PRESS RELEASE

 


RECORD YEAR FOR FILMMAKING IN NEW JERSEY




The New Jersey film and television industry enjoyed its most successful
year ever in 2002, as a record 801 productions were filmed throughout the
state, generating an all-time annual high $70.2 million for the local
economy.

The projects utilizing New Jersey locations last year include 70 feature
films, 2 telefilms, 149 television series and specials, 18 music videos,
178 industrial, documentary, educational and short films and 384
commercials. Among the major motion pictures filmed in the state were
"Analyze That" starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal (Montclair,
Ho-Ho-Kus, Carlstadt, Hoboken, Bayonne), "Anger Management" with Adam
Sandler and Jack Nicholson (Cranbury, East Windsor, Edison, Long Valley,
Elberon), "It Runs In The Family" featuring Michael Douglas and Kirk
Douglas (Kinnelon, Englewood, Pompton Lakes), "Two Weeks Notice" starring
Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant (Bayonne, Fairfield, Jersey City), Sundance
award-winner "The Station Agent" (Rockaway, Hoboken, West Milford, Dover)
and the Kevin Smith comedy "Jersey Girl" with Ben Affleck and Jennifer
Lopez (Paulsboro, Berlin, Cherry Hill, Highlands).

Television projects shot in the state include HBO's "The Sopranos" and
"Oz" and NBC's "Ed" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Several
episodes of HBO's "Sex and The City" and Comedy Central's "Chapelle's Show"
were also filmed in New Jersey during the twelve month period.

The $70.2 million of revenue accrued by the state as a result of production
activity represents direct expenditures by filmmakers while working in our
cities and towns, according to Joseph Friedman, Executive Director of the
New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission. "This is money spent
for hardware, lumber, food, rentals, a wide variety of needed services, and
the hiring of crew members and extras," Friedman asserts.

Since 1978, the Commission has attracted over 9,807 projects to New Jersey,
and enhanced the state's economy by over $780 million. Variety, in its most
recent survey, ranked New Jersey as the fifth most active state for film
and television production in the nation.


FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT 973-648-6279