Cobalt History from Star Trek to Seinfeld
If these walls could talk
Like New Jersey’s rich film history, Cobalt Stages’ physical space holds so many compelling production stories. Read our highlights below.
1900s
Hoboken was once home to many candy and sweets factories, like Hostess and Tootsie Roll. Today, Cobalt occupies a space that was once one of these candy factories!
1986
Filmmaker Zbigniew “ZBig” Rybczynski creates John Lennon’s “Imagine” music video, the first HDTV production in the United States.
1988
Director William Shatner hires Hoboken-based visual effects artist Bran Ferren (Associates & Ferren) to construct and shoot the models for STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER at our place in Hoboken. These models included the iconic Starship Enterprise!
1989
ZBig relocates to Cobalt’s crib in Hoboken, and develops his HD Motion Control technology.
1995
Alex Fernbach’s ARF & Company lands in Hoboken, installing a motion control system underground in his new space. They produced hundreds of commercials, including notable Super Bowl spots for A-List clients like Taco Bell and Anheuser-Busch.
1998
Cobalt’s Alex Fernbach invents the Array Camera. This technology and technique was used to film the “Bullet Time” sequences in THE MATRIX (1999).
2015
Cobalt hires experts to analyze the building’s acoustics and create our Metropolitan Opera-approved Soundstage.
2016
Cobalt invests in the first Virtual Backlot available to the public film community on the East Coast.
2017
Cobalt uses multiple MoCo rigs to shoot Eminem’s “Walk On Water” video.
2018
Cobalt produces the “blur” motion control effect for the Ariana Grande video, “Breathin’.”
2019
Cobalt produces the video content for Harry Connick Jr.—A Celebration of Cole Porter, on Broadway.
2019
As part of The World Science Foundation, Cobalt helps bring Einstein’s work to life through a groundbreaking multimedia stage performance involving actors and projections for PBS’s “Light Falls: Space, Time and an Obsession of Albert Einstein.”
2020
John Oliver shoots his first socially distanced “Last Week Tonight” episodes, all on his own, at Cobalt Stages.
2021
Jerry Seinfeld returns to Cobalt, for the 3rd time, to direct a LEGO-themed Netflix promo with Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston.
High profile guests love the privacy and VIP amenities we offer at Hollywood on the Hudson!
We are closer to Midtown than Brooklyn.
If you haven’t shot in NJ lately,
there’s a lot to catch up on.