SOMERS POINT — The “Eddie and the Cruisers” fame has faded since the 1980s, but a new initiative may put the city back on the silver screen.
Somers Point is working with the Atlantic County Economic Alliance (ACEA) and New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission (NJMPTC) on the Film Ready Certification Initiative.
“We’ve been working hard to make the county and municipalities film-ready certified,” said Lauren Moore, president of the ACEA.
The idea is to take advantage of Netflix’s East Coast production hub to attract filmmakers. Netflix is building a $1 billion, 292-acre facility on the former Fort Monmouth military base. It will feature 12 state-of-the-art soundstages, along with hotels, theaters and retail space.
Francine Palumbo, administrative and film industry manager, and intern Lindsey Hancock are facilitating the film-ready certification process for the county and municipalities.
Palumbo said when they were walking around taking photos of the city, a man at one of the marinas said people still stop by and ask if the city was where “Eddie and the Cruisers” was filmed.
“They’re still coming, and that movie was released in 1983. So once the production company is gone, that’s not the end of it,” Palumbo said. “The tourism starts because of this, and we’re already a tourist area. This just gives them something else, and Somers Point is such a great place for that.”
She said multiple industries benefit from the attention.
“This program can include everybody, entrepreneurs, businesses of all kinds, lodging and restaurants, they can all get in on the action when film production comes in because they need these resources and Somers Point has these resources,” Palumbo said.
The ACEA’s goal is to have every municipality and the county film-ready certified.
The program makes everything consistent throughout the state so that when film productions come in and they see that gold seal that a town is film-ready certified, they know what to expect.
“They know that we have the resources to assist them in a very quick and efficient way because we’ve already dotted our I’s and crossed our T’s. The key is consistency,” Palumbo said.
The ACEA works with the city’s Economic Development Advisory Commission and grant consultant Triad Associates to boost conditions in the city.
Moore worked for Trenton for 20 years under six different governors. This is his second stint in Atlantic County, after serving as county planning department director through the 1990s
He has worked closely with Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Protection and other agencies, as well as Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker and U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew.
“I bring those relationships back so that at some point, the towns can use us with our government affairs relations,” Moore said. “Those relationships and access to this sort of government affairs services also extend to Somers Point and everything that you want to do.”
Moore said the ACEA secures a significant amount of federal grants and congressionally directed spending requests through working with the elected officials.
“So it’s also another funding source and funding avenue that the city of Somers Point can access,” he said, adding that the ACEA was able to secure a $450,000 grant for the city’s Northeast neighborhood from the Community Development Corp.
Moore said the ACEA also has connections to local banks, with some represented on the board of directors.
“They buy tax credits from the state that help fund these plans to satisfy the Community Reinvestment Act requirements that they have with the state and federal government,” he said.
Moore said the ACEA would be able to help Somers Point with marketing its events and assets.
“Somers Point, through the Business Association, has taken advantage of that with the $10,000 grant,” he said.
New Jersey has risen to third behind California and New York in dollars spent on film production.
“It’s our tax credits. It is one of the programs that actually works in New Jersey, and the production companies love it,” Palumbo said.
The New Jersey Film Ready program is a five-step certification and marketing initiative that equips municipalities and counties with the knowledge, policies and streamlined processes needed to successfully host on-location filming.
Palumbo said Somers Point took the first step June 25 when Councilwoman Janice Johnston, liaison to the EDAC, attended a workshop.
The second part is to designate a film-ready liaison, a role the ACEA would fill.
“The field production is 24-7 while they are here, and the ACEA is ready to answer those phone calls at midnight when somebody needs something and will take care of it for you,” she said.
The third step is adopt the formal permit process via ordinance or adopt a code of conduct.
“They would be nice to the neighbors, don’t crowd the streets, pay attention to the law enforcement,” Palumbo said.
Finally, the city must designate a permit representative, which is usually a member of the government or an employee of the municipality.
The city would then upload information and photographs to ReelScout, which the NJMPTC uses for locations, or New Jersey 411, which is for local vendors and businesses.
“Anybody interested in being considered to be part of a production, their information gets loaded up into New Jersey 411,” Palumbo said, noting the ACEA would fill that role as well.
Johnston said she and Adam Morrison attended the workshop.
“It was really, really interesting and we came out of there really excited,” Johnston said. “What I like about it most is we have total control as a municipality. We can say what we want, what we don’t want, when we want it, when we don’t want it.”
She said the permitting process is the most complicated part.
“Once they come in and they say they want to do this, this and this, and we say yes, yes, no, whatever, and you either do it or you don’t,” Johnston said.
Cape May County adopts requirements
Cape May County recently adopted the New Jersey Film Ready requirements.
“Becoming Film Ready will open new economic opportunities for Cape May County by making it easier and more attractive for productions to film here,” Board of Commissioners Director Leonard C. Desiderio said. “Our beautiful beaches, historic sites, vibrant towns and supportive business community provide an ideal backdrop for storytelling.”
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff