Montclair Film is marking its 15th annual festival Oct. 16-25 with more than 160 films and events, a milestone arriving just as New Jersey's film and television industry keeps expanding at a pace few other states can match. This year's lineup features appearances from Jesse Eisenberg, Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Ava DuVernay and Tony Gilroy, organizers say, as the festival returns for its 15th year.
The festival's growth and its connection to New Jersey's broader production surge were the focus of a recent conversation between Montclair Film executive director Tricia Haggerty Wenz and artistic director Tom Hall, as reported by ROI-NJ. According to that report, the two discussed not just the upcoming festival but Montclair Film's expanding role as a festival, year-round cinema and education organization, and a connection point linking filmmakers with audiences across the state.
A Decade and a Half of Growth
The festival has come a long way from its first edition, which screened 64 films over five days in May 2012 and drew 7,500 moviegoers, according to Montclair Local. It has since grown into a 10-day event featuring more than 160 films and events, the outlet reports, with the organization eventually rebranding from the Montclair Film Festival into Montclair Film, a year-round nonprofit with a permanent home at 505 Bloomfield Ave., including the Investors Bank Film & Media Center and its Cinema505 screening space.
Per ROI-NJ's report, the festival also moved from its original May dates to October, a shift that placed it within the fall awards-season circuit. As a nonprofit arts organization, Montclair Film says it is committed to providing ongoing programs that use film and storytelling to encourage self-expression, community and discussion, according to the group's own description of its ongoing programs. Those offerings include a monthly industry meetup and cocktail hour, plus free outdoor screenings of fan favorites during the summer in Montclair community spaces.
Building Pathways Onto Film Sets
Beyond the screenings, Montclair Film is developing education, production assistance and workforce programs, ROI-NJ reports, with an eye toward helping people gain experience and find opportunities on film sets. The organization's website describes its mission as connecting filmmakers with the tools, talent and training to succeed in the industry, tying Montclair's creative talent to local opportunities through a job board where production needs get posted, including recent listings for a VFX editor, fight coordinator and production assistants on a horror project, according to Montclair Film's workforce development page.
According to ROI-NJ, Montclair Film promotes career pathways beyond directing and writing, highlighting production assistant, camera, editing and other below-the-line roles as entry points into the business. The outlet also reports that Reel Thursdays @ 505, one of the organization's networking events, brings together more than 100 industry professionals each month, helping participants network, find jobs and develop new collaborations.
Looking ahead, ROI-NJ reports that Montclair Film plans to deepen its relationships with New Jersey studios and expand its education and workforce development programs, with the stated aim of helping create a more sustainable film industry in the state. The outlet says Montclair Film leaders also discussed studio consolidation, crew work availability and the future of theatrical exhibition during their conversation, though specifics of that discussion were not detailed.
New Jersey's Production Boom, by the Numbers
The timing lines up with a broader statewide surge. New Jersey ranked No. 2 nationwide for film-job growth, with industry employment rising roughly 34% between 2024 and 2025, according to a separate ROI-NJ report on the study's findings. The state added 1,993 film-industry jobs in that span, the largest gain among the 10 fastest-growing states, a figure that stands in sharp contrast to national film-industry employment growth of less than 1% over the same period, per that report. The state also expected 35 major productions in the first quarter of 2026 alone, the outlet notes.
Production incentives are drawing more projects, too. Seventy-three projects used New Jersey's film incentive program in 2025, up from 46 in 2024, with spending from those productions estimated to top $1 billion, according to Variety. That 2024 spending figure is reported differently elsewhere: NJBIZ cites a record $833 million in 2024 production spending tracked by the state film commission, a 41% increase from 2023, while the New Jersey Film Expo's own materials put qualified production spending at $834 million in 2024, up from $592 million in 2023. New Jersey's expanding footprint includes major activity tied to Netflix at Fort Monmouth, Great Point Studios in Newark, where Lionsgate plans to be the anchor tenant, and Paramount-backed 1888 Studios in Bayonne, NJBIZ reports. The state's film infrastructure is also expanding statewide. Newark, Jersey City and Montclair have each emerged as leading filming locations in the state, according to Rutgers University-Newark.
Training the Next Crew, From Newark to South Jersey
Montclair Film's workforce push mirrors similar efforts elsewhere in the state. Newark Film Works received a $750,000 grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Board to train participants for production assistant and rigger, grip and set grip positions, with all programming free to Newark residents, the Rutgers-Newark report states.
In South Jersey, Aspire Youth Development has opened enrollment for FRAME, a free 18-week film and digital media workforce-training program serving residents of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties, according to New Jersey Stage. The program covers camera operation, lighting and sound, video editing and production assistance, and is fully funded through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's Filmworks Grant so there is no cost to participants, the outlet reports. Separately, the New Jersey Film Expo featured more than 90 exhibitors and panels covering workforce training, studio development and independent filmmaking, underscoring how heavily the state is leaning on local talent pipelines to keep pace with its production growth.
The 2026 Montclair Film Festival includes fiction feature, documentary feature, Future/Now and shorts competitions alongside family programming and special events running through Oct. 25.
