Governor Phil Murphy promotes New Jersey in Hollywood

Gov. Phil Murphy has made television and film a top priority for New Jersey since taking over the Garden State in 2018. This week, Murphy stopped by the West Coast to talk intelligence artificial with companies in the Bay Area and to discuss new business with studios in Hollywood. Murphy's focused courtship helped spark a boom in the construction of soundstages and production facilities throughout New Jersey. Here Murphy discusses the impact of the state's production tax incentive program and why he sees Georgia as a bigger rival for attracting productions than neighboring New York.

You just completed a trip to the West Coast to promote New Jersey as a growing media and entertainment hub. What was your specific mission and how do you think your conversations were received?

We have done this every year since we came to power. As governor, film, television and digital have been a priority since day one. And the conversations [with Hollywood] have only gotten better. We have refined our incentives, which are now as competitive as any in the world. We have gotten to know the players personally over many years, many of them doing big projects in New Jersey. All of this makes each of our successive missions more successful than before, and this one is no exception.

We were selling New Jersey, contacting people who were already investing and producing TV shows or films in New Jersey. We were extremely well received. Obviously the incentives are as competitive as any in the world, but we also have soft measures. We have values ​​that really matter, whether it's reproductive freedoms or being the No. 1 state for raising a family or climate and so on. We are a large pro-union state, including IATSE, Teamsters, SAG-AFTRA and writers. There are many things to love about New Jersey.

What are your specific selling points for doing business in New Jersey versus New York? Are you supporting a purely economic argument about the cost of living in the Garden State compared to Manhattan?

We do. Our simple incentives are 35% plus 2-4% for diversity. And even if we have an amount of $500,000 per person [cap] above the line, all of this is unlocked and supercharged if you build a studio or rent space from someone who has built studios in New Jersey.

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I find that we are in much more competition with Georgia than with New York. When it comes to big studios and big, bold projects that we're pursuing, Georgia is as much on the radar as anywhere else right now. There is also the impression that the incentive program itself in Georgia has become political. And that's not the case in Jersey and I don't expect it to become the case.

But tax incentive programs can become controversial if voters feel they are giveaways to Hollywood. Are you confident that New Jersey gets back more than a dollar for every dollar spent on manufacturing tax credits?

Extremely confident. I'll give you some measurements. The mathematical argument only focuses on what the state spends in relation to what comes into its coffers. And to me, that's only a fraction of the argument. The argument really is: For what the state has done, what has that led to in terms of economic activity in New Jersey? Right now, for every dollar we put on the streets, we get back between $6 and $8 in economic activity. That's a high-end number and will likely increase when major studio partners like Netflix are up and running. [with dedicated stages]. So this is a significant impact which, by the way, is both immediate and broad. And what I like is that it’s local. It is [helping] the restaurant, the dry cleaner, the hotel, the caterer. …The other indicator I'll give you is that the year before we arrived, the total economic activity in film and television [in the state] these were mainly music videos and infomercials. It was about $65 million. Figures are not available for 2023, but we believe they are around $800 million.

Netflix is ​​moving to Fort Monmouth for studios and Lionsgate is helping develop a studio and retail complex in Newark. Are there any other major soundstage or production infrastructure projects in the works?

You have Cinelease in Jersey City with three soundstages. Looks to me like they're going to expand to Kearny. There's a studio in the works, which we've met with the principals of, in West Orange, and then there's a big one that's public knowledge called 1888 Studios, which is being formed in Bayonne, New Jersey, right in side. the Hudson River in front of New York. So those are the ones that exist, but we've had conversations with others that are not public knowledge. There continues to be strong interest in both manufacturing and investment in bricks and mortar. So watch this space as they say.

What are the other economic pillars of New Jersey right now? What are the main drivers of your state's economy?

We are an innovative economy. The traditional pillars would be pharmaceuticals, biological and life sciences, technology and telecommunications, and then, increasingly, financial technology. We've had Wall Street's middle and back office for decades. Fintech is a no-brainer for us, and we're going to make a big announcement about it in a few weeks. Adult use of cannabis is significant. Sports betting, which is a first cousin of fin-tech, is big. And more and more — cinema, digital television. And we've been very public about it making an intentional and significant bet on generative artificial intelligence. We announced a major joint venture with Princeton University [in December 2023].

With everything going on, what is the next frontier for New Jersey, in entertainment or other industries?

More of the same. I have more than a year and a half left as governor, I want to leave the table set as best as possible for the generation that follows. And I think we're on track for a lot of really exciting things. So further development of the projects I mentioned, development of projects that are not yet on the radar screen but we are planting seeds of. Continue to produce a lot of content in New Jersey. I'll give you an example: There's a movie called “Miller by Marriage” that Ed Burns produced, directed, wrote and starred in filming in Morristown. My wife went there. She knows the Burns family from other walks of life. They were elated – they were effusive in expressing how they felt about the way they had been treated. [by state and local officials during filming]. We just hired a new executive director for our Film and Television Commission who you may know: Jon Crowley, a veteran showrunner and producer himself. In some states, the film commissioner basically says, “Hey, welcome” in whatever state it is and that's the last time you see him. Jon's commitment is essentially to provide premium concierge service – researching, resolving any permitting issues, continuing to grow the Film Ready NJ program in the communities. Cleaning brush. If you want.

Governor Murphy, I have to ask, there has been speculation about your political future. Do you have any ambition to hold another political office once your term as governor is over?

I have nothing at the moment. But more importantly, I'm a recovering comedian, which is probably part of the reason I'm so interested. [boosting production in New Jersey]. This is not only good for the economy and job creation. I'm a big fan of the arts. I played a lot in middle school, high school and college. So I feel like I'm comfortable in this industry.

So clearly, your next target is the stage?

[Laughs]. I wouldn't say that either. I have no plans at this stage. If I achieve anything, I'll make sure of it Variety known.