1888 Studios, a 1.6-million-square-foot film and television production campus under construction in Bayonne, said Oct. 28 that media and entertainment company Paramount has signed a 10-year lease agreement.
Paramount, a division of Skydance Corp., has committed to take more than 285,000 square feet of the facility, establishing a major production hub in New Jersey, the American birthplace of cinema.
Paramount’s commitment further establishes the state as a premier destination for film and television production. In May, Netflix broke ground at Fort Monmouth to begin construction for a state-of-the-art production facility. The streaming service plans to invest $1 billion to transform the 292-acre former Army installation into a major East Coast production hub.
1888 Studios, under development by Togus Urban Renewal, is set to become the largest campus-style production facility in the Northeast and one of the biggest in the nation. The 58-acre facility, once the site of a Texaco refinery, will offer more than 1.1 million square feet of production space spanning 23 smart sound stages with a minimum of 40-foot clear ceilings; production support space; flexible post-production space; offices; mills; base camp and backlot; and lighting and grip facilities to accommodate every phase of production.
The 1888 Studios name is a reference to the year Thomas Edison patented the motion film camera. Edison opened the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria, in 1893, in West Orange.
Through New Jersey’s Film and Digital Media Tax Credit program, 1888 Studios offers tenants competitive incentives comparable to other leading production hubs worldwide. Expanded in 2025, the program empowers the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to designate three studio partners and three film-lease partner facilities, each linked to large-scale infrastructure commitments.
1888 Studios was designated New Jersey’s first film-lease partner facility in May 2024, and Paramount has submitted its studio partner application, which is under NJEDA review and will be brought to its board for consideration on Oct. 30.
“Scaling our production and expanding our slate of world-class entertainment is central to our long-term strategy,” said Andy Gordon, chief strategy officer and chief operating officer. “We’re thrilled to invest in the United States and in the region and lean into our creative momentum to spark economic growth. Thanks to highly competitive tax credit programs like New Jersey’s, the tri-state area is more attractive than ever before for production as we work together to create new jobs and empower more domestic production for America’s creative workforce.”
“Paramount’s expansion into New Jersey, utilizing 1888 Studios’ large-scale, full-service production campus in Bayonne, reflects the incredible momentum of our state’s creative sector, solidifying our reputation as a global powerhouse in the entertainment industry,” said Gov. Phil Murphy.
1888 Studios is designed by global architecture firm Gensler to evoke the imagery of Golden Age Hollywood. The campus will provide a blend of cutting-edge infrastructure, proximity to Manhattan and access to an experienced regional industry workforce. This fulfills the region’s pressing need for an all-inclusive production campus to accommodate New Jersey’s growing film and television industry, and provides the scale necessary for the state to compete on the world stage with a world-class facility.
Since Murphy reinstated the Film and Digital Media Tax Credit program in 2018, total production spending in New Jersey has surged. The program is fully funded through 2049.
