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The state revealed another milestone for the film and television sector as overall in-state production spending last year exceeded $650 million, smashing the previous high of $500 million in 2021.

The Jan. 24 announcement – which came from Gov. Phil Murphy’s office as he is out in California for meetings with the film, TV and technology industries – continues the Garden State’s momentum in this sector, which NJBIZ has extensively chronicled. It also comes on the heels of last month’s major announcement that Netflix plans to build a major production facility at Fort Monmouth, Lionsgate breaking ground on its Newark location, and projects in Bayonne and Carteret moving forward.

The state served as the backdrop for a number of feature films and television productions last year, including “Oppenheimer,” “Inappropriate Behavior,” “Maybe I Do,” “The Walking Dead City,” “Shelter” and many others. In Tuesday’s announcement, the official number of 2022 productions was not released. During his State of the State address, delivered Jan. 10, Murphy had said that those numbers were still being tabulated.

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Just to give an idea, 2021 yielded 725 productions, including 68 feature films and 132 television series, which created more than 5,500 jobs. For the number of productions, the 2022 total will almost certainly eclipse last year’s figure.

Murphy’s office did say that productions created more than 8,500 jobs in 2022.

“Following my reinstatement of the Film and Digital Media Tax Credit program and game-changing investments in our rapidly expanding film and television industries, production has exploded in the past four years as more people learn what New Jersey has to offer,” said Murphy. “This huge growth has fueled thousands of jobs for New Jersey residents while providing economic benefit to our towns and cities.”

“People all over the state are experiencing the thrill of having the next box office hit or television series filmed in their community,” said Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “These productions, plus the recent addition of some top-tier studio development projects, will continue to drive economic activity and create many thousands of employment opportunities for New Jerseyans from diverse backgrounds long into the future.”

Tim Sullivan, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) CEO, said that the from the start, the administration’s efforts have not only been focused on increasing production, but also attracting major studios to the Garden State.

“With the flood of interest from major content producers we could millions of square feet of studio space become available in the next three years,” said Sullivan.