The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) has opened applications for film production facilities seeking a designation that will facilitate their access to a pool of tax credits designed to encourage the development of large, long-term film production facilities in the state. Under the New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program, which was expanded and enhanced by the Economic Recovery Act of 2020, as a complement to the program for individual film production projects, two additional and separate allocations were established to support projects led by Studio Partners and Film-lease Partner Facilities.

To be eligible to apply for the Studio Partner designation, the applicant must be a production company that has site control of a production facility that is at least 250,000 square feet for at least 10 years. Additionally, prior to approval, the production facility site would need to have at least preliminary site plan approval, an executed redevelopment agreement, or an adopted redevelopment plan that contemplates the construction of the production facility and, following designation approval, be able to provide temporary or permanent certificate of occupancy for the facility within 36 months. Only three Studio Partner designations are available, which will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible applicants.

In addition to a separate $150 million pool of incentives, the Studio Partner designation will allow a production company to capture additional above-the-line salaries and wages as part of its tax credit award calculation, a key feature of the plan as well as an increased award percentage. Studio Partners would first apply to the Authority to be designated and then submit subsequent applications for each film project made in New Jersey thereafter.

A Film-lease Partner Facility designation application is also available for studio developers who own, lease, or operate a production facility of at least 250,000 square feet for a period of five years or more. To be eligible to apply, applicants must have site control, and at least preliminary site plan approval, an executed redevelopment agreement, or an adopted redevelopment plan that contemplates the construction of a film studio. Following the approval of the designation, the owner or developer needs to be able to provide a temporary or permanent certificate of occupancy for the site within 36 months. Additionally, as condition of the facility designation, the owner or developer of these facilities are required to partner with NJEDA and accept an equity investment in the project by the Authority.  There are a total of three designations available for Film-lease Partner Facilities.

The film-lease partner facility designation is not an award of tax credits, however the designation allows for future tenants of a designated Film-lease Partner Facility to receive increase tax credit awards for filming in New Jersey.  The award increases apply if the designated facility’s tenant qualifies as a “film-lease production company”. To qualify, the production company must occupy space at designated film-lease partner facility, film at least 50 percent of the total project shoot days in New Jersey and at least 50 percent of the New Jersey shoot days at the designated facility.

Applications for projects who qualify under the studio partner or film-lease production company designations are allowed an increased base tax credit of 40%, and can qualify excess above-the-line wage and salary payments which are normally capped at $500,000 per person. In addition to the increase award calculations, studio partner and film-lease production company projects have access to a separate allocation of $150 million annually and benefit from a separate project queue.

For full program details and to access the application, please visit https://www.njeda.gov/film/. Specific questions may be directed to FilmTaxCredit@njeda.gov.