New Jersey’s film industry hits a record $833M spent in state in 2024

🎬 NJ film productions hit record $833M in 2024, up 41% from 2023
🎬 Over 30,000 jobs created as major movies filmed across the state
🎬 Stars like Timothée Chalamet, Amada Seyfried, and Sydney Sweeney filmed in NJ

Seeing all these film crews around New Jersey comes with a big increase in in-state spending and employment, which new figures for last year have confirmed.

In 2024, overall in-state production spending from filmmaking hit $833 million, shooting well past the previous record of $701 million in 2022, according to the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, which is part of the state Economic Development Authority.

Read More: How New Jersey's film industry boosts the local economy

New Jersey film industry breaks spending record in 2024

New Jersey saw a total of 556 productions filmed here last year, employing more than 30,000 crew members — nearly double the number of hires in 2023.

Among major productions that filmed in 2024 were two rock icon biopics — “A Complete Unknown” starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, and “Deliver Me from Nowhere,” with Jeremy Allen White as Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen.

Read More: Check out retro Asbury Park film set for Springsteen movie

Also last year, Adam Sandler’s “Happy Gilmore 2” spent a record-breaking $152 million while filming in the state for just over two months’ time.

Read More: Inside the making of 'Happy Gilmore 2' in New Jersey

Other productions made in New Jersey include thriller “The Housemaid” starring Sydney Sweeney and Amada Seyfried, which hits theaters this December.

There were other Netflix productions that filmed here last year too. “The Beast in Me,” starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys, is a miniseries that debuts in November.

And, military thriller “A House of Dynamite” directed by Kathryn Bigelow with an all-star cast, hits the streaming service Oct. 24.

Tax credit program fuels massive growth in NJ film sector

The film industry has surged since 2018, when Gov. Phil Murphy reinstated the Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program.

New Jersey’s competitive tax incentive program supported an increase of 41% in total qualified spend from 2023 to 2024, while film spending in other North American production hubs decreased or remained stagnant.

The program has been extended to 2049, offering tax credits to film and digital media productions of up to 40% for expenses incurred.

“And that’s why we do what we do — it's about jobs,” New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission Executive Director Jon Crowley recently said to New Jersey 101.5.

Auto rentals, wardrobe, movie cameras, and sets are just some of the important elements assembled here in New Jersey.

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