On Friday, New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy and Secretary of State Tahesha Way joined the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission as it launched Film Ready New Jersey at Kean University.
The workshop is a certification and marketing initiative of NJMPTVC in partnership with the commissioner board and the Union County Motion Picture & Television Advisory Board.
Designed to support municipalities and counties as they work to accommodate location filming and market their communities as filming destinations, the workshop is designed to position the state as a top production destination.
County and municipal employees from Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Passaic and Union counties were invited to participate in the program.
“New Jersey’s range of landscapes — from bustling cities like Newark and Jersey City, to idyllic and pristine beaches, to farmland, wetlands and forests — makes our state a uniquely diverse destination for film and television production,” Murphy said. “As the film industry in our state grows, so will our tourism industry and economy. The Film Ready New Jersey program will not only ensure municipalities are prepared to accommodate on-location filming, but it will also educate municipal leaders on how to market their communities as ideal filming destinations, helping us to show the world all that there is to love about our state.”
“We are thrilled that film production is booming here,” Way stated. “Film Ready New Jersey will help ensure that our communities are prepared and benefit as this industry continues to grow.”
“We are excited to roll out the Film Ready New Jersey Program to additional municipalities. The state of New Jersey offers many advantages to the film and television industry, and the cooperation of our communities is foremost among them. We are encouraging our cities and towns to welcome filmmakers with open arms, and the Film Ready New Jersey Program is designed to facilitate that,” Motion Picture and Television Commission Executive Director Steven Gorelick said. “Partnerships with our municipal and county governments are vital to the state’s success.”
The program continued with information about marketing communities for filmmaking, creating film-related municipal ordinances, safe film set protocols with police, fire and first responders, and more.
The five-step certification and marketing program sets basic standards for attracting filmmaking and aims to make New Jersey a real production destination. With this program, municipalities will be able to attract filmmakers, and showcase their communities as filming destinations.
