New Jersey wins big at the Oscars, even before the envelopes open

🏆 Several 98th Academy Awards nominees have strong New Jersey ties.

🎥 “Marty Supreme” and “Song Sung Blue” pumped more than $42 million combined into NJ’s economy.

🌟 NJ natives like Ethan Hawke and Michael B. Jordan are in the Oscar spotlight.

No matter what names are read out loud at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, New Jersey is a big winner.

Of the films and stars nominated for Oscars, a couple actually shot in New Jersey, as the state’s film and TV program continues to thrive.

Other nominees have a personal connection, having grown up here.

Oscar-nominated films “Marty Supreme” and “Song Sung Blue” shot across New Jersey

Best Picture nominee “Marty Supreme” used at least five locations around New Jersey, hiring a thousand people and spending over $12 million, according to the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission.

Timothée Chalamet stars as Marty Mauser, a table tennis underdog turned champion. He is also nominated for Best Actor in a Lead Role, as “Marty Supreme” scored a total of nine Oscar nods.

Previously, Chalamet spent time shooting in New Jersey as a young Bob Dylan in 2024’s “A Complete Unknown.”

Read More: NJ cities transformed for Bob Dylan movie with Timothée Chalamet

Another film, “Song Sung Blue," was shot in over a dozen New Jersey locations, spending over $29.5 million and hiring 630 workers.

The film earned Kate Hudson a nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Hudson and co-star Hugh Jackman caused lots of excitement while shooting as Claire and Mike Sardina, respectively — a real-life Neil Diamond tribute band that inspired the musical drama.

Jersey natives Michael B. Jordan and Ethan Hawke in Best Actor race

Another film has two New Jersey natives up for Academy Awards.

Sony Pictures Classics co-President Tom Bernard, himself a resident of Monmouth County, crowed about his stars' Garden State roots.

"We are extremely proud that 'Blue Moon' received two Oscar nominations," Bernard said. "It's certainly a touching film; both Jersey natives Ethan Hawke (West Windsor) and Robert Kaplow (Westfield) were outstanding and each deserve to take home an Oscar this year."

Robert Kaplow, a native of Westfield and resident of Metuchen, is nominated for Best Original Screenplay for “Blue Moon.”

Best Actor nominee Hawke, a native of Texas, moved to West Windsor around the age of 10 and attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South. He then transferred to the Hun School of Princeton, graduating in 1988.

Hawke and Chalamet are up for Best Actor against another New Jersey native — double star of “Sinners,” Michael B. Jordan, who grew up in Newark and attended Arts High School.

Best Actress nominee Rose Byrne (tapped for her starring role in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You") is not a New Jersey native, but her spouse is.

Fellow actor Bobby Cannavale (who co-starred in "Blue Moon") grew up in Union City. Cannavale also made headlines at the start of this awards season, for revisiting New Jersey to pick up the family’s new pet — a bearded dragon from a reptile expo in Middlesex County.

New Jersey-based production locations for “Song Sung Blue”:

🎥 Old Tappan - private home
🎥 Irvington - Ukrainian Community Center
🎥 Montclair - Charm Thai Cuisine
🎥 Montclair - Tierney’s Tavern
🎥 Glen Ridge - Women’s Club of Glen Ridge
🎥 Jersey City - Ukrainian National Home
🎥 Keansburg Amusement Park - as Wisconsin State Fair
🎥 Matawan - Stillwell Auto Garage
🎥 Denville - Denville Dog and Grill

🎥 Florham Park - St. Elizabeth University as Northwest Catholic School in Milwaukee
🎥 Paterson - Scillieri-Arnold Funeral Home,
🎥 Wayne - Elks Lodge, as a casino in Wisconsin and Milwaukee Community Center
🎥 Wayne - St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center
🎥 Elizabeth - Ritz Theatre
🎥 Garwood - Blue Ridge Shopping Plaza
🎥 Garwood - Crossroads stood in for Good Time Charlie’s in Clintonville, Wisconsin

New Jersey-based production locations for “Marty Supreme”:

🎥 Chesterfield - farm house and cornfields
🎥 East Rutherford - Meadowlands Arena
🎥 Elizabeth - Ritz Theatre and surrounding streets
🎥 Hopewell Township - Post Office
🎥 Paterson - Market Street

In 2018, then Gov. Phil Murphy reinstated the Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program. New Jersey’s competitive tax incentive 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 has said to New Jersey 101.5.

Read More: New Jersey's film industry sees record growth, 30,000 jobs in 2024

The 98th Academy Awards are happening on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles. Conan O'Brien returns to host for the second year in a row.

The Oscars will air live on ABC and stream on Hulu, beginning at 7 p.m., March 15

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