Features

Why New Jersey Is Quietly Becoming a Magnet for Filmmakers

Published

6 months ago

March 15, 2026

For decades, New Jersey has appeared on the big screen, from the gritty streets of Newark to the boardwalks of the Jersey Shore. But in recent years, the Garden State has experienced a renewed surge in film and television production, one that is turning the state into an increasingly attractive destination for filmmakers. While Hollywood and New York have traditionally dominated the industry, New Jersey is quietly building momentum as a hub for both independent and large-scale productions.

A major factor behind this resurgence is the state’s Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program, which was expanded in recent years to encourage more productions to shoot in New Jersey. The incentive offers tax credits to film, television, and digital media companies that choose to film within the state, helping offset production costs and making New Jersey competitive with other filming locations across the country.

Since the expansion of the program, production activity has grown significantly. Major studios and streaming platforms have taken notice, with projects from companies such as Netflix, Amazon Studios, and Apple TV+ filming throughout New Jersey. Large studio developments, including Netflix’s planned expansion at the historic Fort Monmouth property in Monmouth County, have further signaled the state’s growing role in the entertainment industry.

But it’s not just major studios benefiting from New Jersey’s filmmaking revival. Independent filmmakers are also finding the state to be an ideal place to produce projects. One reason is the incredible diversity of locations available within a relatively small geographic area. Filmmakers can move from urban cityscapes in Jersey City and Newark to quiet suburban neighborhoods, farmland, forests, or coastal towns in a matter of hours.

For independent productions working with tight schedules and budgets, that kind of accessibility can be invaluable.

Another key part of New Jersey’s growing film culture is its network of film festivals and local creative communities. Events like the Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park provide emerging filmmakers with opportunities to screen their work, meet collaborators, and connect with audiences. Festivals often serve as launching pads for independent films, helping directors gain recognition and industry attention.

The Garden State Film Festival, now more than two decades old, has become one of the most respected independent film festivals in the Northeast. Each year it draws filmmakers from across the country and around the world, all eager to share their stories with audiences along the Jersey Shore. Screenings take place across multiple venues in Asbury Park, transforming the city into a temporary gathering place for artists, producers, actors, and film fans.

Local colleges and film schools are also contributing to the state’s growing reputation. Students studying film, media, and digital production are increasingly staying in New Jersey after graduation rather than relocating to other cities. As more productions choose to shoot in the state, young filmmakers are finding opportunities closer to home.

All of these elements; tax incentives, diverse filming locations, supportive festivals, and a growing creative workforce, are combining to create a new era for filmmaking in New Jersey.

For audiences, the result is exciting: more films made in their own communities and more opportunities to experience independent cinema up close. And for filmmakers, New Jersey is proving that sometimes the best place to tell a story is right here in the Garden State

Related Topics:Entertainment Featured film

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A lifelong cinephile who haunts dark theaters and festival aisles, studying film as both art and cultural mirror.

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Features

Labor Day Weekend Isn’t Over: 5 Things to Do in Monmouth County Sunday and Monday

Published

1 week ago

September 5, 2026

Editorial Director

Labor Day weekend has already burned through Saturday, but Monmouth County still has plenty left on the calendar.

From local art and farmers markets to barbecue, horse racing and a little old-school country dancing, Sunday, September 6, and Labor Day Monday, September 7, still offer a solid excuse to get out of the house before summer unofficially signs off.

Here are five good options.

1. Browse Art in the Park in Long Branch

Long Branch turns West End Park into an outdoor art stop on Sunday with Art in the Park, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The free event is built around local artists, shopping and community, making it an easy daytime option for anyone already heading toward the Shore.

Where: West End Park, 607 Ocean Ave. North, Long Branch
When: Sunday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Admission: Free

This is probably the easiest event on the list to combine with lunch, a walk along the ocean or one last late-summer stop in Long Branch.

2. Spend Sunday Morning at Asbury FRESH

If your ideal Sunday involves coffee, local food and wandering through a market without much of a plan, head to downtown Asbury Park.

The Asbury FRESH Farmers & Makers Market returns to Press Plaza Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The market is now in its 13th year and brings together farmers, food vendors, artisans and independent makers. Organizers list room for more than 50 vendors at the market.

Where: Press Plaza, Asbury Park
When: Sunday, Sept. 6, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.

It also gives you a pretty good excuse to stick around Asbury afterward for the boardwalk, beach or an early dinner.

3. Go Big on BBQ at Monmouth Park

This is the heavyweight event of the weekend.

The BBQ & Craft Beer Festival continues Sunday and Monday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The track is advertising more than 40 craft beers, nearly 20 pitmasters and live music, with beer sampling from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $7, parking is free and children 12 and under are admitted free. The first race is scheduled for 12:50 p.m.

Sunday also includes free family activities from noon to 4 p.m., including pony rides, face painting, clowns and a bounce house.

Where: Monmouth Park, Oceanport Avenue, Oceanport
When: Sunday and Monday, Sept. 6–7, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

Barbecue, live racing and Labor Day at Monmouth Park is about as Jersey as the weekend gets.

4. Slow Things Down at Historic Walnford

For something completely different, Historic Walnford in Upper Freehold is offering a quieter Sunday afternoon.

The Monmouth County Park System will run gristmill demonstrations at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m., each lasting about 15 minutes. A free Music on the Porch program featuring an acoustic duo runs from 1 to 3 p.m.

Walnford sits at the heart of Crosswicks Creek Park and preserves more than two centuries of local history, including the historic mill, Waln family home and surrounding farmland.

Where: 62 Walnford Road, Upper Freehold
When: Sunday, Sept. 6
Admission: Free

If the Shore crowds have finally worn you out, this might be the antidote.

5. Finish Labor Day With Line Dancing in Red Bank

And if you’re still refusing to surrender summer by Monday evening, Red Bank has one more thing on the schedule.

Line Dancing on BroadWalk returns Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. in downtown Red Bank.

Bring the boots if you’ve got them. If not, confidence will probably do.

Where: BroadWalk, downtown Red Bank
When: Monday, Sept. 7, 7–9 p.m.

It’s a fun, low-key way to close out a three-day weekend before Tuesday morning brings everyone abruptly back to reality.

Summer Gets One More Day

Labor Day always feels a little strange at the Jersey Shore. The calendar still says summer, the beaches are still there and the weather often hasn’t gotten the memo, but school, football and fall are already knocking at the door.

So maybe don’t pack everything away just yet.

There’s still time for one more farmers market, one more afternoon outside, one more plate of barbecue and, apparently, one more chance to line dance in the middle of Red Bank.

Summer can wait until Tuesday.

Celebrity

From the Jersey Shore to the DJ Booth: Pauly D Is Still Having One Big Party

Published

3 weeks ago

August 22, 2026

Jersey Javelin

Pauly D figured out something most reality stars never do. He didn’t run from the show that made him. He took the party with him.

More than 15 years after MTV introduced the world to Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio and that unforgettable blowout, the Rhode Island native is still one of the most recognizable faces from Jersey Shore. What sets him apart is that the fame didn’t turn into a punchline or a cautionary tale. It turned into a real touring career that shows no signs of slowing down in 2026.

The Party Never Stopped

In a recent interview, Pauly described his live shows the only way that makes sense: one giant party. Coming from him, that’s not surprising. What’s impressive is that people are still lining up for it.

He’s currently working clubs and venues across the country—Las Vegas, Boise, Salt Lake City, and more—with a New York date locked in for October 9 at The Rooftop at Pier 17. He doesn’t just show up with a fixed playlist and hit play. He reads the room and adjusts in real time. That ability separates the guys who had a moment from the ones who can still hold a crowd years later.

Reality TV got him in the door. The rest has been pure entertainment.

From Catchphrase to Career

When Jersey Shore hit in 2009, few would have bet on which cast members would still be working nearly two decades later. Pauly had an advantage most of them didn’t: he was already a DJ. The show didn’t invent a career for him—it amplified the one he already had. The larger-than-life energy, the crowd sense, the willingness to lean into the chaos all translated cleanly from the house to the booth.

The joke became the brand. The brand became a business.

Today he still appears on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation while keeping a steady DJ schedule and releasing new music, including the 2026 single “Lost” with Capri Everitt. More tracks are on the way. That’s a long runway for something that could have easily faded into a very specific piece of late-2000s nostalgia.

Still Jersey, Even in Vegas

Yes, he was born in Rhode Island. The letters can stay in the drawer.

Jersey Shore permanently linked Pauly, Snooki, The Situation and the rest of them to a particular version of Shore culture—exaggerated, loud, and impossible to ignore. Whether people from New Jersey loved it or hated it, the rest of the world met that version through the cast. Pauly understood the assignment better than most. He never tried to distance himself from the character audiences connected with. He owned it, laughed with it, and kept moving without rewriting the past.

There’s a clean simplicity to that approach.

One Big Party

Pauly is 46. The hair still holds. The crowds still show up. The booth isn’t going anywhere.

His path offers a quiet lesson about sudden fame. Getting through the door is one thing. Staying relevant after the cameras leave requires giving people something they’re still willing to pay for. Pauly found his thing—or maybe it was always his thing.

A lot has changed since those early summers on the Shore. His basic deal with the audience hasn’t:

Show up. Turn the music up. Have a good time.

Sometimes the simplest model is the one that lasts.

Editorial

Is the Jersey Shore Becoming Too Expensive for the Families Who Built It?

Published

1 month ago

August 5, 2026

Shannon

For generations, a trip “down the Shore” has been more than a vacation.

It’s a tradition.

The same beach house every summer. The same pizza on the boardwalk. The same miniature golf course where the kids insist on keeping score, even though no one remembers who won last year.

For many families in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, these rituals have become part of the family story.

But this week, a viral social media video reignited a question many have quietly been asking for years:

Has the Jersey Shore become too expensive for the very families that helped make it what it is?

The discussion began after a Philadelphia mother shared that her family spends roughly $10,000 each year to rent a Shore house. That figure, she explained, doesn’t include groceries, beach badges, gas, restaurant meals, or many of the other expenses that come with a week at the beach. Her comments drew thousands of reactions from people who questioned whether the cost could possibly be justified.

Some commenters suggested that for the same money, families could travel to Europe or spend a week at a Caribbean resort.

Others immediately pushed back.

Because to many Shore families, they argued, that’s missing the point.

You don’t come to the Jersey Shore because it’s the cheapest vacation.

You come because it’s your vacation.

You return to the same streets where your parents pushed your stroller. You stop at the same ice cream stand. You wave to neighbors you’ve only seen one week each summer for the last twenty years. Your children grow up with friends they may only see during that single week in July.

That kind of tradition is difficult to put a price on.

Still, the financial reality is impossible to ignore.

Research released earlier this summer found that the overall cost of a Jersey Shore vacation has risen by more than 11 percent compared with last year, while weekly rental prices in several popular Shore towns increased dramatically. Rising property values, insurance costs, taxes, fuel prices, and everyday expenses have all contributed to the increase.

For many working families, that means difficult decisions.

Do you shorten the trip?

Stay farther from the beach?

Skip dinners out?

Or simply decide that this is the year you don’t come at all?

These aren’t just economic questions.

They’re cultural ones.

The Jersey Shore has never belonged exclusively to one income group. Its identity has been built by firefighters, teachers, nurses, police officers, tradesmen, small business owners, retirees, and families who planned all year for one special week together.

That accessibility has always been part of its charm.

At the same time, Shore communities face their own financial pressures. Property owners contend with rising insurance premiums, maintenance costs, labor shortages, and increasing property taxes. Many rental rates reflect those realities rather than simple profit. It’s a balancing act between keeping family traditions alive and covering the real costs of owning property along one of the most desirable stretches of coastline in the country.

Perhaps the better question isn’t whether the Jersey Shore has become “too expensive.”

It’s whether we can preserve the traditions that made it special while ensuring future generations still have the opportunity to experience them.

Because the Shore has never been just about the beach.

It’s about grandparents teaching grandchildren how to catch a wave.

It’s about late-night walks on the boardwalk.

It’s about watching the sunrise with a cup of coffee before everyone else wakes up.

Those memories have always been the true value of a Jersey Shore vacation.

And if those traditions begin slipping out of reach for ordinary families, New Jersey risks losing something far more valuable than a week’s rental income.

It risks losing a piece of its identity.