Olivia Fisher Cinema fans across the country might not realize that New Jersey is the birthplace of the American film industry. Early film technology was invented here, and the state is also home to some of the first movie studios in the country. Fort Lee in Bergen County specifically played a key role in shaping the early days of filmmaking. Read on for a closer look at film in Fort Lee and New Jersey’s evolving role in the movie world.
From West Orange to Fort Lee
In the late 19th century, investor Thomas Edison developed early motion picture devices and built the world’s first movie studio, the Black Maria, in West Orange. Just 20 miles northeast of West Orange sits Fort Lee in Bergen County, later known as America’s first headquarters of the motion picture industry. In 1911, Nestor Studios (later merged with Universal Studios) of Bayonne, New Jersey, built the first studio in Hollywood, California. The West Coast provided a more cost-effective climate, and by the 1930s, nearly all major filmmaking had moved to California.
In the early 20th century, Fort Lee was home to a multitude of studios like Artcroft and Famous Players, Biograph, Champion Film Company, Éclair American Company, Fox Film Corporation, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, Independent Motion Picture Company, Kalem Company, Metro Pictures Corporation, Metropolitan Studios, Peerless Features, Selznick Pictures Corporation, Solax Company, Triangle-Fine Arts-Keystone, Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Victor Film Company, and World Pictures, some of which are predecessors to 20th Century Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Universal Studios.
The Solax Company, which was formed in 1910, was managed by Alice Guy-Blaché, her husband Herbert, and a third partner, George A. Magie. Alice was the first woman to ever direct a film and was likely the only female filmmaker in the world from 1896 to 1908. In 1912, her studio produced A Fool and His Money, which is believed to be the first film ever made with an all-African-American cast. The movie can be viewed here.
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In 1999, the Fort Lee Film Commission was created to preserve Fort Lee’s legacy as the birthplace of American cinema. The commission educates the public about the community’s significant contributions to early filmmaking and commemorates key historical sites with markers. In October 2022, the Barrymore Film Center (BFC) opened its doors. This moment fulfilled the vision of the Fort Lee Film Commission to establish a permanent home for Fort Lee’s cinematic legacy.
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Filming at Fort Lee Studios
The first film ever shot in Fort Lee was Thomas Edison’s Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest, which was shot on-site at the Fort Lee Palisades. It was directed by Edwin S. Porter and J. Searle Dawley in 1908.
In 1912, the silent short film Friends by the Biograph Company starred Lionel Barrymore, the great-uncle of Drew Barrymore, and Mary Pickford, who became Hollywood’s first millionaire by 1916. You can watch the entire 12-minute production here. Another notable picture from 1912, Robin Hood by Universal Film Manufacturing Company (now Universal Studios), was the earliest surviving screen adaptation of the English folklore character Robin Hood.
In May 1912, just a little over a month after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, Eclair Film Company shot Saved from the Titanic, the earliest adaptation of the disaster. This film starred and was co-written by Dorothy Gibson, a silent film star and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. She even wore the same clothing in the film from the night of the disaster. Saved from the Titanic ended up being one of Dorothy’s final films, as she reportedly suffered a mental breakdown after completing it. The film is one of many lost films and was destroyed in 1914 during a studio fire.
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While this list is not comprehensive because that would be too many films to list, several of these films have also been lost to history and time. Films with surviving content have provided links below to watch. Many of the early 20th-century films shot in Fort Lee were short films of the silent genre. The first film with synchronized sound did not come along until 1927 with the debut of The Jazz Singer.
- 1908: Balked at the Altar, The Taming of a Shrew, Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest
- 1909: At the Altar, To Save Her Soul, A Sound Sleeper
- 1910: All on Account of the Milk, When We Were in Our Teens, When Mugsby Becomes a Hero
- 1911: The Battle, Her Awakening, The House with Closed Shutters
- 1912: Friends, Saved from the Titanic, Robin Hood, A Fool and His Money
- 1913: Shadows of Moulin Rouge, Lady Babbie, Traffic in Souls
- 1914: The Lure, The Stain
- 1915: The Two Orphans, Carmen, A Fool There Was
- 1916: The Witch, The Scarlet Oath, The Summer Girl
- 1917: The Awakening, The Brand of Satan, The Corner Grocer, Yankee Pluck
- 1918: House of Hate, The Venus Model, Within Our Gates
- 1920: Harvest Moon, Within Our Gates
- 1921: Clay Dollars
- 1922: The Leather Pushers, The Light in the Dark, Humor Risk
- 1931: The Exile
- 1933: Maizie
So Why New Jersey, Again?
Over a century ago, Thomas Edison’s control over his patents pushed many studios out of the state. In the early 20th century, the patent issues were not the only reason for the industry’s move to the West Coast.. ther factors included California’s warmer weather, cheaper land in the West, and global events like World War I and the Spanish Influenza stalling production.
Current policies, many of which were created by the Murphy Administration, welcome them back with open arms. In 2018, during Governor Phil Murphy’s first term, he enacted the Film + Digital Media Tax Credit, a bill that, per NJ.gov, ” provides a transferable credit against the corporation business tax and the gross income tax for certain expenses incurred for the production of certain films and digital media content in New Jersey.” The bill incentivizes media and film companies to work on products and open studios in New Jersey, bringing jobs and economic development. The project, funded through 2039, provides a tax credit of up to 35 percent of qualified film production expenses.
Coming Soon, a Theater Near You
In recent years, studios have been announced for Atlantic City, Bayonne, Eatontown, Newark, Oceanport, Tinton Falls, and West Orange. In 2022, Newark announced that Lionsgate would develop a studio in the city’s South Ward. In September 2023, Atlantic City’s Playground Pier reopened as ACX1 Studios. In February 2024, Netflix received key approval to move forward with a production complex in Fort Monmouth, a former U.S. Army base. The Fort Monmouth site is located in the Monmouth County communities of Eatontown, Oceanport, and Tinton Falls. In April 2024, a studio in West Orange was approved. The Matrix Development Group will build the facility near the Black Maria replica, a nod to the area’s history and the birth of film. In May 2024, it was announced that Togus Urban Renewal, LLC would develop 1888 Studios in Bayonne.
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