Town guide

Filming in Clinton, New Jersey

A production guide to the Town of Clinton’s 2025 filming chapter, its published fees, its unusually broad insurance schedule and its small-crew exemption, plus the three approval questions the Town’s own sources do not answer consistently.

Clinton adopted Chapter 75 in March 2025, replacing a chapter that dated from 1987, and is a Film Ready certified locality.

The legal text is detailed and complete. What is not settled is who signs, which form to file, and how the two published workflows fit together. Get those three answers in writing before you plan a day here.

Information checked July 31, 2026

Checked Jul 31 2026

Municipality: Town of Clinton, Hunterdon County. Not Clinton Township, which is a separate municipality and is not the certified locality
County: Hunterdon County
Film Ready treatment: Film Ready certified locality, listed by the State as “Clinton Town”
Governing ordinance: Chapter 75, Filming, adopted March 26, 2025 by Ordinance 25-01, repealing the former 1987 chapter
Permit authority: A three-member Film Commission. Its composition is stated differently by the ordinance and by the Town’s own page, see below
Application intake: Obtained from the Town website or the Municipal Clerk, and returned to the Municipal Clerk with the fee
Town Clerk: Suzannah Givone
Clerk and Film Commission phone: 908-735-8616
Standard lead time: Applied for prior to four days before the requested shooting date
Basic permit: $100 with four or more days’ advance notice
Expedited permit: $250 with three or fewer days’ advance notice
Nonprofit and student permit: $25, one time, no daily rate required
Public-property daily fee: $150 for projects with a budget under $20M; $500 for projects over $20M
Private-property daily fee: No fee charged by the municipality
Street closure: $1,000, approved by the Film Commission
Public-land insurance: $1,000,000 each occurrence bodily injury and property damage, $1,000,000 personal injury, $1,000,000 products and completed operations, $5,000 medical payments, $2,000,000 general annual aggregate, plus $1,000,000 commercial auto and statutory workers’ compensation
Bond: $2,000 cash bond, returned without interest within 15 days of completion of wrap unless the Town has unsatisfied claims
Filming hours: Monday to Sunday, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. camera wrap, crew wrap 10:00 p.m., within hours agreed by the Film Commission
Exemptions: The chapter does not apply to news stories, or to filming with a crew of four or fewer members
Appeals: To the Mayor and Council, filed within 10 days, heard within 30 days

Clinton Town, not Clinton Township

Check which Clinton you mean

Hunterdon County contains two separate municipalities with similar names. The Town of Clinton is the small river town listed by the State as “Clinton Town”, and it is the Film Ready certified locality this guide covers.

Clinton Township is a different municipality with its own governing body, its own clerk and its own rules. It does not appear on the State’s certified-localities list as of July 31, 2026. Nothing on this page applies to it.

Documented location character

The Town’s own history and planning material documents a compact river town shaped by the South Branch of the Raritan River, historic mill buildings, Main Street and West Main Street, older residential building stock and a mixed commercial corridor.

Those sources establish character only. Mills, museums, shops and homes along the river are privately or institutionally owned, and a municipal permit grants no access to any of them.

Read this first

Clinton’s riverfront and mill frontage is the reason most productions look here, and almost none of it is Town-controlled. Establish ownership for every setup before you build a schedule around a view.

Current source set

Clinton adopted a full replacement filming chapter in 2025, and it is published in its entirety. The operating detail is unusually specific for a town of this size, particularly on insurance.

Chapter 75, Filming, adopted March 26, 2025 by Ordinance 25-01. It repealed the former Chapter 75 adopted in 1987 and amended in 1993 and 2009.
A current Film Commission page naming the Mayor and the Police Chief.
A municipal forms page linking a film permit application whose file metadata identifies a 2025 document.
An August 2025 Special Event Request Form that expressly lists filming among the activities it covers.

Those sources do not agree with each other on who sits on the Film Commission, who signs an approval, or which form a production is supposed to use. All three disagreements are set out below and none is resolved here.

Film Ready status

Clinton Town appears on the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission’s certified-localities list, verified July 31, 2026.

Certification describes process readiness. It does not guarantee a permit and does not reach County roads, State roads, the river, or private property inside the Town.

No checked Town page expressly names a Film Ready liaison or Film Permit Representative. The Film Commission is a creature of the ordinance and is not the same thing as the State-designated roles. Ask the Town to confirm both in writing.

Who actually issues the permit

§ 75-2 establishes a three-member Film Commission authorized to issue filming permits on public lands. § 75-3A says the permit is obtained from that Commission, while § 75-3C says the application is returned to the Municipal Clerk with the fee.

Unresolved conflict: who sits on the Commission

The ordinance and the Town’s own Film Commission page describe different memberships, and this guide does not choose between them.

Chapter 75 § 75-2: the Commission consists of the Mayor or the Mayor’s designee, the Chief of Police and the Municipal Clerk.

The current Film Commission page instead describes the Mayor, the Police Chief and one Councilperson appointed by the Mayor, or their designees. The page names Mayor Janice Kovach and Police Chief Timothy J. McGuire, and does not display a third member.

This matters operationally, because it changes who has to sign off. Ask the Town for the current roster and for the appointment or enactment behind it.

Unresolved conflict: which form, and whose signature

The Town-linked application names a different Police Chief than the Town’s current page.

The forms page links a five-page film permit application whose metadata identifies it as a 2025 document. Its approval signature line and contact block name Police Chief Cory Kubinak. The current Film Commission page lists Police Chief Timothy J. McGuire.

The form also shows only a Police Chief approval line, rather than the full three-member Commission that Chapter 75 requires. Treat the linked PDF as Town-linked but not verified current: confirm with the Clerk which version controls, who signs today, and how it should be submitted, before you rely on any personnel or authority field in it.

Which form: film permit or special event?

Unresolved conflict: two workflows

Two Town forms both claim filming, and this guide does not tell you which to file.

Chapter 75 sets up a dedicated film permit issued by the Film Commission on a four-day route.

The Town’s August 2025 Special Event Request Form separately states that filming, street closures and use of public property or rights-of-way are regulated activities for which that form must be submitted to the Clerk and placed on a Council agenda.

A Council agenda is a materially different timeline from a four-day permit route. Ask the Clerk, in writing, whether the special-event form is additional to a film permit, required only for closures or public-property use, or not applicable to ordinary filming, and what the combined lead time is. Do not assume you can skip either one.

When a permit is required, and when it is not

§ 75-3A requires a permit to film on public property, and on private property where the filming uses public property for the operation, placement or temporary storage of vehicles or equipment, including any temporary structure, barricade or device intended to restrict or block pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

Small-crew exemption

Clinton publishes a small-crew exemption that most New Jersey towns do not. § 75-13 says the chapter does not apply to the filming of news stories, or to filming with a crew of four or fewer members.

“Crew” is defined in § 75-1 as actors, extras, crew and all other persons who will participate in the filming, so the count includes performers, not just technicians. A five-person day is inside the ordinance; a four-person day is outside it. Confirm how the Town counts before relying on this, and note that the exemption does not create parking rights or waive any other Town rule.

Application and timing

The application is obtained from the Town website or the Municipal Clerk’s office during normal business hours and returned to the Clerk with the fee set by § 75-14.

Standard route: § 75-3B says no permit will be issued unless applied for “prior to four days before” the requested shooting date. The chapter does not say whether those are calendar or business days.
Waiver: the Film Commission may waive the four-day period where, in its judgment, the applicant has obtained all related approvals and adjacent owners or tenants do not need to be notified.
Weather: if filming does not take place on the permitted dates because of inclement weather or other good cause, the Commission may issue a new permit for other dates at no additional fee.

§ 75-3D requires the application to carry filming locations and dates and times, total cast, total crew, a detailed scene description, a detailed list of vehicles and parking arrangements, special production equipment such as cranes and drones, sanitary arrangements, a crowd-control plan, and a cleanup plan including any special electrical requirements and permits.

The fee table separately prices a permit by advance notice, using four-or-more days and three-or-fewer days. Read together with the “prior to four days before” wording, the middle of that range is not clearly described. File earlier than the minimum and ask the Clerk how the day count is applied.

Notice to neighbours

§ 75-5C requires that where the production will directly involve or affect businesses, merchants or residents, those parties are given written notice of the filming at least three days before the requested shooting date, and are told that objections may be filed with the Municipal Clerk to be considered in reviewing the application.

Proof of service “shall be submitted to the Municipal Clerk within two days of the requested shooting date.” That wording does not say whether the two days run before or after the shoot. Ask for the exact due date, the affected area, the delivery method and the accepted form of proof.

Note also that the Special Event Request Form route carries its own timing for street closures. Do not assume the film chapter’s notice period covers a closure.

Insurance, bond and indemnification

Clinton’s insurance schedule is considerably more detailed than most New Jersey filming ordinances. § 75-3E requires proof of all of the following before a permit issues for filming on public lands:

Coverage	Required limit
Bodily injury and property damage liability	$1,000,000 each occurrence
Personal injury liability	$1,000,000 each occurrence
Products and completed operations	$1,000,000 each occurrence
Medical payments	$5,000
General annual aggregate	$2,000,000
Commercial automobile liability, owned, leased, non-owned and hired	$1,000,000 per accident
Workers’ compensation, Part A	Statutory benefits
Workers’ compensation, Part B	$100,000 each employee disease / $500,000 policy limit / $100,000 each accident
Professional liability, if applicable	$1,000,000 each claim / $1,000,000 annual aggregate
Liquor law liability, if applicable	$1,000,000 each claim / $1,000,000 annual aggregate

The chapter states that sole proprietorships, LLC members and partners performing work may not opt out of workers’ compensation coverage where a state allows it; coverage must be maintained.

A written agreement indemnifying and holding the municipality harmless is also required, and § 75-4 requires a $2,000 cash bond before the permit issues. The bond is returned without interest within 15 days of completion of wrap, unless the Town has unsatisfied claims, in which case it holds the bond or part of it until those claims are satisfied. The chapter is explicit that posting the bond is not a substitute for insurance.

The checked sources do not publish the Town’s required certificate-holder or additional-insured wording. Request that exact wording before binding coverage, because this schedule is broad enough that a standard production certificate may not satisfy it.

Filming hours

§ 75-5E says filming takes place within the hours agreed between the Film Commission and the production, and that those hours shall include Monday through Sunday, 7:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m. camera wrap and 10:00 p.m. crew wrap.

Because the hours are framed as agreed with the Commission rather than fixed, confirm the approved window in the permit itself rather than working from the ordinance text.

Police, public works and electrical

§ 75-5F says that if determined by the Chief of Police, each location shall have an off-duty police officer or officers present, paid for by the production. § 75-7B separately reserves the Town’s right to require on-site off-duty officers where the production may impede traffic flow.

Where existing electrical power lines are used, an on-site licensed electrician may be required if the production company does not have one on staff. § 75-11B adds that where fire, electrical, building or plumbing inspections are required, the applicant pays for them.

§ 75-5G reserves street closures for Film Commission approval. The fee table prices a street closure at $1,000 and prices public works overtime for closures, parking-lot closures or no-parking sign posting at the municipality’s standard hourly overtime rate under the labourers’ union contract. Those hourly rates are not published; request them.

Copies of the approved permit are sent to the Police and Fire Departments before filming and to the New Jersey Film Commission.

Published fees

§ 75-14 publishes the following. Unlike some neighbouring towns, these are stated as fees rather than as ceilings.

Category	Published fee
Basic filming permit, one time, four or more days’ advance notice of the first day of filming	$100
Expedited basic filming permit, three or fewer days’ advance notice	$250
Basic filming permit for nonprofits, including student films, no daily rate required	$25
Daily filming on public property, budget under $20M	$150
Daily filming on public property, budget over $20M	$500
Daily filming on private property	No fee charged by municipality
Off-duty police and fire inspections, per the agreed public safety plan	The municipality’s standard hourly off-duty police rates
Public works overtime for street or parking-lot closures, or no-parking sign posting	Standard hourly overtime rate per the labourers’ union contract
Street closures	$1,000
Properties in background or used in shot	Negotiated between the production and a private business or residence
Daily prep, and daily filming, of a business being “dressed”	Negotiated between the production and a private business
Parking fees	Same rates charged to the public

Quick answer

A budget of exactly $20 million is not priced. The table reads “under $20M” and “over $20M” with nothing at the line itself.

Chapter 75’s own definition of a major motion picture separately captures any film with a budget of at least $20,000,000, alongside a named studio list and any recurrent weekly television series programming. Those two provisions are stated here as they appear. A production sitting at or near the line should get a written fee classification rather than reading one across the other.

The negotiated rows are agreements with private owners, not municipal charges. § 75-11A separately requires the applicant to reimburse the Town for lost revenue such as parking-meter revenue and repairs to public property.

Who controls the location?

A Town of Clinton permit reaches Town public property. It does not reach the following:

The South Branch of the Raritan River and its banks

River surface, access points and shoreline may involve County, State or federal jurisdiction depending on the activity and the exact location. Drone work over the water adds FAA requirements. Confirm before scheduling any on-water or over-water shot.

County and State roads

Clinton sits at a junction of routes that are not all municipal. Lane, shoulder or closure work in a County or State right-of-way is that authority’s decision, not the Town’s. Establish the jurisdiction of the specific block first.

The historic mills, museums and Main Street businesses

The buildings that give Clinton its look are privately or institutionally owned. Each needs the owner’s written permission, and the fee table expressly leaves those arrangements to negotiation between the production and the owner.

Private residences

Older residential stock along the river and Main Street is private property. A Town permit is not permission to film at, in or from a home.

Documented productions

Asking for a Friend

The New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission’s 2024 annual report records this production in Clinton at municipality level. The official source does not name a property, and this guide does not add one.

A past credit is not evidence that a location is available now, that the same terms apply, or that a property played itself on screen.

Practical production planning

A working sequence for Clinton, based only on the checked sources:

Confirm you mean the Town of Clinton and not Clinton Township before you contact anyone.
Count your people first. At four or fewer participants including performers, § 75-13 says the chapter does not apply, which changes the whole approach.
Ask the Clerk one question in writing before anything else: film permit, special-event form, or both, and on what combined timeline.
Confirm who signs today, given that the linked form and the current page name different Police Chiefs.
Send the insurance schedule to your broker early. It is broader than a standard production certificate and includes professional and liquor liability where applicable.
Budget the $2,000 cash bond as cash flow, not cost.
Establish ownership for every riverfront, mill and Main Street setup. Most of the town’s best frontage is not municipal.
Get a written fee classification if the budget is anywhere near $20 million.

Common questions

Is Clinton Town a Film Ready certified community?

Yes. The State lists it as “Clinton Town” on the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission’s current certified-localities list, verified July 31, 2026. The Town adopted Chapter 75 on March 26, 2025 by Ordinance 25-01. Note that Clinton Township is a separate Hunterdon County municipality and is not the certified locality.

Do I need a permit for a very small shoot in Clinton?

Section 75-13 says the chapter does not apply to the filming of news stories, or to filming with a crew of four or fewer members. Section 75-1 defines crew as actors, extras, crew and all other persons participating in the filming, so performers count toward the four. Confirm how the Town applies that count, and note the exemption does not create parking rights or waive other Town rules.

How far ahead should I apply for a Clinton film permit?

Section 75-3B says no permit will be issued unless applied for prior to four days before the requested shooting date, and the Film Commission may waive that period where all related approvals are in hand and neighbours do not need notice. The chapter does not say whether those are calendar or business days, and the fee table uses four-or-more and three-or-fewer day bands, so file earlier and ask the Clerk how the count is applied.

How much is a Clinton film permit?

The basic permit is $100 with four or more days’ advance notice and $250 expedited with three or fewer days. Nonprofit and student films are $25 with no daily rate. Daily filming on public property is $150 for projects with a budget under $20M and $500 for projects over $20M. Filming on private property carries no municipal fee, and a street closure is $1,000.

What happens if the budget is exactly $20 million?

The fee table does not price it. It lists only “under $20M” and “over $20M”. Chapter 75 separately defines a major motion picture to include any film with a budget of at least $20,000,000. Obtain a written fee classification from the Town rather than reading one provision across the other.

Who approves a Clinton film permit?

This is genuinely unsettled in the public sources and this guide does not resolve it. Chapter 75 says a three-member Film Commission of the Mayor or designee, the Police Chief and the Municipal Clerk issues permits. The Town’s current Film Commission page instead describes the Mayor, the Police Chief and a Mayor-appointed Councilperson, and the Town-linked application shows only a Police Chief signature line, naming a different Chief than the page. Ask the Clerk for the current roster and signer in writing.

Should I file the film permit or the Special Event Request Form?

Ask the Town, in writing, before filing either. Chapter 75 creates a dedicated film permit issued by the Film Commission on a four-day route. The Town’s August 2025 Special Event Request Form separately says filming, street closures and use of public property or rights-of-way must be submitted to the Clerk and placed on a Council agenda. The two instructions are not reconciled in the public sources, and a Council agenda is a very different timeline.

What insurance does Clinton require?

More than most New Jersey towns. Section 75-3E requires $1,000,000 each occurrence for bodily injury and property damage, $1,000,000 personal injury, $1,000,000 products and completed operations, $5,000 medical payments, a $2,000,000 general annual aggregate, $1,000,000 commercial automobile liability, statutory workers’ compensation with Part B limits of $100,000 / $500,000 / $100,000, and where applicable $1,000,000 professional liability and $1,000,000 liquor law liability. A $2,000 cash bond and a written indemnification are also required.

Official sources

Checked July 31, 2026 against Chapter 75 as adopted March 26, 2025, the Town Film Commission, Clerk and forms pages, the Town-linked application, the August 2025 Special Event Request Form and the State certified-localities list. Report a correction or updated permit requirement.

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Reviewed by Sam Moskowitz, producer & director of photography

This guide is researched and reviewed by Sam Moskowitz, a New Jersey-based producer and DP who runs BLL Films. Sam’s production and cinematography credits include work for Netflix, History Channel, Hulu, the NFL and Google. Every changing fact on this page carries a verification date; see how this site is researched for the full process.