film industry boosts local economy and jobs
Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth celebrates the top beam at Stages 3 and 4 final building in Phase 1A (Courtesy Netflix)Netflix Ft Monmouth milestone on film studios – Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth Stages 3 and 4 final building in Phase 1A to be topped off
Netflix Fort Monmouth celebrates major construction milestone
As its new production facility is being built, Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth this week celebrated the installation of the final structural beam on its Stages 3 and 4 with a topping-off ceremony on Tuesday.
The facility is located in Eatontown and Oceanport, along Route 35, Avenue of Memories, and Oceanport Avenue.
“When complete, the campus will feature 12 state-of-the-art soundstages totaling nearly 500,000 square feet, along with supporting production facilities and community amenities.
Netflix plans to invest approximately $1 billion in the project overall.
The hopeful deadline for finishing Phase 1A is summer 2027 and Phase 1B in fall 2028.
Read More: NJ’s largest film production hub to take shape at 1888 Studios
1888 Studios groundbreaking on December 16, 2025 in Bayonne (Gov. Phil Murphy via Facebook)1888 Studios groundbreaking on December 16, 2025 in Bayonne (Gov. Phil Murphy via Facebook)
New Jersey keeps gaining ground as a film production hub
Work is also underway on the two other production facilities that will serve as home bases for the state’s two other studio partners: Lionsgate, as a main tenant at Newark’s Great Point Studios, and in Bayonne at the developing 1888 Studios, where Paramount has signed as an anchor tenant.
New Jersey has already been “battling” it out with states like Georgia to place it as the third-largest U.S. production hub, behind Los Angeles and New York.
NJ Film Ready program has more towns than ever (nj.gov, Canva, Townsquare Media Illustration)NJ Film Ready program has more towns than ever (nj.gov, Canva, Townsquare Media Illustration)
One movie that was originally bound to shoot in Atlanta, but which instead filmed in 10 New Jersey communities, was Steven Spielberg’s latest hit, “Disclosure Day.”
Crowley said the science-fiction thriller was shot for 23 days in the following locations:
🎥 Buena Vista (Atlantic)
🎥 Hanover Township (Morris)
🎥 Jersey City (Hudson)
🎥 Mendham Township (Morris)
🎥 Montville (Morris)
🎥 Morris Township (Morris)
🎥Newark (Essex)
🎥 Upper Township (Cape May)
🎥 Woodbine (Cape May)
🎥 Woodbridge (Middlesex)
Crowley said 2024 saw 41% growth over the previous year, with about $837 million spent by film and television productions in the state.
There were also 31,000 crew members hired in the state that year, Gov. Mikie Sherrill noted at a recent forum on the impact of the film industry.
Data is still being compiled for last year and already looks like the same amount of growth, Crowley added.
Since around the time that the tax incentives were reinstated, about 5,500 major film and TV projects have shot in the state, with $3.3 billion invested in the state in production, according to the governor’s office.
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