Deal with Producers Guild of India aims to bring Bollywood to NJ

Gov. Phil Murphy wants to bring Bollywood to the boardwalk.

Choose New Jersey, New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, Producers Guild of India (PGI) and Murphy signed a memorandum of understanding on Sept. 20 to facilitate and encourage the shooting of Bollywood films in the Garden State.

The MOU focuses on idea sharing and will assist PGI with aspects of New Jersey film production, like location scouting and support.

“There is a natural partnership waiting to be uncovered between New Jersey and Bollywood,” said Murphy in a statement. “Our state has a diverse population and unrivaled geography that keeps us at the top of the list for film production. We are proud to be one of the host locations – alongside Los Angeles – of the International Gujarati Film Festival (IGFF), proving that New Jersey provides a tremendous value that can favorably compete and win against any other U.S. location.”

The IGFF took place in Edison June 15 and 16 for the second year. In 2018, 4,500 attended, according to reports. An IGFF representative did not respond to an inquiry about this year’s attendance.

Last year, the state’s film industry received a boost through the Governor’s Film Tax Credit Program, a tax incentive program intended to attract television and filmmakers to shoot in New Jersey.