Latest / Jersey Arts Podcast / Movie Magic in the Garden State: Jon Crowley Talks Filmmaking in NJ

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Movie Magic in the Garden State: Jon Crowley Talks Filmmaking in NJ · Jersey Arts Podcast

• 0:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This is Gina Marie Rodriguez, and you're listening to the Jersey Arts Podcast.
• 0:07
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: For those of you who've been on this ride with me for a while now, you may have noticed one of my secret tells the more grammatical errors I make and words I stumble through, the more giddy I am to be talking to my guest.
• 0:20
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You'll note that during the episode, as a creative myself and an independent filmmaker, I have once again found myself fangirling over an interviewee.
• 0:30
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This time it was Mr Jon Crowley, the recently appointed executive director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, under the purview of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
• 0:42
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: What a mouthful.
• 0:44
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Prior to joining the NJEDA, crowley worked within the television industry for over two decades, producing and directing several well-known television series, including Impractical Jokers, house Hunters, international Big Brother Trading Spouses and many more.
• 1:02
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: He also just so happens to be a two-time Emmy Award winner and a Cable Ace Writing nominee.
• 1:08
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: He now serves as the senior leader of all of New Jersey's film initiatives, leading both the NJEDA's film sector development work as well as the management of the NJMPTVC.
• 1:20
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So many acronyms, so little time.
• 1:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If you're a filmmaker or just considering joining the industry, this is one episode you won't want to miss, and if you simply love movies and the behind the scenes that make them possible, this one's for you too.
• 1:35
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So stay tuned to meet Jon Crowley and learn just how impressive Jersey is when it comes to making movie magic.
• 1:42
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So how are you today?
• 1:45
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Let's start with that.
• 1:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: How are you doing?
• 1:47
  Jon Crowley: I am good, I am good, thank you.
• 1:51
  Jon Crowley: Thank you, gina, for having me on your show.
• 1:54
  Jon Crowley: I appreciate it, thank you.
• 1:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Of course, I'm excited to talk to you.
• 1:57
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: First, I just I want to learn a little bit more about you, because you've been in this industry for what?
• 2:02
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Over 20 years, let's say.
• 2:05
  Jon Crowley: Oh gosh, even longer, like 30 years.
• 2:08
  Jon Crowley: Yeah, I started life as an editor my very first show.
• 2:12
  Jon Crowley: I got hired as a PA production assistant on the Academy Awards, made friends with the editors because I had an editor's reel and I thought that would probably, that would likely, be my entree into the business.
• 2:25
  Jon Crowley: My first job, real paying job, would be as a cutter, as they say in editor.
• 2:29
  Jon Crowley: And sure enough, one of the editors came to me about two weeks into my job and he's like, kid, I'm going home, I'm not feeling well, he's like.
• 2:38
  Jon Crowley: But I got to cut a piece and it was for what they call a nom package, a nomination package for Randy Newman, for I Love to See you Smile was the song that was nominated for an Academy Award.
• 2:50
  Jon Crowley: He said you cut it and he goes, I'll come and look at it in the morning and if it's any good I'll show the boss and if he likes it I'll tell him you did it.
• 2:58
  Jon Crowley: And he said and if he doesn't like it I'll say I was feeling sick and went home and I didn't do a very good job.
• 3:04
  Jon Crowley: So I edited Gina from six o'clock at night when I was off work technically, and I cut all the way until six o'clock in the morning, ran home, took a shower, didn't get any sleep, came back to work the next day at eight o'clock in the morning and uh, of course I was on pins and needles because the editor was in the meeting with the executive producer and he came back out and he goes.
• 3:29
  Jon Crowley: Well, the boss liked it, he goes, that's the good news, he goes.
• 3:33
  Jon Crowley: I got a couple notes for you and then from that day on I was hired as an editor on the Academy Awards and that begat like I think six or seven years of editing of editing before I say more into writing and directing, and then became a showrunner, created and developed and basically bought a series called Impractical Jokers and I was the executive producer on the pilot and then continued on producing it for its first season.
• 4:17
  Jon Crowley: And then, when COVID hit, I decided to hang my own shingle, started my own company and with my business partner we developed, created, sold, optioned 11 different series and the last one we did was a show called Breaking the Ice which was about an all-female, all-diverse, competitive ice skating team and we sold that to AMC and it's on All Black still streaming.
• 4:43
  Jon Crowley: So that's the production side.
• 4:45
  Jon Crowley: And then I'm in my third term as a councilman and a police commissioner here in New Jersey, so I sort of straddle both worlds of government and production.
• 4:55
  Jon Crowley: And that's how I wound up at the film commission, where our job is letting everybody know how great New Jersey is, so we get more production here.
• 5:04
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Wow, that is a heck of an origin story and you did such a great job of just like surmising everything.
• 5:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That was amazing, well done.
• 5:11
  Jon Crowley: Short and to the point That'll fit in the summary there for your listeners on your podcast.
• 5:17
  Jon Crowley: When you say what's this episode about, you know what.
• 5:20
  Jon Crowley: That's from years of learning how to pitch a show right.
• 5:23
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Exactly, and so now.
• 5:25
  Jon Crowley: I've gone from Gina.
• 5:26
  Jon Crowley: I've gone from pitching TV shows and trying to sell them to now I'm pitching an entire state.
• 5:31
  Jon Crowley: It's the faces have changed on the poster and now it's our workforce.
• 5:36
  Jon Crowley: It's our experienced workforce, it's our huge variety of locations that we have in the state in a geographically compact space, of locations that we have in the state in a geographically compact space, and our great film commission that's as hands-on as you want us to be in terms of your filmmaker.
• 5:54
  Jon Crowley: And you need a location packer.
• 5:54
  Jon Crowley: You need to help us, help you with interfacing with like Department of Transportation or Department of Labor right, we do all that stuff.
• 5:59
  Jon Crowley: And then it's our infrastructure.
• 6:02
  Jon Crowley: We've got this fantastic infrastructure of motion picture cameras or lighting gear or sound gear or sound stages.
• 6:10
  Jon Crowley: You really don't need to go across the river for anything like you might have.
• 6:16
  Jon Crowley: Just a few years ago, we had this big thing called the NJ Film Expo May 1st at the Meadowlands Arena, and the tagline on it was like whatever your production needs, new Jersey's got you covered.
• 6:27
  Jon Crowley: So we literally have everything you need.
• 6:30
  Jon Crowley: So you start in our tax incentives.
• 6:32
  Jon Crowley: We've got some of the best tax incentives anywhere and that's the big door opener to get people interested in finding out about New Jersey.
• 6:40
  Jon Crowley: So they get here because they're like the tax incentives are great.
• 6:43
  Jon Crowley: So the governor and the legislators both sides of the aisle, by the way, both sides of the aisle in Trenton major support for it.
• 6:51
  Jon Crowley: So people come here, they're interested in that, and then they find out all these other things that we offer in New Jersey that most other states can't even come near.
• 7:00
  Jon Crowley: And then what I always say is like why would you say no to New Jersey?
• 7:04
  Jon Crowley: Like why, why would you say no when we've got everything covered here?
• 7:07
  Jon Crowley: So I've just gone from pitching TV shows down pitching this great state that's been my home for 18 years and more and more people are discovering and that's why we're getting busier and busier.
• 7:19
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I think that's amazing.
• 7:20
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It sounds like you were the right hire, because to have that skill set is pivotal.
• 7:25
  Jon Crowley: So you're in it.
• 7:26
  Jon Crowley: It's easy, Gina, it's easy.
• 7:28
  Jon Crowley: The state sells itself.
• 7:30
  Jon Crowley: Oh yeah, oh yeah.
• 7:32
  Jon Crowley: Well, the state does sell itself, I will say that so if anybody in Trenton is listening, it's really hard and I'm doing my best.
• 7:38
  Jon Crowley: No, no, no, no, no.
• 7:40
  Jon Crowley: The state is the state it is.
• 7:42
  Jon Crowley: It really is.
• 7:43
  Jon Crowley: It's an easy sell when you think about all the things that I just talked about.
• 7:47
  Jon Crowley: Again, I ask the question why would anybody say no?
• 7:51
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Oh, I'm with you, but I'm biased because I'm from New Jersey, born and raised been here my whole life.
• 7:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So I'm with you.
• 7:57
  Jon Crowley: I think it's an easy sell, but I Are you North Jersey, Central Jersey or South Jersey person?
• 8:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I am Central Jersey and I've been saying it since before they established the official Central Jersey.
• 8:09
  Jon Crowley: Well, we know.
• 8:10
  Jon Crowley: I mean, when I moved here I learned very quickly don't you dare say, that there's no Central Jersey and that's where Netflix is coming.
• 8:47
  Jon Crowley: You know a lot of jobs for crew that live in Monmouth County to be so close, and I remember, honestly, when I moved here gosh, all my contacts are on the West Coast and I've seen over 18 years more TV, more film coming here, and certainly in the last few years with what the governor and what our legislators have done in Trenton, with the incentives like more and more and more and more, and then that's a big part of the job of the commission is we just go bang on doors and to the networks and studios and say this is everything that's going on, Because you can't ever assume that people know Right.
• 9:14
  Jon Crowley: A lot of people think Jersey looks like the opening credits to the Sopranos.
• 9:19
  Jon Crowley: Yeah, and we know as residents.
• 9:21
  Jon Crowley: Oh, no, no, no, no, no Way more than that.
• 9:24
  Jon Crowley: So if you want a little Mayberry, rfd-looking small town, got it, but guess what, Only 30 minutes away there's probably a big city.
• 9:34
  Jon Crowley: You want mountains with snow or you want a beach, the ocean, got that too, and that can be.
• 9:40
  Jon Crowley: That's only 90 minutes away.
• 9:41
  Jon Crowley: Some days, with traffic, ninety minutes it'll take you just to go.
• 9:45
  Jon Crowley: You know, crosstown and a little Island across the river, right, so you can get all sorts of different looks.
• 9:52
  Jon Crowley: Queen Anne, victorian homes, one block away from a mid-century ranch, right, so that's, that's a big draw when you've got a script with a lot of different needs for looks, different looks.
• 10:04
  Jon Crowley: Everything's here.
• 10:05
  Jon Crowley: All these looks exist, and so it's just really spreading the word about that stuff.
• 10:10
  Jon Crowley: Happy Gilmore, biggest spend in the state, and they shot for over 60 days and they spent are you ready?
• 10:19
  Jon Crowley: $152 million throughout New Jersey.
• 10:23
  Jon Crowley: Crazy had 6,000 crew hires, spent $18 million alone on location fees.
• 10:32
  Jon Crowley: So those golf courses right, and it was.
• 10:35
  Jon Crowley: I'm trying to think how much money do they spend on extras?
• 10:40
  Jon Crowley: It was a huge.
• 10:41
  Jon Crowley: Here it is, I can tell you.
• 10:42
  Jon Crowley: It was a huge.
• 10:43
  Jon Crowley: Here it is, I can tell you.
• 10:44
  Jon Crowley: So.
• 10:45
  Jon Crowley: 1,600 jobs on Hapig Gilmore.
• 10:46
  Jon Crowley: Their average daily spend was over $2.3 million per day and their budget for extras was $6 million and their location fees were $18 million.
• 10:58
  Jon Crowley: So when you see a house or a store or those golf courses, they were all making a lot of money.
• 11:07
  Jon Crowley: And they spent $1.2 million on hotels for their crew as they're moving all around the state.
• 11:10
  Jon Crowley: So that's why we do it.
• 11:13
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yeah, those numbers are really impressive.
• 11:15
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I think you nailed why it's important to the state's economy.
• 11:18
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Just with all of those numbers right there, how helpful one film could be.
• 11:24
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: And now imagine when we have multiple films filming in the state.
• 11:27
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's so impressive.
• 11:29
  Jon Crowley: One last piece of Jersey pride is that you know our goal on the Film Commission is to make us the third largest production hub in the United States, behind LA and New York.
• 11:41
  Jon Crowley: La and New York and I can tell you we went from $592 million in that qualified spend in 2023 to last year, 2024, $810 million.
• 11:53
  Jon Crowley: So that's a 37% increase.
• 11:55
  Jon Crowley: And you can look around the rest of the country LA was down, new York was flat, georgia was down, texas was down, louisiana was down, toronto was down.
• 12:07
  Jon Crowley: Of the top 10, you know major production hubs, we were the only one, I think, that was up and that's not by mistake, because the word is getting out that we have all these great assets that you know filmmakers want to come and take advantage of and put to use.
• 12:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Absolutely.
• 12:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's amazing.
• 12:23
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Did you say what our ranking was?
• 12:25
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Do you know what our ranking was behind?
• 12:29
  Jon Crowley: Some of the figures are still coming out from other states.
• 12:32
  Jon Crowley: I think we're going to I don't know, it's maybe a tie for three or four.
• 12:39
  Jon Crowley: I don't think we're below four, but our goal is to become the third largest production hub in the United States and I think we're within just a couple of years of achieving that goal.
• 12:49
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yeah, I hope so.
• 12:50
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, hey, I'm happy with top five.
• 12:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Like if you're saying we're in the top five, I already feel good about it.
• 12:55
  Jon Crowley: Well, let me see if I can do better for you, if we can do better for you, if the state can do better, I think we can.
• 13:01
  Jon Crowley: You know, the New Jersey Film Expo that we had May 1st in Meadowlands was a great gathering.
• 13:08
  Jon Crowley: It's the first time we've ever done it and the producing partner on that was Sanj, which is the Screen Alliance of New Jersey.
• 13:16
  Jon Crowley: Fantastic people, those are owners and operators within our infrastructure stage owners, grip, electric caterers, truck rentals, all that stuff, special effects, you name it and got them all under one roof.
• 13:29
  Jon Crowley: And it was really a way to be able to message out to the studios and networks Again, repeating that message whatever your production needs, Jersey's got you covered to showcase to them.
• 13:40
  Jon Crowley: You don't need to go anywhere else, you don't need to bring those things, we have them all here for you.
• 13:45
  Jon Crowley: And that it's really about team building, because you need all these different pieces, parts, to come together so we work efficiently and it's not just enough to get a studio or network to state.
• 13:56
  Jon Crowley: Once we wanted to keep coming back again and again and again because they had a great experience.
• 14:02
  Jon Crowley: We also have a thing called Film Ready, which is a certification program here in the state where a town, a municipality can come.
• 14:10
  Jon Crowley: They do a workshop that we put on and they assign a film liaison and they put together a film permit or ordinance or a code of conduct.
• 14:21
  Jon Crowley: Um, and we're.
• 14:28
  Jon Crowley: It's all about building consistency through the state so that if you are a studio or network you don't think of New Jersey as like, oh, there's 564 different municipalities, which means 564 different sets of rules, that if they go to a film ready town it's consistent.
• 14:41
  Jon Crowley: You're the turnaround time on your permits, the consistency and what it costs for a permit, all that stuff.
• 14:48
  Jon Crowley: And then as part of our workshop for our ambassadors, if you will, on the municipal side, it's sort of that.
• 15:01
  Jon Crowley: You remember the book what to Expect when Expecting, I say this is film ready is like what to expect when expecting a film production or TV production in your town.
• 15:05
  Jon Crowley: You know we walk you through these are the things to think about and to be, you know, clued in on when the circus moves into town for a week or a day or two or whatever.
• 15:17
  Jon Crowley: You know, when production moves in, this is what to expect.
• 15:20
  Jon Crowley: So it's again part of that team is like all of our elected officials and our municipal workers.
• 15:27
  Jon Crowley: They're ambassadors for their town, which then is their ambassadors for the whole state to showcase.
• 15:34
  Jon Crowley: You know why Jersey is so easy to work in?
• 15:38
  Jon Crowley: You know because we're here with open arms.
• 15:40
  Jon Crowley: We like it, it's fun, and there's the tourism side too.
• 15:43
  Jon Crowley: Right Is the tourism part of it is like we had an owner of a salvage yard and I forget the series Somebody, one of your listeners will totally understand this and they filmed the series at his salvage yard.
• 16:01
  Jon Crowley: Then the show started running and then fans were like can I come out and see your location?
• 16:05
  Jon Crowley: And to the point where he got a call and he said we want to do a weekend with cosplayers.
• 16:10
  Jon Crowley: And he said I had 500 people running around.
• 16:13
  Jon Crowley: They rented out my salvage yard.
• 16:15
  Jon Crowley: He goes I made some good money renting it out for all the cosplayers, for this group.
• 16:19
  Jon Crowley: And he said I started thinking about it and I'm like wait a minute, where are all these people staying and where are they eating?
• 16:24
  Jon Crowley: And he's like and I sort of extrapolated out and realized, wow, this is a lot of money in our little area, our town, here, from these 500 people that are spending the weekend.
• 16:34
  Jon Crowley: So you know, that's on the horizon.
• 16:37
  Jon Crowley: It's starting to happen already, but that's on the horizon too is the is the film tourism aspect of all this that people will see New Jersey on their favorite show or their favorite movie and they're going to say, I want to go see it, you know, and we'll get that business too.
• 16:52
  Jon Crowley: So it's pretty incredible, right.
• 16:54
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It really is, and you just you were talking about fans and it makes me think like we're seeing this increased celebrity presence as well, now that we're kind of like aiming to become Hollywood East, right, adam Sandler was just in Westfield and I think that I most recently saw John Cena was in Bayonne.
• 17:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That was one of the sightings I saw online.
• 17:13
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It feels like the film version of Pokemon Go.
• 17:15
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You know, people are just excited that they caught one.
• 17:17
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I love that.
• 17:20
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I just love that people are getting excited, right, because for a long time, jersey tends to be like the butt of people's jokes, especially like on broadway.
• 17:27
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: They love making fun of of jersey.
• 17:29
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But now I feel like we're fighting back and it's finally becoming obvious to the rest of the world, or at least one thing, though.
• 17:37
  Jon Crowley: One thing I have to take issue with gina is I wouldn't say that Los Angeles is Fort Lee West, because the industry started here in Fort Lee at the turn of the last century, like in the 1910s, right.
• 17:58
  Jon Crowley: And here's the here's.
• 17:59
  Jon Crowley: The irony is, the reason why Hollywood exists is because Thomas Edison, you know, he invented some of the of the gear that you need to make motion pictures, cameras and things like that.
• 18:11
  Jon Crowley: He had a device called the Black Mariah.
• 18:14
  Jon Crowley: Well, the early filmmakers, the studio heads, didn't want to spend money on Edison's tax.
• 18:21
  Jon Crowley: It was a licensing fee, so basically a tax to use his gear.
• 18:25
  Jon Crowley: So they said we're just going to run away, as far away from Edison as we can.
• 18:30
  Jon Crowley: And when they hit the Pacific ocean they stopped, and that's where Hollywood began, right?
• 18:35
  Jon Crowley: So now, 110 years later, um, we're getting filmmakers to come back to the original home of where filmmaking began, and we're getting them here, as I said, you know, initially with the tax incentives and, of course, all the other stuff, but taxes scared them away and tax incentives are getting them back.
• 18:58
  Jon Crowley: So it's a real circle of life moment, I think, right.
• 19:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Absolutely.
• 19:02
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I like that.
• 19:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm stealing it.
• 19:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I will begin calling Go for it.
• 19:05
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It's yours, I'm going to thank you.
• 19:06
  Jon Crowley: I'm stealing it.
• 19:07
  Jon Crowley: I will begin calling Go for it, it's yours.
• 19:08
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm going to Thank you.
• 19:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I do appreciate the consent, though Big on that.
• 19:12
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Oh, I wanted to ask you your opinion you were talking about.
• 19:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You made your own film earlier for three million and I'm wondering what your advice, or maybe words of encouragement, would be to independent filmmakers who are working at like the micro micro budget level of, let's say, under 100,000, who might be a little bit trepidatious that these big studios are coming in and that prices may be inflating and they may not be able to afford to make their smaller independent works.
• 19:45
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Is there some way that you can soothe their fears?
• 19:51
  Jon Crowley: So great question and a whole bunch of different answers that I'll try to run through really fast, right?
• 19:56
  Jon Crowley: Because for one thing, let's just say, let me start at a little higher price point than, say, $100,000.
• 20:04
  Jon Crowley: The tax incentive program works in a way that if you spend a million dollars qualified spend, you're eligible for the tax incentive, or 60% of your budget.
• 20:18
  Jon Crowley: So it doesn't have to be a million dollars, it could be less than that.
• 20:22
  Jon Crowley: I think probably the If your budget is in the $250,000 range, you should be applying for a tax incentive and try to get some money back on your qualified spend.
• 20:35
  Jon Crowley: And those are businesses, again, that are registered to do business in New Jersey.
• 20:40
  Jon Crowley: Why do I say like $250,000?
• 20:42
  Jon Crowley: Because there is a fee of going to a CPA and having them do a report, so that does cost some money.
• 20:49
  Jon Crowley: Cpa and having them do a report, so that does cost some money.
• 20:53
  Jon Crowley: And so that's sort of the sweet spot of a budget to be able to afford a CPA but apply for the tax incentives, get some money back that you can apply towards maybe your next production or paying off a loan that you took out to make your film right.
• 21:04
  Jon Crowley: So there's that.
• 21:06
  Jon Crowley: The other part is the commission, for free, will do a script breakdown.
• 21:14
  Jon Crowley: If you've got your script, you can give it to us.
• 21:16
  Jon Crowley: We'll do a script breakdown and we'll give you a location packet and we'll show you all the locations that we think that we've got available to you to go then and negotiate location permit fee, all that fun stuff for your production.
• 21:31
  Jon Crowley: But we'll hand you that packet and say here's everything that we think is going to work for your production.
• 21:35
  Jon Crowley: That's free.
• 21:36
  Jon Crowley: You want us to sort of advise you on the permitting process, because we know what the permitting processes are in over 200 towns in the state, right, so we can walk you through that.
• 21:50
  Jon Crowley: Because that sometimes is when you're beginning your pre-production.
• 21:54
  Jon Crowley: You know your head is going to explode.
• 21:56
  Jon Crowley: You're like I don't even know where to go.
• 21:58
  Jon Crowley: What, who do I have to talk to?
• 22:00
  Jon Crowley: What do I have to do for the permitting?
• 22:01
  Jon Crowley: We can walk you through that.
• 22:03
  Jon Crowley: Also, if you have, say, child talent in your movies, we'll act as a liaison with Department of Labor to put you in the process for permitting for free, department of Transportation, state troopers, any of these other state agencies.
• 22:19
  Jon Crowley: We're happy to act as a liaison and put you in touch with the right people to talk to, to help your production free.
• 22:24
  Jon Crowley: So it doesn't matter if you're big budget or you're low budget or in between.
• 22:29
  Jon Crowley: We don't discriminate on any of that.
• 22:31
  Jon Crowley: And I'll tell you why.
• 22:32
  Jon Crowley: It's real simple Is the little projects that come through.
• 22:38
  Jon Crowley: They're filling the gaps in the calendar between the big giant productions, meaning they're renting from the rental houses their lighting gear and their grip gear.
• 22:48
  Jon Crowley: They're putting crew to work in between projects and the last two years independent filmmakers have amounted to like $50 million worth of production in the state.
• 22:58
  Jon Crowley: That's nothing to be sneezed at.
• 23:00
  Jon Crowley: So we support all projects, big or small, because they keep people busy and working at the rental houses and on the crew side, in terms of prices going up because there's more major productions coming into the state, you know wages are set.
• 23:17
  Jon Crowley: Everybody knows what you're paying cruise, but you know one size does not fit all.
• 23:24
  Jon Crowley: So you know a location fee doesn't stay the same for a small production that it does for a big one.
• 23:32
  Jon Crowley: And you know, look, there are plenty of non-union projects that are going on and people negotiating with the rates Our friends at IATSE and the Teamsters.
• 23:41
  Jon Crowley: They negotiate rates all the time depending on the budget.
• 23:44
  Jon Crowley: So people understand it's important to keep busy and nobody's budget is the same.
• 23:51
  Jon Crowley: The budgets are all over the place and so people are negotiating.
• 23:55
  Jon Crowley: But if you're a young filmmaker starting out and you're working, maybe, with a younger, less experienced crew, they all are hungry to get better and get more experience.
• 24:06
  Jon Crowley: So you know, with more and more production coming in, there are more and more people that are coming out of film school or that are just interested in getting into the business.
• 24:14
  Jon Crowley: Look, there's all sorts of trade schools, people that are welders and painters and carpenters that look at this industry coming into the state and they go.
• 24:23
  Jon Crowley: You know what?
• 24:23
  Jon Crowley: Maybe I want to pivot from painting houses or office spaces and get into production.
• 24:30
  Jon Crowley: So there's all sorts of people, different age ranges, that are saying this looks like a really interesting career that I'd like to pivot into and would be happy to work with, with younger filmmakers that need need people that want to work on on any size production.
• 24:48
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: To clarify does the commission work with non-union productions as well or only union productions?
• 24:55
  Jon Crowley: Anybody that comes to us and says I have a script, we'll take the script and we'll do that breakdown.
• 24:59
  Jon Crowley: It doesn't matter.
• 25:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: All right, that's awesome.
• 25:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, what I heard with all of that is that the project that I'm working on right now I want to hit that sweet spot of $250,000 for my budget.
• 25:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's what I'm going for.
• 25:11
  Jon Crowley: If the sweet spot for you is $250,000, it means you're obviously getting a couple more days of production so you can take time to really finesse your scenes or get that extra special location that you want.
• 25:24
  Jon Crowley: We all strive to get a bigger budget, don't we?
• 25:27
  Jon Crowley: We all want a bigger budget, you know.
• 25:29
  Jon Crowley: Look at Kevin Smith Now.
• 25:30
  Jon Crowley: That's 30 years ago, when he made the first clerks and I think the dollar amount was something like twenty five or twenty six thousand dollars.
• 25:38
  Jon Crowley: Don't quote me on it.
• 25:39
  Jon Crowley: It would probably take a little more to get that done today with inflation.
• 25:43
  Jon Crowley: But you know you can, it's.
• 25:46
  Jon Crowley: I taught directing at Marist University and I was like you're a student, you know you're new filmmakers.
• 25:53
  Jon Crowley: You're going to graduate, you know, next month or in a year, whatever.
• 25:56
  Jon Crowley: Get out, go be a producer and negotiate a great rate for a great location.
• 26:03
  Jon Crowley: People always want to help out somebody in an artistic um, you know venture.
• 26:07
  Jon Crowley: So, um, when I was a student, I was getting Panavision cameras for free, because these companies realize he's not always going to have a low budget.
• 26:19
  Jon Crowley: One day he's going to have a bigger budget and he's going to remember us that we gave him cameras for free.
• 26:25
  Jon Crowley: And you bet, the first time I had the budget that I could afford getting a Panavision camera.
• 26:30
  Jon Crowley: Of course I returned the favor.
• 26:32
  Jon Crowley: So people always love helping out others that are just starting out.
• 26:37
  Jon Crowley: So I think you'd be amazed at how much you can stretch a buck, whether it's a location you know or some piece of art direction or props or you know whatever, and crews are willing to work.
• 26:49
  Jon Crowley: You know to help somebody that if you've got a vision right and you you're thoughtful about it, you've planned it out, you've got your storyboards together and your your shot lists and all that, they know that you're really putting in the time because you're serious about it.
• 27:06
  Jon Crowley: They'll.
• 27:07
  Jon Crowley: They'll jump on board If you've got the creative vision and they believe in it and you can sell it to them the idea.
• 27:12
  Jon Crowley: There's no limit to how far you can go.
• 27:16
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Absolutely, and I think our listeners are learning just from hearing you speak what a skill it is to pitch this whole conversation.
• 27:25
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I feel like has been a masterclass for me at least.
• 27:29
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Maybe others listening agree with me, but I think you're wonderful.
• 27:33
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So, if you can't tell, I'm enamored with you.
• 27:35
  Jon Crowley: But I appreciate that.
• 27:36
  Jon Crowley: Thank you.
• 27:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But you're right.
• 27:38
  Jon Crowley: Gina, you're right, it's.
• 27:40
  Jon Crowley: Pitching is a is a topic that doesn't get discussed often enough.
• 27:45
  Jon Crowley: And if you, I would say to any of your, your listeners that are filmmakers, you really have got to know your project backwards and forwards.
• 27:54
  Jon Crowley: You have to think through all the angles.
• 27:56
  Jon Crowley: You have to be able to visualize your project.
• 27:58
  Jon Crowley: Who's in your cast, what are the scenes look like, what's the camera movement?
• 28:02
  Jon Crowley: You got to know it better than anybody else because then when you go in a room, you've got to be able to how do you pitch that?
• 28:08
  Jon Crowley: You go in a room, you've got to be able to, how do you pitch that you know, in 90 seconds or less, right and and be able to sell the vision and get somebody else excited about it.
• 28:17
  Jon Crowley: I literally the last show I did, the Breaking the Ice show I was at a conference, the elevator doors open.
• 28:23
  Jon Crowley: The president of a network was standing in the elevator that I knew and I said, oh my gosh, the exact guy I want to talk to.
• 28:33
  Jon Crowley: I said I have an idea for you.
• 28:35
  Jon Crowley: Well, here's that 20 times a day.
• 28:36
  Jon Crowley: And he said get in.
• 28:36
  Jon Crowley: And the elevator.
• 28:37
  Jon Crowley: I got in the elevator, the doors are closing, he goes.
• 28:40
  Jon Crowley: You have as long as it takes this elevator to get to the ground floor to pitch me your idea, and I was like.
• 28:46
  Jon Crowley: I was like, oh my gosh, this is truly an elevator pitch quite literally I I had to figure out okay, 90 seconds, how do I sell the show?
• 28:55
  Jon Crowley: and by the time the doors open and we walked out, he turned around, he looked at me and he said you get me the cast that I want.
• 29:03
  Jon Crowley: And he said and I will buy this show.
• 29:06
  Jon Crowley: And I was like, yeah, did, did it, honest to God.
• 29:10
  Jon Crowley: Elevator pitch.
• 29:11
  Jon Crowley: But why is that?
• 29:12
  Jon Crowley: That's not because I'm a great.
• 29:14
  Jon Crowley: I knew I had to do a great pitch.
• 29:15
  Jon Crowley: It was.
• 29:16
  Jon Crowley: I'd really spent a lot of time thinking about the project and my point is like when I was teaching up at Marist, I was floored at the students that would get up and didn't really believe in the idea and if you asked them a question, hadn't really thought about it.
• 29:32
  Jon Crowley: And so that's, you've got to be prepared.
• 29:35
  Jon Crowley: You've got to be prepared.
• 29:37
  Jon Crowley: You know how do I distill it.
• 29:39
  Jon Crowley: Who are the faces on the poster?
• 29:40
  Jon Crowley: So and I don't know if that's a lot of your audience, that are filmmakers and what have you but yeah, who are the faces on the poster and why do I care?
• 29:48
  Jon Crowley: And, more importantly, how am I going to market this?
• 29:50
  Jon Crowley: So, if I'm buying it, if I'm the studio or the network, how am I going to market.
• 29:55
  Jon Crowley: This and the other part of the equation is where am I putting it in my lineup and my current lineup?
• 30:01
  Jon Crowley: Because if it's too much of an outlier, I don't have a show that's going to be the lead in.
• 30:08
  Jon Crowley: And then how am I benefiting my show afterwards by your show?
• 30:10
  Jon Crowley: How am I building the audience for my next, my next half hour, my next hour?
• 30:15
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Right.
• 30:15
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean marketing is its own skill set.
• 30:17
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I've always said that, and you need to.
• 30:19
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You need to practice until you're comfortable with that skill as well.
• 30:23
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: And I don't know the the number of listeners who may also be filmmakers.
• 30:28
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I genuinely don't know that, but you're talking to one, so at least you have me.
• 30:31
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You have one filmmaker that's listening to you, and the rest may just be fans of movies.
• 30:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I don't know what the mix is, but I'm curious to know.
• 30:39
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So for those listening, please reach out and let us know Are you a filmmaker?
• 30:42
  Jon Crowley: We'll find out.
• 30:43
  Jon Crowley: We'll find out, If nothing else.
• 30:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I having a good time?
• 30:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yeah, absolutely.
• 30:53
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I told you I'm having a blast.
• 30:54
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I would love to end this on maybe a light and fluffy note, If you can share any, if you're familiar with any fun stories from the filming of Deliver Me From Nowhere, since that's Bruce Springsteen's biopic and he is synonymous with New Jersey.
• 31:05
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So I wonder if you, if you've got any fun stuff to share.
• 31:09
  Jon Crowley: Well, I'll tell you, last year, when they were filming lots of conversations with friends that grew up in New Jersey that were ecstatic that his story was getting made, you know, he is right, he's Mr New Jersey, right.
• 31:26
  Jon Crowley: Everybody you think of Bruce, you think of New Jersey, new Jersey, right.
• 31:32
  Jon Crowley: Everybody you think of Bruce, you think of New Jersey.
• 31:33
  Jon Crowley: I was at a film festival on the other side of the Atlantic and introduced myself to it.
• 31:38
  Jon Crowley: Was the director of Bend it Like Beckham, and I said, hi, I'm from New Jersey.
• 31:42
  Jon Crowley: And she went, bruce, and she, of course, associated New Jersey with Bruce, and I think a lot of people really got a kick at us seeing, uh, the boss all around the state, uh, whether it was asbury park or freehold, wherever the case might be, metal and serena was up there, um, seeing him while he was making this film.
• 32:04
  Jon Crowley: And I think what we're all really looking forward to is a film that was, you know, I think, almost entirely shot in new jersey and it's going to be a love letter, I think, to the state, uh, when all is, when all is said and done, so, um, I think there's going to be a lot of, a lot of pride in people going to the theater to go see that movie and seeing their state everywhere I'm already really excited.
• 32:27
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, I I've only seen the trailer, obviously, at this point, but it looks so beautiful and Asbury looks beautiful.
• 32:31
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Uh, I, yeah, I'm not that far from Asbury.
• 32:34
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, who in the state is really that far?
• 32:36
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It's it's not a huge state, but, yeah, I love the story.
• 32:40
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You met, oh, uh, I don't know how to pronounce her name, but the the director of Bend it Like Beckham is Gurinder Chadha.
• 32:45
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I don't pronounce her name, um, but I loved her film because she does have that Bruce Springsteen tie and she did blinded by the light, I think that was the name of the film.
• 32:56
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I was obsessed with that movie and I didn't necessarily grow up on on Springsteen's music, but I still love Springsteen, just as a human, and I'm excited to see the movie.
• 33:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm I'm excited, um, by this whole conversation.
• 33:12
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So I'm I'm going off on tangents.
• 33:15
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I will say it is.
• 33:16
  Jon Crowley: Uh, when I met her um, it was in can and took probably 40 different meetings in can with um filmmakers, european filmmakers, um, just letting them know everything that we have going on in New Jersey.
• 33:31
  Jon Crowley: Now I was there a year ago and you'd walk into a room and you'd say, hi, I'm from New Jersey.
• 33:36
  Jon Crowley: And it was like the response was you know, nice to meet you.
• 33:40
  Jon Crowley: Right this year you walk into a meeting and you say hi, I'm from New Jersey.
• 33:46
  Jon Crowley: And everybody, without fail, was what is going on in New Jersey?
• 33:51
  Jon Crowley: Right, like everywhere I turn, I hear New Jersey.
• 33:55
  Jon Crowley: When we went to the set of Happy Gilmore 2, adam Sandler came around and he said what is going on in New Jersey?
• 34:03
  Jon Crowley: Everybody's talking about New Jersey.
• 34:05
  Jon Crowley: And again, that's one of the big functions of the film commission is Jersey.
• 34:12
  Jon Crowley: And again, that's one of the big functions of the Film Commission is, you know, just spreading the word, letting people know everything that we have.
• 34:16
  Jon Crowley: And again, it becomes really hard to say no to filming your project in New Jersey when you hear about all the great things that we have to offer.
• 34:23
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Absolutely, and I mean I hope this conversation helps.
• 34:26
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I hope more people have learned about what the Film Commission has to offer, what New Jersey has to offer.
• 34:30
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Everybody, come on film your stuff in NJ.
• 34:35
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Bring it here Bring it to Jersey, as we hope is very evident by now.
• 34:40
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The film scene in New Jersey is ever-growing and if you're considering a career in the industry, keep in mind that the governor has set aside about $5 million in workforce training under the NJ Filmworks grant program.
• 34:56
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You can learn more about this and what else the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission offers at NJ.
• 34:59
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: gov/ NJFilm.
• 35:00
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If you'd like to hear more directly from Jon Crowley and other industry professionals, consider checking out the upcoming panel, Filming in New Jersey at Two River Theater in Red Bank on August 22nd.
• 35:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: For tickets and more information, be sure to visit IndieStreetFilmFestival.
• 35:14
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: org.
• 35:17
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If you liked this episode, be sure to review, subscribe and tell your friends.
• 35:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: A transcript of this podcast, links relevant to the story and more about the arts in New Jersey can be found at JerseyArts.
• 35:26
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: com.
• 35:28
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The Jersey Arts Podcast is presented by Art Pride New Jersey, advancing a state of creativity since 1986.
• 35:34
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The show was co-founded by and currently supported by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
• 35:39
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This episode was hosted, edited and produced by me, gina Marie Rodriguez.
• 35:44
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Executive producers are Jim Atkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez, and my thanks, of course, to Jon Crowley for speaking with me today.
• 35:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez for the Jersey Arts Podcast.
• 35:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Thanks for listening.