This program allocates New Jersey film tax credits to qualified Film-Lease Production Companies that work through designated Film-Lease Partner Facilities.

Film-Lease Production Companies (FLPC) must commit to lease or occupy a production facility in a designated NJ Film-Lease Partner Facility and shoot at least 50% of the total principal days in NJ.

A Film-Lease Partner Facility (FLPF) is a production facilities whose owner, developer, or operator committed to build, lease, or operate a production facility of at least 250,000 SF for no less than five years. Only three New Jersey production facilities can receive this designation under the program.

If FLPF has a temporary or final certificate of occupancy, a FLPC shall satisfy one of the following two criteria:

• The film production company shoots at least 50 percent of the total principal photography shoot days of the project within New Jersey at the New Jersey film-lease partner facility; or
• The qualified film production expenses of the project for all services performed and goods used or consumed at the New Jersey film-lease partner facility and payments made for the use of the New Jersey film-lease partner facility equal or exceed 33 percent of the total qualified film production expenses of the project.

If the FLPF does not have a temporary or final certificate of occupancy, a film production company shall have entered a lease or sublease with the owner or developer of a New Jersey film-lease partner facility, which lease, or sublease is for not less than three years of occupancy of the New Jersey film-lease partner facility and includes at least 36,000 square feet of soundstage space. The film production company shall have executed a contract with the owner or developer of the New Jersey film-lease partner facility to provide production services for films produced by the film production company in New Jersey prior to the New Jersey film-lease partner facility’s receipt of a temporary or final certificate of occupancy.

Hiring Bonus: a 4% bump on all qualified expenses if applicants submit an approved hiring plan outlining goals, including the intention to prioritize the hiring no less than 25% of employees (excluding independent contractors) working in New Jersey who are residents of an economically disadvantaged area in the State, a distressed municipality as that term is defined in N.J.S.A. 34:1B-323, or land owned by the federal government on or before December 31, 2005.

Promote NJ Bonus: a 4% bump on all qualified expenses for submitting a plan outlining specific goals to promote or invest in New Jersey by completing no less than four of the available seven statutory criteria. These criteria include, but are not limited to, establishing or supporting film industry workforce development programs or recruiting programs, or providing promotional material for use by the Authority. 

Note: bonuses are capped at 5%. If a production satisfies the eligibility criteria for both bonuses, the maximum bonus for which they can qualify is 5%.

Interested companies that satisfy all eligibility criteria for the Film-Lease Partner Facility designation may submit an application online through the NJEDA’s application portal.

Production companies interested in becoming a Film-Lease Partner Production Company may also apply online and should include in their application all components listed on the Film-Lease Production Company Film Tax Credit Documentation Checklist.

*Above-the-line (ATL) wages and salary capped at $750,000 per person to determine excess caps below.

Depending on the amount of qualified film production expenses involved in each submitted project, a film-lease production company is able to capture additional Above-the-line (ATL) wage and salary expenses in its award calculation as follows:

• For a film-lease production company that incurs less than $50 million in qualified film production expenses, they can include up to $15 million in ATL wage and salary expenses as qualified per project.
• For a film-lease production company that incurs $50 million or more in qualified film production expenses, can include up to $60 million in ATL wage and salary expenses as qualified per project.

FLPCs with a 3 year lease are able to capture additional expenses for out of state script costs and producer fees, story rights, insurance premiums, and rights fees as qualified costs.