The Complete Guide to NJ Film Tax Credits in 2026

New Jersey offers some of the most generous film and television tax incentives in the country, and they are driving a massive wave of production activity across the state. Whether you are a production company evaluating where to shoot or a property owner wondering why so many crews are suddenly interested in your building, understanding how NJ film tax credits work will help you capitalize on the opportunity.

How the NJ Film Tax Credit Program Works

The New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program provides a transferable tax credit of up to 30-37% of qualified production expenses incurred in the state. This means that for every dollar a production spends in New Jersey on eligible costs — crew wages, equipment rentals, location fees, catering, hotels, and more — they can receive back roughly a third as a tax credit.

The base credit is 30% of qualified expenses. Productions can earn an additional 2% bonus for filming in certain areas and an additional 5% bonus for diversity-related criteria. This puts the maximum effective credit at 37%, which is among the highest in the nation and significantly more competitive than New York’s program in many cases.

Why This Matters for Property Owners

The tax credit program is the single biggest reason that film production in New Jersey has exploded in recent years. The NJ Motion Picture and Television Commission estimates that the industry generated nearly $800 million in economic activity in the state last year alone. That activity requires locations — lots of them.

Productions that take advantage of these credits need to spend money in New Jersey to earn them. That means they are actively seeking New Jersey-based locations rather than filming in New York and commuting crews across the river. Location fees paid to NJ property owners count as qualified expenses, which means productions are incentivized to book your property. To understand what your property could earn, see How Much Do Film Locations Pay in New Jersey?

For commercial property owners, this represents a unique revenue stream. The common areas of your building — lobbies, hallways, conference rooms, parking garages — can generate thousands of dollars per day in location fees without affecting your tenants or requiring a long-term commitment.

The Netflix Effect

Perhaps the most visible sign of New Jersey’s growing film industry is Netflix’s commitment to building a 1.1 million-square-foot studio campus at Fort Monmouth in Monmouth County. The project, which broke ground in spring 2025, is expected to bring hundreds of productions to the state when it opens by 2028.

But the impact is already being felt. Netflix and other major studios are actively scouting New Jersey locations in advance of the studio’s completion. Productions like Severance (which famously filmed at Bell Works in Holmdel), Power: Origins, and A Quiet Place have all utilized New Jersey locations, and the pipeline continues to grow.

Film Ready New Jersey

To help streamline the process of filming across the state’s 564 municipalities, the NJ Film Commission launched Film Ready New Jersey in 2022. This program certifies municipalities that have adopted uniform and transparent fee schedules, designated a local liaison for film productions, and uploaded photos of potential locations to a centralized database.

There are now 43 certified Film Ready communities, with another 50 in the pipeline. For property owners, being located in a Film Ready municipality is an advantage because it signals to productions that the town is welcoming and easy to work with. This reduces friction and makes your property more attractive.

The Tax Credits Are Here to Stay

One of the most significant developments for the NJ film industry is that the tax credit program has been extended through 2049. This is not a short-term incentive that might disappear next year — it is a long-term commitment from the state that gives productions and property owners confidence to invest in the ecosystem.

For property owners, this means the demand for filming locations in New Jersey is not a temporary trend. It is a structural shift that will continue to grow as more studio infrastructure comes online and more productions discover the advantages of filming in the Garden State.

How to Get Your Property in the Pipeline

If you own property in New Jersey and want to take advantage of this growing market, the best first step is to partner with a film location brokerage that already has relationships with the productions and scouts working in the state. For a step-by-step guide, read How to List Your Property for Film & TV Productions in NJ.

Reset Locations works alongside location scouts and managers to connect them with properties they might not otherwise be able to access. We have built long-term relationships with high-level property owners, corporate landlords, and institutional decision-makers across the tri-state area. Every property in our database is one we have a direct relationship with — scouts come to us because we can open doors that are difficult to get through on their own.

We also manage the full coordination between both sides throughout the entire process. Property owners are often nervous and unsure of what to expect when a production wants to use their space, and that uncertainty can slow things down or kill a deal entirely. We stay in close contact with both the owner and the production team from the first conversation through wrap day, making sure everyone is informed, comfortable, and on the same page. Scouts and location managers value this because a confident, well-informed property owner means a smoother shoot for the entire production. For more on what the filming process looks like from the owner’s perspective, we have a detailed guide.

For property owners, listing with us is free and there is no obligation. We earn a commission only when a booking happens, and we handle the negotiation, contracts, and logistics from start to finish. Our owners have earned over $1 million in location fees working with productions from Netflix, HBO, Apple TV+, NBC, CBS, and many more.

List your location with Reset Locations today, or call us at (917) 757-0841. We will scout your property, photograph it, and put it in front of the scouts and productions that are actively spending money in New Jersey right now.

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