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Netflix wants to transform a crumbling Army base in New Jersey into one of the largest film and television production centers in the Northeast, a plan that has at least one major backer: Governor Phil Murphy.
Tuesday, Netflix He said he would bid for a 289-acre piece of land. Monmouth Castle, about 50 miles south of New York City in Oceanport and Eatontown counties. The 96-year-old base, which was used by the United States to develop radar technology and where a civilian engineer, Julius Rosenberg, began his notorious espionage career, was closed by the Pentagon in 2011 due to slashing military spending.
Bids for the site will be made on January 12, and Netflix will not discuss the price it plans to offer. The Fort Monmouth Economic Stimulation Authority evaluated the site at: 54 million dollars, but several developers have previously offered more than $100 million for just 89 acres of said land. (Those plans fell through.) Netflix said in a statement that it would transform Fort Monmouth into a “state-of-the-art production facility”, citing a mix of soundstages, post-production buildings and background footage.
“Governor Murphy and the state’s legislative leaders have created a business environment that welcomes film and television production in the state, and we are excited to present our proposal,” Netflix said in a statement.
The nearly 300-acre Jersey Shore site would become the second largest production complex behind Netflix. ABQ Studios in New Mexico. Netflix bought this complex in 2018 and has committed to spend $1 billion in the state and announced plans to expand and invest another $1 billion in 2020. ABQ Studios will have more than 15 soundstages upon completion.
Speculation about Netflix’s involvement in Fort Monmouth has been swirling since The Two River Times aired in July. reported by Netflix He was in contact with Mr. Murphy’s office about construction opportunities.
New Jersey authorities began to make their state seem economically and politically friendly to Netflix in 2019 when a delegation from Mr. Murphy’s administration visited various Hollywood companies in Los Angeles. In April, Mr. Murphy was slapped in Georgia, which had just passed the law. restrict voter access, prominent activists, stars and others Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. demands that companies such as companies boycott the state. In a letter to all the major studios, Mr. Murphy said, incentives for the film and television industry – tax credits of up to 30 percent of eligible production costs, on par with Georgia, and a “subsidy of up to 40 percent for brick-and-mortar studio development.”
“I am incredibly excited to hear about Netflix’s proposed investment,” Mr. Murphy said on Tuesday. “While there is an objective process that any application must go through, this is further proof that the economic plan my administration has come up with is working and is bringing high-quality, well-paid jobs to our state.”
New Jersey has a long relationship with Hollywood. Thomas Edison founded what is considered the nation’s first film studio in West Orange in 1893. However, the state’s political headwinds have not always been positive for the entertainment industry.
During the 2010s, former governor Chris Christie was so disgusted by MTV’s “Jersey Shore” program and its portrayal of Jersey residents as binge-drinking drunks that the state kept a hard line on providing tax credits to film and television productions. In 2009, when HBO went to find a production location for “Boardwalk Empire,” set in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, the network chose to film the show in New York City, which has long offered tax breaks. From New Jersey “New Jersey’s high taxes alone may make it cheaper to build a replica boardwalk in Brooklyn than to shoot at the actual Boardwalk in Atlantic City” state senator rail.
In recent years, production in the state has begun to accelerate again, in part to meet the content needs of rapidly growing streaming services. Netflix alone has filmed more than 30 of Zack Snyder’s projects, including “Army of the Dead”, in New Jersey since 2018. zombie spree in vegas. Soon, Apple TV+ will shoot “The Greatest Beer Run Ever,” starring Russell Crowe, Zac Efron and Bill Murray. The CBS drama “The Equalizer” was among other shows where episodes were recorded in the state.
A Netflix spokesperson said the company will continue to shoot in states like New York, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and North Carolina even if the Fort Monmouth plans come true. Last month, the streaming service opened a new 170,000-square-foot studio converted from a former steel mill in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. The new studio has six soundstages and office space.
On an afternoon outside the Bushwick studio, half a dozen crew and craft service trucks, as well as several crew members, were entering and leaving the building. Signage around the studio indicated that two series were already in production: “The Watcher,” a limited series produced by Ryan Murphy starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale, and “Jigsaw,” a new drama.
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