Lights out: New Jersey’s budding film industry takes a hit

New Jersey has had a budding film industry over the past two years, but the coronavirus has put a halt to any production happening in the Garden State.
The executive director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission says that the state went from having a blockbuster year to a shutdown.
“Last year we had revenue from production exceed $400 million,” says Steven Gorelick.
New Jersey filmmakers Adam Ambrosio and Jamison Locascio say that they are making the most of their time in self-isolation.
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“We have quite a good amount of time in quarantine to do all the editing and the music,” says Ambrosio.
The pair says that they are editing their third feature while staying in.
“You definitely feel life seeps in. And it seeps into sometimes the creativity, so we sometimes have to try to block that out,” Locascio says.
Movie-making in New Jersey was all but dormant until 2018 when tax credits for filming were reinstated. New Jersey then became home to highly acclaimed films like “Joker.” Production was underway for Steven Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story.”