PAULSBORO, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — A new initiative aims to bring more filmmakers to our neck of the woods.
Camden and Gloucester counties officials launched the South Jersey Film Office Cooperative, South Jersey’s first joint film office.
New Jersey offers a tax credit for major motion pictures and smaller films that choose the state as their shooting location. The cooperative encourages filmmakers to make South Jersey their backdrop, and in turn, it will help facilitate services like permitting and scouting.
“If you need a high school, if you need a hospital, if you need a particular look of a neighborhood, if you need an industrial look, if you need a mall, we cut through red tape, get you to the right place, to the right person,” said Chairman John Burzichelli.
Not only could this help highlight towns in the region, said Heather Simmons, deputy director of the Gloucester County Board of Commissioners, but it could also bring more visitors to area hotels, restaurants and businesses.
“This is a key aspect of the revitalization of the economy post-COVID,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to create jobs, to bring filmmakers here, to bring film production studios here.”
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Film companies can contact the cooperative, which then helps with the tax credit, streamlines the permit process, and connects storytellers to towns and landmarks in our backyards that fit their needs.