Hi, I’m Sam.
I’m a New Jersey-based producer and director of photography, and I built New Jersey Film Locations because I got tired of doing the same research over and over, hunting down a town’s film liaison, digging an old fee schedule out of a PDF, trying to figure out which studio was actually bookable versus which one was just a press release.
Producer and director of photography, on a shoot in New Jersey.
My production background
I’ve worked as a cinematographer and producer for more than a decade, shooting documentary and television work for Netflix, History Channel, Hulu, the NFL and Google, along with commercial and branded projects across the tri-state area. I run BLL Films, a New Jersey-based production company, and Legacy Films, a family documentary and keepsake-film service. I also co-created two iOS apps for on-set use, Exposure Check and Prop Screen, with fellow cinematographer Nick Mahar.
None of that makes me a lawyer or a permit officer. It does mean I’ve personally called a lot of these film offices, filed a lot of these applications, and found out the hard way when a webpage was two years out of date.
Why I built this
Every time I scouted a new town, I went through the same slog: a municipal website with a broken link, a PDF permit form from three administrations ago, a “Film Ready” badge with no explanation of what it actually meant. The New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission does good work, but a lot of the day-to-day, town-by-town detail a working crew actually needs, who to call, what the real fee is, how many days’ notice a town wants, just isn’t collected anywhere in one place.
So I started writing it down for myself, then figured other producers were hitting the same wall. That’s this site: the reference I wished existed when I started scouting New Jersey.
How I research and verify a guide
Every fact that can change, a permit fee, a lead time, an insurance minimum, a Film Ready certification, gets checked against an official source: the municipality’s own ordinance or film-office page, the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission, NJEDA program documents, or direct contact with a town clerk or film liaison. Guides link to those sources directly so you can check my work.
Where the public information conflicts with itself, and on a few New Jersey towns, it genuinely does, I say so on the page instead of picking one number and hoping. Where I can’t verify something, I say that too.
How often I review it
Every guide carries a visible “information checked” date. I don’t promise a fixed schedule: permit fees and studio construction timelines don’t change on a calendar, but any page flagged by a correction gets rechecked promptly, and I revisit the town guides on a rolling basis as I hear about changes or take on new productions in those areas.
Found something wrong?
Tell me. Email hello@newjerseyfilmlocations.com with the page and what changed, ideally with a link to the current official source. I check these personally, verify against the source, and update the page’s “information checked” date when I make a change. I’d rather fix it than leave it wrong.
What this site is, and isn’t
New Jersey Film Locations is an independent resource I created and run through BLL Films. It is not affiliated with the State of New Jersey, the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission, NJEDA or any municipal government, and nothing here is legal, tax or permitting advice. Requirements change; confirm anything time-sensitive with the relevant town, agency or property before you build a schedule around it.
Research on this site is not paid placement. No municipality, studio or property has paid to be included in a guide or directory. BLL Films’ own services, production support, location scouting, permit coordination and crew, are presented separately as services, clearly labeled, and kept apart from the research content. If that ever changes, I’ll label it on the page.
Get in touch
Have a production question, a correction, or want help on a New Jersey shoot? Reach me at hello@newjerseyfilmlocations.com, or see production support if you want BLL Films involved directly.