The film industry in New Jersey employed more than 8,500 people throughout 2023 – and that number is on the rise. Netflix is investing $1 billion to build its East Coast flagship production studio at Fort Monmouth, creating 1,500 industry jobs. Lionsgate is building a major studio in Newark, and 1888 Studios, the largest ground-up movie studio complex in North America, will soon call Bayonne home. It’s expected that by 2026, the motion picture industry in the state will amount to $1 billion per year and, by 2035, the industry will cross the multi-billion-dollar threshold. In recent years, the state has played host to a number of successful film and TV productions. According to the Motion Picture Association, New Jersey has seen $2.15 billion in wages through the film industry since 2020 – with more than 19,000 jobs created in the larger motion picture and television industry, including indirect and induced impact on local vendors. I recently spoke, via email, with Tim Sullivan, CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to get a sense of what lies ahead for his state in film and television production. Here is that conversation.