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New Jersey, the Garden State, has long offered bountiful film tax incentives as a way of enticing productions to shoot—and spend—within the state’s borders. Recent updates to New Jersey’s production incentive program aim to grow the Garden State’s film industry even more through two key programs: New Jersey's Studio Partners Program and Film-Lease Partners Program.
These two programs are designed to attract major film production facilities to the state by offering substantial film production incentives and support to studios and production companies. In turn, New Jersey hopes these companies will strengthen and enrich the state’s entertainment industry by investing in New Jersey film production for years to come.
Let's dive into what these two programs entail and how they benefit film production in New Jersey.
The Studio Partners Program is a New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) initiative aimed at developing large, state-of-the-art film production facilities in the state that will support a prosperous future for filmmaking in New Jersey.
In conjunction with the New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program, the Studio Partners Program (and Film-Lease Partners Program) is meant to incentivize film production in the state.
The program is targeted at production companies that can make a long-term commitment to filmmaking in New Jersey and invest in significant infrastructure to produce high-quality content. New Jersey allows just three companies to be designated a Studio Partner under the program, and awards these designations on a first-come, first-served basis.
In 2022, Lionsgate was awarded the first Studio Partner designation after committing to occupy a 253,000 square feet space at the Great Point Studios development in Newark. The Lionsgate facility is expected to be operational in 2025.
In 2024, Netflix was awarded the second Studio Partner designation after purchasing a studio multi-acre production space in Fort Monmouth with over 280,000 square feet of the facility designated Studio Partner Facility. Netflix’s production studio campus will include 12 soundstages and is expected to open in 2028.
One Studio Partner designation remains available at the time of writing.
Earning the Studio Partner designation in the state of New Jersey comes with several benefits.
The first and most attractive benefit is funding. It doesn’t matter how large your studio or production is, everyone can always use more funding.
The Studio Partners Program sets aside a separate allocation of $150 million in incentives annually for its Studio Partners. Not only that, but for the 2024 fiscal year, the NJEDA has sweetened the pot, allocating an additional one-time injection of $250 million to the fund.
This substantial allocation of production tax incentive funds is only available to New Jersey Studio Partners, and applications for film tax credits made by Studio Partners are reviewed by the NJEDA separately from applications for the New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program.
Along with the allocated funding for New Jersey Studio Partners comes increased and enhanced tax credits for Studio Partner productions that apply and qualify for the tax credit program.
Studio Partners can qualify to receive an increased base credit of 40%—that’s at least 5% higher than typical 30%-35% transferable film and digital media tax credit!
In addition, Studio Partners can qualify a larger portion of their above-the-line payroll for the credit as the program offers a larger aggregate portion of above-the-line compensation caps (typically set at $750,000 per individual).
A Studio Partner that incurs $15 million but less than $25 million in qualified film production expenses can include up to $18 million in above-the-line wage and salary expenses as qualified per project. A Studio Partner that incurs $25 million or more in qualified film production expenses can include up to $72 million in above-the-line wage and salary expenses as qualified per project.
Finally, through the Studio Partners Program, the state of New Jersey is able to offer support for large-scale projects through its numerous production resources and robust community of New Jersey production professionals.
To qualify for the Studio Partners designation, a company must meet a few crucial requirements.
First, New Jersey Studio Partners must control a facility with at least 250,000 square feet of production space. That’s a lot of space, and this is a firm requirement.
Second, Studio Partners must commit to a minimum of 10 years of site control, meaning that they must remain in the state as a taxpayer, hopefully producing many projects, for 10 years. In this way, the Studio Partners Program allows companies to invest in the future of New Jersey filmmaking and support production in the state for years to come.
Finally, Studio Partners must meet specific site approval requirements set by the NJEDA. These include preliminary site plan approval, an executed redevelopment agreement, or an adopted redevelopment plan that contemplates the construction of the production facility. Following approval, Studio Partners must be able to provide a certificate of occupancy for the facility within 48 months.
In addition to the Studio Partners Program, New Jersey offers a Film-Lease Partners Program.
Like the Studio Partners Program, the Film-Lease Partners Program includes a facility designation. Importantly, the Film-Lease Partners Facility designation broadens its requirement to companies that own, lease, or operate at least 250,000 square feet of production space.
The Film-Lease Partners Program therefore allows companies that lease their facility space to other production companies (not just Studios that produce projects in their own facilities) to qualify.
Additionally, Film-Lease Partner Facilities must commit to leasing the production space for five years.
Productions that lease and utilize space in Film-Lease Partner Facilities can qualify as Film-Lease Production Companies and become eligible for increased film tax incentives through the program.
Both the Film-Lease Partners Program and the Studio Partners Program place a heavy emphasis on investment in large production facilities by setting the facility threshold at 250,000 square feet.
To qualify for the Film-Lease Partners Facility designation, a company must meet certain criteria.
First, the company must own, lease, or operate a facility with at least 250,000 square feet of production space. In addition, Film-Lease Partners must commit to leasing the facility for a minimum of five years.
Finally, Film-Lease Partners must meet the same NJEDA site and operational requirements that Studio Partners must meet, including preliminary site plan approval, an executed redevelopment agreement, or an adopted redevelopment plan for construction of a film studio.
Following the approval of the designation, the owner or developer needs to be able to provide a certificate of occupancy for the site within 48 months.
Like the Studio Partners Program, there are only three Film-Lease Partner Facility designations available.
In 2024, the NJEDA designated 1888 Studios in Bayonne, NJ a Film-Lease Partner Facility. The 58-acre facility on the Newark Bay will include 23 sound stages and is expected to open in 2026.
Though there are no direct film tax credits that come with a Film-Lease Partner Facility designation, the program does open the door to substantial financial benefits for Film-Lease Production Companies that lease space from Partner facilities.
Companies that qualify as a Film-Lease Production Company can be eligible for larger tax credit awards through the program.
Like Studio Partners, Film-Lease Production Companies have access to a separate pot of production incentive funding through the Film-Lease Partners Program. Just as with the Studio Partners, this separate funding has an annual allocation of $150 million with an additional one-time injection of $250 million for the 2024 fiscal year.
Film-Lease Production Companies are also able to qualify for larger tax credits by capturing additional above-the-line wage and salary expenses like Studio Partners.
A Film-Lease Production Company that incurs less than $50 million in qualified film production expenses can include up to $15 million in above-the-line wage and salary expenses per project.
A film-lease production company that incurs $50 million or more in qualified film production expenses can include up to $60 million in above-the-line wage and salary expenses per project, as reported by the NJEDA.
Film-Lease Production Companies working through Film-Lease Partner Facilities will have their film tax credit applications reviewed in a designated queue when they apply.
Film-Lease Production Companies must commit to lease or otherwise occupy production space within a Film-Lease Partner Facility and must satisfy one of two criteria.
By working in a Film-Lease Partner Facility and satisfying one of these two criteria, Film-Lease Production Companies can see their already substantial New Jersey transferable film tax credit increase.
New Jersey's Studio Partners and Film-Lease Partners Programs offer significant advantages for film production companies looking to establish a meaningful presence in the state. With generous financial incentives and dedicated support from the NJEDA, these programs are set to bolster New Jersey's infrastructure and reputation as a premier destination for film production.
For more information on how to apply and take advantage of these programs, visit the NJEDA website. For more information on the New Jersey film tax credit program and for answers to your questions about production incentives across the country, check out Wrapbook’s Production Incentive Center.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
Tom is a filmmaker, producer, and marketing specialist based in Los Angeles.
