New Campaign Underway To Market South Jersey As Premier Destination For Film, TV Production
PAULSBORO, N.J. (CBS) -- Lights, camera, action. There is a new campaign to market South Jersey as a premier destination for film and television production.
Believe it or not, Hollywood is coming to South Jersey.
"Lights, camera, action. This is South Jersey and boy, are we proud to showcase it," Gloucester County Deputy Director Heather Simmons said.
Simmons welcomed those assembled at the launch event for the South Jersey Film Office Cooperative.
"The thought was we pull together counties, we pull together towns for one-stop, front porch of this whole region," Hill Studio managing partner John Burzichelli said.
Here's essentially what that means and how it will work.
"So if you're a producer from out of state and you have an interest in locations, you'll be able to hit our portal and you'll have a selection of every municipality in every county and who to contact," Burzichelli said. "And then we'll have a liaison set up and ambassador to help people approach the region."
It also provides filmmakers an ideal alternative to working in the much more expensive New York City market.
"Even if you compare us to North Jersey, we're a lot cheaper down here as far as labor and real estate and it's easier to get around," Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said. "We think we have an edge."
The launch event for this new cooperative was held here at the Hill Theater in Paulsboro.
"South Jersey can stand-in for a lot of locations between the beaches and the farms and the wineries and the battleship and the jail," Simmons said. "There are a lot of different types of assets here and it can stand-in for other locations."
Drawing film and TV production to South Jersey would help spur local economies, create jobs and opportunities and maybe -- just maybe -- give the next Steven Spielberg or Ava DuVernay their big break.