It’s a great space. Cinelease have studios in other cities as well.

I didn't dig into it, but I figured as much. In the video, one of the principals talks about wanting to build a sort of production community around the studio. Any idea if that has been attempted or successful around any of their other spots?

Jersey city has had about 6 or 7 movies shooting here in the last year, along with many more commercials. With NY running out of studio space, and NJ easing Covid restrictions earlier, we're blowing past where we were even in ther old times of L&O SVU and the Sopranos.

It's still a tough sell, because productions are so hesitant to look at anything outside of NYC, and the production managers/ line producers want to build relationships with the 3 big studio companies, while Cinelease is very small in the area. So TV series will probably still steer clear unless they have absolutely no choice, while movies that have more location than studio days will probably enjoy the cheaper price and chance to save with the tax credits.

Never heard anything more incorrect in my life . It's not a hard sell at all

They keep building more studios here and expanding because they are fully booked for almost 2 years with the space they have including major picture deals cinelease also has multiple studios in the area and nyc along with being the place a lot of those bigger studios rent their equipment from because they also have an equipment rental division .

Yes they did a show about jersey city but shot in Atlanta instead and only did B roll here but that's more the outlier then the mainline

Video engineer and JC resident here! I’ve worked at cinelease in JC and in Covington, GA.

The Covington location was quick to get repeat productions filming multiple seasons, so Covington has had a lot of new hotels and other amenities move in in a very short period of time (amenities we already have and likely won’t really need to scale that much, as gigs between Jersey city and NYC are all still considered local for residents of either city.) the JC location would benefit from amenities closer to the actual studio itself and I could very much see them try to do something akin to Rock Lititz, which would absolutely create a community hub.

The commenter stating productions are hesitant to look outside of NYC is incorrect. The move out of NY started a decade ago with the gear suppliers moving their warehouses across the Hudson. Simply put, productions want more space for less money. There’s also the infrastructure part; it’s easier to build a new building with new electrical, a new steel grid that can hold more weight, etc. and so forth than it is to replace what’s in the current studios. There will obviously always be a ton of filming in NYC but the market demand for geographically similar but adjacent space is high, which is why cinelease made this move in the first place.

Movies and projects like keeping jobs hush hush to prevent any weirdness

I worked there for 6 months on a project. Cinelease is a very decent studio and have some really great people. I hope I get another project there. It is fantastic to not cross the river to go to Steiner or Silvercup . There was no work here in NJ for a long but there has been a lot of investment into studios in the last year or so. I’d believe it is due to Gov Murphy making NJ attractive to productions again. There are a couple of jobs based out of Mana contemporary too, I think those are more locations based jobs (not stage jobs). Hoboken has a shoot or 2. Moonachie has some studios in the works. Yeah I don’t miss paying the easy pass, or dealing with that commute.

Everyone is building/expanding more studio space, so Cinelease needs to contend with the big players like Steiner, Silvercup, Kaufman, Cinemagic, and Broadway Stages, all which have long built relationships with those who choose where productions go.

Just like the Meadowlands, Cinelease will benefit from the slow pace of building in NYC, but as soon as spots opened in those other studios shows fled (like Equalizer and Law and Order Organized crime). It's a problem with people in NYC thinking even downtown Jersey City is like tracking into the heart of darkness. NY's tax credit also benefits those productions more, and the way those credits work you're not going to really see a production jump between states for more than a few days of shooting.

Cinelease, as said above, will get the Tier 1 & 2 movies that really have no need for NYC, and have a 2 month shooting schedule (They'll claim these as "Major picture deals" when they aren't, which isn't a big sin, as NYC doesn't really get gigantic movies anymore anyway.) Maybe even a smaller streaming show, but they'll have a hard time getting an 8 month network show, or a streaming series/prestige series with a long schedule. They also could end up with more commercials and other small projects.

As for being booked for 2 years, it's because that's what happens now even without productions, Silvercup North is booked solid for 10 years, not because they know what will film there, but because Apple made a lease deal just to hold the space (Netflix was in talks to do the same with some studios, but with their troubles I'm not sure if they pulled the trigger)

Both their studios are also brand new, and their equipment rental division is pretty much non-existent in the area. The productions shooting from the studio will use their Heavy EQ and Grip products, but pretty much every major studio offers the exact same products for their productions, and Kaufman, Silvercup and Steiner are big leasers to those who don't even use their studios.

It's good their here, and hopefully the industry as a whole grows, but the way JC/NJ does everything half assed, this could easily turn in to a huge investment by the city and this studio, just to have everything pulled out from under them. Remember what happened when Christie killed the tax credit, Law and Order SVU literally made a plot that blew up their studio just to stick a finger in the eye of NJ and to say "We'll never shoot here again"

There was a proposal for a hotel where the closed diner is. Wonder if that is happening

Would a show like ms marvel that’s actually set here ever film in Jc?

Very well though out response while its mostly correct they do have the John wick deal - id say that was a extremely major picture. But for the most part you hit the nail on the head most of their schedule is 2-3 month commitments , overflow / local filming for L&O and lot of sound stage work for other productions.

It still does not mean its a hard sell. Alot of the people that work there including actors have started to prefer the locations over here - easier to get in and out of sometimes easier to get to all together.

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also "Both their studios are also brand new, and their equipment rental division is pretty much non-existent in the area" Not true at all They have several massive facilities around here including one in Newark , with booms , cranes , lifts ,track carts and other specialized industry versions of all the above and they can barely keep them in stock long enough to do maintenance and send them back out . Again they did the entire productions equipment for the last and now the next john Wick .

I think the tax advantages of ATL are way too good. CA had to expand their tax credit system to pull shoes like the Resident, and even The Flight Attendant here from NYC.

I haven't seen Ms Marvel, but if it's very special effects heavy, most nyc studios aren't equipped for that. They shot in a studio that was part of Pinewood, which was the studio in England that did James Bond and the Marvel movies, so they are set up for Special Effects (also they have those connections where they'll stay with a production company)

Another thing i hope doesn't happen, as did in NYC at one point, is the novelty wearing off for locals (when it comes to location shooting)

A production at first has everyone excited, but if you've got your streets lined with trucks every day, and your commute is backed up, then people start to complain.

Jersey City is so new to these productions they should be able to move all around and not congregate in one area to shoot for long periods of time, otherwise we know the JClisters or that type will be protesting how a Production Assistant asked them if they can just wait 30 seconds for them to get a shot, and now all filming should be ended.

Makes sense, never seen it either, but I don’t think average fan would care if it was filmed here or Atl

They did some exteriors for all the avengers films in NYC, and I know a lot of Hawkeye was shot here, but having never seen it I'm not sure if it was very special effects heavy.

Wow, this is a thoughtful thread! Thanks for all this insight into production in JC and the region. I had no idea...

Great brewery down the street too

Recently heard Deadpool 3 was slated to start filming there, but went elsewhere; I think Canada. Source: i’m in the industry.