Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
Navy helicopter pilot Mikie Sherrill is going Hollywood — East. On Tuesday, the Democratic candidate defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli by a wide margin in the New Jersey gubernatorial race. Among her future duties in tending to the Garden State will be oversight of its flourishing film and TV industry. Sherrill will have support. One key cabinet position will be whomever Sherrill selects to lead the the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). The appointee will have their hands full: outgoing CEO Tim Sullivan has been lauded for shepherding the state’s screen-production industry. Sullivan has announced he is following Governor Phil Murphy out the door at the end of 2025. Sullivan’s successor won’t be alone. For starters, he or she will be armed with some of the top TV and film incentives in the nation, crediting up to 40 percent of qualified expenses against taxes for productions that meet a series of minimum standards. The new NJEDA leader will also have Nick Day on their side. Day, the president of industry group Screen Alliance New Jersey (SANJ), began his post just last month. He’ll serve a two-year term at a time of major infrastructure construction: Netflix in Monmouth County and Paramount in Bayonne, are the two biggies with hammers already out. The Hollywood Reporter grabbed Day the day after Sherrill’s big win to get his industry’s perspective on — and expectations for — the new governor. Read the THR Q&A below. *** Can I start with your reaction to Mikie Sherrill’s win? Very excited about Mikie’s win last night, primarily because she’s certainly indicated her support directly to us. She came to meet with our board of directors, personally, her and her staff, and really made a commitment to the industry. Really, a big part of that is her commitment to growing the economy of New Jersey, and she recognizes that this industry is a big growth sector. There’s going to be over $600 million of production spending in New Jersey this year, numbers that can really move the needle. She’s also committed to creating jobs in New Jersey, and this industry certainly provides a broad spectrum of jobs — a lot of union jobs, a lot of very well-paying jobs where you don’t necessarily have to have a college degree. So, we really open up a lot of opportunities for job creation, and the small businesses that support the industry also reap the benefit. Would your answer have been different if Jack Ciattarelli won? The short answer is, “No,” it would not have been different — but I do think there may have been some nuanced difference to their approaches. We had Jack come to meet with us as well, and he also expressed strong support for the industry. He recognizes the economic benefit, and I really think there is bipartisan support — believe it or not, even in today’s environment — for economic growth, for job growth. And I think there is something to say about the fact that not only is the industry important from an art and cultural perspective, but it’s also really — at its basic framework — a manufacturing business, right? These production companies are manufacturing films and television shows. And if you’re Republican or Democrat, you want manufacturing in your state, because it creates jobs. It creates opportunities for businesses to grow and expand, and it’s good for the state. In terms of the nuanced differences, Governor Murphy and the first lady, they were the big proponents of the tax credit. They were the drivers of bringing Netflix and some other big studios to the state. I feel like there is less of a transition with the Democratic side staying in office — they should keep that momentum, and I think that will push the industry forward without any sort of kind of sidestepping, so to speak. While Jack would have been supportive, he may have made some changes at the film commission, for example, or other changes that he may have felt would be appropriate. Perhaps it would have been one step back to taking two steps forward, where Mikie may just take the three steps forward. I find that support for the film and TV industry in New Jersey uniquely has bipartisan support. Yeah, and maybe there’s something where we can use that to build some bridges, to bring some of the party representatives back together. To be thinking about the overall value that they can add to the state, and less about their their their individual parties’ hot-button issues. Was SANJ ever close to endorsing a candidate? That was something that we discussed and, really, because of the support that both candidates demonstrated to us and to our industry, we felt it really wasn’t appropriate to pick one over the other … they were going to really stand behind us. Whichever administration was going to take office, we felt we had their support, so we didn’t feel like an endorsement was appropriate. Tim Sullivan has said he will depart with Murphy. Do you know who will lead the NJEDA for Sherrill? Do not know that yet. Do not know that yet, no. Any rumblings Sullivan might change his mind and stick around for another Democratic governor? Tim stepping down is what’s out there publicly. I don’t have any inside information. California is playing catchup to states like New Jersey in terms of its own tax credits. Has their scrambling effort to offer improved incentives impacted your draw on feature films? Not really. I think California has some work to do, frankly, to catch up. We are losing more business, in my view, overseas than we are to other states, because they have more competitive tax incentives or other benefits, right? And I think really, as an industry, we need to be worried about bringing the production back to the U.S. where it belongs. Whether that means we have to get behind a federal tax incentive, potentially, or we really need to convince the production companies that, you know, maybe it’s OK to not go to the location that is absolutely the lowest budget spot to shoot? And maybe it’s OK to stay in the U.S. to support all of the benefits of keeping the jobs and the business here in states, kind of where it belongs. So, I think we really need to address that. I don’t view California as, like, a competitive state, and we’re worried about losing business back there. I would love to see California come back in a very robust way. I’ve got family, friends and colleagues there. I would love to see them all back at maximum capacity, and I feel like a rising tide lifts all boats. We really wouldn’t be losing the work, we would just get the benefit of the growth there, and they would want to shoot more in New York and New Jersey because they’re making more money and making more films. Do you support tariffs on overseas film production as a way to keep shoots in the states? We do not support tariffs. We’re actively supporting tax incentives to keep the productions here. It’s different, but not the kind of a negative approach of the tariffs. So, we do believe there’s a way to make that happen, and we’re actively promoting that in Washington, D.C. in addition to the work that we’re doing here in the state of New Jersey. How do you view New Jersey film’s working relationship with New York? Is it more collaboration or rivalry? I think it’s a very positive relationship. There might be a little bit of competition there. We are working together on really making this whole region the global production hub — that includes New York and New Jersey. [My company] Edge Auto, for example, like many other members of SANJ and other companies in our area, we’ve got offices in New York to support the productions in New York and we have offices in New Jersey to support our clients in New Jersey. There are a lot of companies across a lot of industries that can say that. So, there’s a healthy competition, but it’s a friendly one and I think it’s good for the industry. If New York tweaks its tax credit to make it a little more attractive, we can go to Trenton and ask them to do the same. We have various ways to compete. If it takes two years in New York to get paid and it takes one year in New Jersey to get paid, well, that’s meaningful to people. It maybe moves a production to New Jersey. If New York tightens that up and makes it a year, that’s good for for the industry and for bringing people to New York, and a lot of productions that come to New York come across the river (to New Jersey) for some shoots. In the first half of 2025, New Jersey ranked fourth in production spend behind only California, New York and Georgia. Have projections been done about those rankings once Netflix Fort Monmouth and Paramount at 1888 are up and running? If it has, I’m not aware of it. The way I view those big, kind of mega-studios coming to New Jersey, is that the future looks very, very bright. They’re not up and running now, as you said, they’re a couple years away from, you know, full-on production. They’re going to be bringing a lot of productions in before they have the studios up and running, which is fantastic for the state. But I think, really, what that shows me is that this is not just a, you know, come in and get the tax credit and leave-type of situation. New Jersey is really establishing itself as a production hub with jobs and infrastructure and talent. Everything that you need to build a longterm, stable production ecosystem is here in New Jersey now, and the fact that these big players are just now building these huge complexes, it really is a sign that the future is very bright. You have Netflix actively building, Paramount locking in the anchor-tenant position of 1888 and Lionsgate committed to Newark — do you expect Warners, Universal, Sony, Fox to all follow? I’m confident that’s going to happen — there’s going to be other ones, for sure. And there is a very, very robust environment for independent filmmakers in New Jersey. These aren’t productions with, you know, a few hundred-thousand-dollars of budget. Some of these independent films have tens of millions of dollars at their disposal. We’re certainly going to see a lot of independent films, but I do believe that we’re going to see some of the other bigger players planting flags in New Jersey. I just can’t name any names at this point — I don’t want to get ahead of any public disclosures. And we definitely have the space for all? There’s no question about it, whether it’s moving into an empty lot and doing a build from the ground up — there’s room for that. Refurbishing spots like 1888 and what Netflix is doing probably the best thing to happen for the state, because you can put some old properties to use in a productive way. That will be Plan A. But there’s certainly a lot of opportunities across the state. The focus of a lot of what’s happening now is North Jersey and [Central NJ], but there’s a lot of room to grow in South Jersey as well. So I certainly don’t think that the space is going to be a problem. I think the communities would love to see new businesses coming in that are creating jobs and and bringing all the ancillary benefits of having these businesses in your area — more business for the restaurants, the hotels, the coffee shops, the dry cleaners. They’re all getting the benefit of having these players coming into their areas. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
