Filming in New Providence, New Jersey
New Providence publishes a permit application and a nineteen-point conduct code but no fee schedule at all. The insurance limits are among the heaviest in Union County, and the Township’s own form names the wrong municipality as additional insured.
New Providence is Film Ready certified and has hosted real work, including the 2011 feature Win Win and, more recently, Netflix’s Big Mistakes. The paperwork is unusually explicit about behavior and unusually silent about price. Both facts are worth knowing before you call.
Information checked September 21, 2026
- County
- Union County
- Film Ready status
- Film Ready certified locality. Confirmed on the State’s published certified-localities list, read in full September 21, 2026.
- Controlling source
- The Township’s published Film Permit Application and its Filmmaker’s Code of Professional Responsibility
- Permit fee
- Not published. No fee schedule appears in the application or anywhere on the Township site as of September 21, 2026. Confirm with the Township before you budget
- Insurance
- Commercial general liability at $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 general aggregate, $2,000,000 products and completed operations, $1,000,000 personal and advertising injury; automobile liability $1,000,000; workers’ compensation as required
- Named insured
- The form as published asks for “the Township of Cranford” — a different municipality. Confirm the correct named insured in writing before your broker issues the certificate
- Police officers
- Hired through Jobs4Blue, 877.425.8330, at the production’s cost
- Conduct code
- A Filmmaker’s Code of Professional Responsibility of 19 tenets, signed as part of the application
- Credits
- Win Win (2011) and Netflix’s Big Mistakes
- Last verified
- September 21, 2026
No fee schedule is published. We checked the permit application and the whole Township site on September 21, 2026 and found no filming fees stated anywhere. That is not the same as free. Call and get the figure in writing.
Two things to send your broker early: the insurance stack is heavier than most of Union County, and the Township’s own form asks you to name the wrong municipality as additional insured.
The fee nobody publishes
Most Union County towns running the State model publish a fee schedule in the ordinance: $100 basic, $150 a day, and so on. New Providence publishes a permit application, a conduct code and a detailed insurance requirement, and no prices at all.
Do not infer the neighbors’ figures. Berkeley Heights, Fanwood and Warren all charge $100 and $150, and it would be easy to assume New Providence does too, but nothing published by the Township supports that. The honest answer is that the fee is not on the record, and the only way to get it is to ask the Township directly — both the permit fee and whether there is a daily rate on top.
This is a dated finding, not a permanent one. If the Township publishes a schedule after September 21, 2026, it supersedes what is on this page.
Insurance, and the name on the certificate
| Cover | Limit |
|---|---|
| Commercial general liability, each occurrence | $1,000,000 |
| General aggregate | $2,000,000 |
| Products and completed operations aggregate | $2,000,000 |
| Personal and advertising injury | $1,000,000 |
| Automobile liability | $1,000,000 |
| Workers’ compensation | As required by law |
The form names the Township of Cranford
The Film Permit Application as published asks the applicant to name “the Township of Cranford” as an additional insured. Cranford is a separate Union County municipality about twenty minutes away, and it has its own filming process.
This reads as a copy-paste defect in an official form rather than a real requirement. But a broker who follows the form literally will issue a certificate naming the wrong public entity, and that surfaces at the worst possible moment — on the day, at the location, with a crew standing around. Confirm the correct named insured in writing before the certificate is issued.
The conduct code, and why it is worth reading
New Providence asks filmmakers to sign a Filmmaker’s Code of Professional Responsibility, nineteen tenets long, as part of the application. It covers the ordinary neighborly things: crew parking, cable and equipment placement, meals and trash, noise, generator siting, returning a location to the condition you found it in, and how crew speak to residents.
It is short, and reading it is the cheapest way to learn what this Township will and will not tolerate on a residential street. A town that writes nineteen tenets about conduct is telling you where its complaints have come from.
Police officers through Jobs4Blue
Off-duty officers are hired through Jobs4Blue on 877.425.8330, at the production’s cost, rather than booked directly with the department. Treat that as a separate prep task with its own lead time, and ask the Township first whether your location and traffic plan actually requires officers before you book any.
What has shot here
Credits
New Providence has hosted real work, including the 2011 feature Win Win and, more recently, Netflix’s Big Mistakes.
Useful context rather than a promise: a town with credits has usually resolved the practical questions once already, which tends to show up as a faster and less surprised answer on the telephone.
Film Ready status
What Film Ready certification actually means for your shoot
Film Ready certification means the municipality has put a process in place and named someone to run it: a designated liaison, an adopted filming ordinance, a permit form, and a location inventory filed with the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission.
It does not mean filming is free, that a permit is optional, or that approval is automatic. Every requirement on this page still applies. What certification tends to buy you in practice is a faster answer and a person who has done this before.
New Providence is on the State’s certified-localities list, read in full on September 21, 2026. Note that certification does not require a published fee schedule, which is how a certified town can have this gap.
Practical production planning
- Two questions in the first call: what is the fee, and who exactly goes on the insurance certificate. Get both in writing.
- Send the insurance requirement to your broker before you do anything else. The $2,000,000 products-and-completed-operations line is not on a standard short-form production certificate.
- Read the nineteen tenets and brief your first AD on them, because they are the terms you are signing up to.
- Book Jobs4Blue early if officers are required, and confirm that they are before you do.
- If you are also scouting Summit or Berkeley Heights, price them separately. Summit in particular is far more expensive than anything nearby.
Common questions
How much does a film permit cost in New Providence, NJ?
New Providence does not publish a fee schedule. We looked in the permit application and across the Township website on September 21, 2026 and found no filming fees stated anywhere. That is not the same as free, and it is not safe to assume the neighboring towns' $100 and $150 figures apply. Call the Township and get the fee, and whether there is a daily rate, in writing before you commit a budget line.
What insurance does New Providence require for filming?
Commercial general liability at $1,000,000 per occurrence with a $2,000,000 general aggregate, $2,000,000 products and completed operations, and $1,000,000 personal and advertising injury; automobile liability at $1,000,000; and workers' compensation as required by law. That is a heavier stack than most of Union County asks for, so send the requirement to your broker early rather than assuming a standard production certificate will clear it.
Whose name goes on the New Providence insurance certificate?
Ask the Township, and get the answer in writing. The Film Permit Application as published asks the applicant to name “the Township of Cranford” as an additional insured. Cranford is a separate Union County municipality about twenty minutes away. This looks like a copy-paste defect in the form rather than a real requirement, but a broker who follows the form literally will issue a certificate naming the wrong public entity, and you will find out at the worst moment.
How do I hire police officers for a New Providence shoot?
Through Jobs4Blue, on 877.425.8330, at the production's cost. The Township routes off-duty officer hiring through that service rather than booking officers directly, so build the call into your prep schedule as a separate task with its own lead time. Ask the Township whether your specific location and traffic plan requires officers before you book them.
What is the Filmmaker's Code of Professional Responsibility?
A nineteen-point conduct code that New Providence asks filmmakers to sign as part of the permit application. It covers the ordinary neighborly things: where crew parks, how equipment and cable are placed, meal and trash discipline, noise, generator placement, returning locations to their prior condition, and how crew speak to residents. It is short, and reading it is the cheapest way to understand what this Township will and will not tolerate on a residential street.
Official sources
- OfficialNJ Motion Picture & Television Commission, Film Ready certified localities
- MunicipalTownship of New Providence
Checked September 21, 2026 against the official municipal sources listed above. Report a correction or updated permit requirement.
Planning a production in New Jersey?
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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.
More town production guides
Comparing municipalities? See every Film Ready town in New Jersey, or search a specific town’s published permit, fee and contact details in the New Jersey Film Permit Finder.