Planning a production in New Jersey?
What you need in New Jersey depends on the location, who owns it, which municipality it sits in and how much the shoot affects the public around it. There is no single statewide answer.
This page sorts out what to handle first and sends you to the right resource. Get your basics together, then pick the route that matches where you are.
First: know your project basics
Have these ready before your first call. Every municipality will ask for most of them, and an incomplete application is the most common reason a permit sits.
- Proposed town or general area
- Filming and preparation dates
- Number of shoot days
- Approximate cast and crew size
- Production vehicle count
- Public or private property
- Road closures or traffic control
- Drones, weapons, animals, special effects or generators
- Parking and basecamp needs
The last three lines are the ones that change a timeline. Any of them can pull in a separate department, and often a separate approval from whoever handles the permit itself. Raise them in the first conversation, not the week before.
Then: pick your route
Four situations. Find the one you are actually in.
A. I need a location
You know the look you want but not where it is. Start from categories rather than towns, then narrow by municipality once something fits.
Film locations by category Location scouting Where productions have filmed
B. I have a location and need permit information
Look up the municipality first. Requirements, fees and lead times are set town by town, and a permit from one has no authority in the next.
Two things that catch people out. Permission from a property owner does not always remove the municipal requirement, and the reverse is also true. And a single block can involve more than one authority: county roads, state highways, NJ Transit property and federal parkland all sit outside a town’s permit.
Search a town in the permit finder How New Jersey permits work All town guides
C. I need crew, equipment or production space
New Jersey has real depth in rental houses, stages and expendables, and the drive times between them are short.
Crew and production support Equipment rentals Studios & stages Expendables Production resources
Worth knowing: the BLL Films crew network is a private, moderated roster, not a browsable directory. The rental, studio, supplier and casting listings above are public and source-linked.
D. I need help planning the production
If you would rather hand it over, BLL Films can help with location research, municipal coordination, crew, equipment and local logistics. Send the town, the dates, roughly how many days and what the shoot involves.
New Jersey Film Locations is an independent resource published by BLL Films, not a government office. Everything here points at official sources; the municipality is always the authority on its own requirements.
Every town guide
All 51 municipalities we have published, A to Z. Each guide is written from that town’s own enacted filming ordinance, read in full, and carries the date it was last checked. Where a town does not publish something, the guide says so rather than guessing.
Not listed? New Jersey has 564 municipalities and most have no published filming ordinance at all. Start with the permit finder, then call the municipal clerk. Film Ready towns shows which municipalities hold State certification, including ones we have not yet written up.