Netflix Eyes New Jersey Army Base for Major Production Hub

Netflix plans to turn 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 proponent: Governor Phil Murphy.

On Tuesday, Netflix said it would bid on a 150-acre portion of Fort Monmouth, about 50 miles south of New York City in the Oceanport and Eatontown boroughs. The 96-year-old base – used by the United States to develop radar technology and where a civil engineer, Julius Rosenberg, infamously began his espionage career – was shut down by the Pentagon in 2011 when the military cut spending.

Bids on the site are due January 12, and Netflix wouldn’t discuss the proposed price. Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Agency has valued the site at $ 54 million, but several developers previously offered more than $ 100 million for just 89 acres of land. (Those plans failed.) Netflix said in a statement that it would transform Fort Monmouth into a “state-of-the-art manufacturing facility,” suggesting a mix of sound stages, post-production buildings, and backlot rotating areas.

“Governor Murphy and the state legislatures have created a business environment that welcomes film and television production in the state, and we are excited to make our offer,” the Netflix statement said.

At nearly 300 acres, the Jersey Shore site would be Netflix’s second largest production complex after ABQ Studios in New Mexico. Netflix bought this complex in 2018 and pledged to spend $ 1 billion in the state and announced plans to expand in 2020 and invest an additional $ 1 billion. After completion, ABQ Studios will have more than 15 sound stages.

Speculation about Netflix’s interest in Fort Monmouth has spread since July when The Two River Times reported that Netflix was in contact with Mr. Murphy’s office about construction opportunities.

Updated

Oct. 2/26/2021, 5:02 p.m. ET

New Jersey officials began portraying their state as 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 attacked Georgia, which had just passed a law restricting voter access, leading activists, stars and others to call on companies like Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. to boycott the state. In a letter to all major studios, Murphy highlighted his incentives for the film and television industry – tax credits on up to 30 percent of eligible production costs, comparable to Georgia, and “a subsidy for studio and mortar studio development.” of up to 40 percent. “

“I’m incredibly excited to hear about Netflix’s planned investment,” Murphy said in a statement Tuesday. “While there is an objective process that all applications must go through, it is further evidence that my government’s economic plan is working and bringing quality, well-paid jobs to our state.”

New Jersey has a long history with Hollywood. Thomas Edison founded what is considered the first film studio in the United States in West Orange in 1893. The state’s political winds, however, have not always been favorable to the entertainment industry.

In the 2010s, former Governor Chris Christie was so disgusted with MTV’s “Jersey Shore” and its portrayal of Jersey residents as raving assholes that he made sure the state got a tough line on granting tax credits for film and television productions maintained. When HBO was looking for production space for “Boardwalk Empire,” set in Prohibition-era Atlantic City in 2009, the network decided to shoot the series in New York, which has long had tax breaks. “Only the high taxes in New Jersey can make building a replica boardwalk in Brooklyn cheaper than filming on the real boardwalk in Atlantic City,” grumbled a New Jersey senator.

In recent years, production has been ramped up in the state, in part to meet the content needs of fast-growing streaming services. Netflix alone has shot more than 30 projects in New Jersey since 2018, including Army of the Dead, Zack Snyder’s Zombies in Vegas extravaganza. Apple TV + will soon be making The Greatest Beer Run Ever, a film starring Russell Crowe, Zac Efron and Bill Murray. The CBS drama “The Equalizer” was among the other shows that record episodes in the state.

A Netflix spokesman said the company would continue to shoot in states like New York, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and North Carolina even if Fort Monmouth’s plans come true. Last month, the streaming service opened a new 170,000-square-foot studio converted from a former steel mill in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. The new studio includes six sound stages and office space.

One recent afternoon outside the Bushwick studio, half a dozen crew and craft service trucks and a number of crew members were inside the building. Signs in the studio indicated that two series were already in production: “The Watcher,” a Ryan Murphy-produced limited series starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale, and “Jigsaw,” a new drama.