How much do you know about this illustrious era?
(take the quiz)

1)
Which film featured the largest outdoor set ever built in Fort Lee, NJ?
A) Tale of Two Cities (1917)
B) Les Miserables (1918)
C) Cleopatra (1917)
D) True Blue (1918)

2)
Why was Thomas Edison’s film studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, NJ, built on a giant turntable?
A) To allow for multiple productions to film at once
B) To easily rotate cameras
C) To allow trains to pass by
D) For natural sunlight

3)
Which modern movie studio does NOT have ties to the New Jersey area?
A) Columbia Pictures
B) Universal Pictures
C) MGM Studios
D) 20th Century Studios (Fox)

4)
What was featured in the first short film Thomas Edison made on the Kinetoscope in 1893?
A) A train
B) A ballet dancer
C) A sneeze
D) A bear

5)
Which horror film was produced in the New Jersey area?
A) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913)
B) The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
C) Frankenstein (1931)
D) The Mummy (1932)

New Jersey is still making history today! After extensive filming in New Jersey in 2019 and 2020, "The Many Saints of Newark" premieres Friday, October 1st. We can’t wait to see this long-awaited feature film prequel to "The Sopranos," an HBO series that made television history!

Answers: B, D, A, C, A.

Leverage our space and expert support for your next project.

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Zoom In on a 30 – 35% Tax Credit
Looking for diverse, nearby locations, stellar production sites, AND compelling financial incentives? Bring your next film project to New Jersey, the birthplace of movie-making. Take advantage of New Jersey’s program which offers a 30–35% transferable tax credit on qualified film production expenses, PLUS an additional 2% for developing and executing an approved diversity and inclusion plan. Digital media projects can qualify for a separate 20–25% tax credit, too!

Save Even More on Sales Tax and Use Tax
Specific tangible property used directly and primarily in the production of film and television programs is exempt from New Jersey's sales tax. Just a few examples include:

Just a few examples include:

• Cameras and accessories, such as lenses
• Microphones, amplifiers, and similar recording or sound equipment
• Audio/visual mixing and editing equipment
• Replacement parts for exempt tangible personal property without regard to their useful life
• Materials used in set construction
• Dollies, including grips and tracks
• Props used in the film or video, including motor vehicles
• Motor vehicles used to mount cameras and equipment used for filming
• Wardrobe
• Makeup and cosmetics

Give us a call and take advantage of all New Jersey has to offer!

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Cobalt's Custom-Built Solution
To overcome the limited focal lengths of available macro lenses and to avoid hanging a lot of accessories on the lens and support bracketry, we designed and engineered a unique system to focus our Red 6K Epic camera. Our Bellows-Focusing Camera derives focus by moving the camera toward and away from the lens instead of rotating the lens, which can introduce distortion.

The Benefits are Numerous
Its range is impressive: you can shoot about an inch from the subject, all the way to infinity. What you get are amazing focus ranges and amazing close focus. It's motorized to integrate seamlessly into our Motion Control system so that you can write the most complex focus racks in a snap. It's also a PL mount system the Industry standard. So, any and every imaginable PL mount lens now becomes a macro lens.

Our Bellows-Focusing Camera in Action
Our clients use it to shoot food and jewelry all the time. For a Kay Jewelers' commercial featuring a cascade of tiny loose diamonds, it achieved an incredible three-quarters of an inch frame size—incredibly close. And for a Cobalt-supported Hulu shoot, it enabled a shot to focus on the eye of "Breaking Bad" actor, Aaron Paul, then widen out to a medium shot.

If you have any challenging production needs coming up, we’d love to be a resource.

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The Ultimate Production Experience.
As a By-Producers, For-Producers Soundstage, we understand how to elevate the production experience for you. From our No-Surprises Estimates to our comfortable client-support spaces, we always strive to offer more.

Powerfully Equipped for Productivity.
Our Virtual Backlot and robust Motion Control inventory are in-house, preconfigured, and completely unique to the East Coast. We also feature world-class Livestreaming capabilities with 825 MB/sec internet throughout our facility.

TURNKEY PRODUCTION FACILITY
12,000 SF Facility
7,000 SF Soundstage
Production Office Suite with Complete View of Soundstage
52' X 95' X 22' - 20' High 3 Wall Cyc
19' Clearspan
1500 Amps of Dedicated Power
Dedicated Stage Manager
On-Set / Plug & Play Video Village
Live Video Streaming Capability
Drive-On Soundstage, Street Level Load-In
Cement Floor

FULL IN-HOUSE EQUIPMENT INVENTORY
Extensive Tungsten Lighting Package
Complete Grip Inventory
Fisher 10 Dolly & Track Package
On-Site Scissor Lift
State-of-the-Art Motion Control Rigs including Turntables and Large & Small Sliders
On-Set HD Video Playback Package
Live Video Streaming Capability
Virtual Set / Camera tracking
Epic 6K Dragon / Leica Summicron Lens Package

SUPPORT SPACES & AMENITIES
Commercial Food Prep Kitchen
Live HD feed in Client Room
Conference Rooms
Wardrobe and Makeup Areas
Facility wide Wi-Fi, plus super high speed hardwired lines at every desk
Networked Workhorse color laser printers
Tables and chairs, wardrobe steamers, racks and hangers, and walkies
Comprehensive Woodworking Shop

If you have any challenging production needs coming up, we’d love to be a resource.

Let's talk.

Cost Control
Being Turnkey, we have production tools like no other Soundstage. Our onsite offering includes cameras and lenses, Virtual Sets, Motion Control, Livestreaming, Video Village, and more. As part of your Turnkey Soundstage rental, we provide a comprehensive G&E package, facility-wide, fully distributed video, and hardwired broadband ethernet. We also include more of what’s missing from empty-warehouse soundstages, like wardrobe racks and steamers, tables and chairs, and a fully-equipped Crafty kitchen, Home Ec Kitchen, and woodworking shop with flats and jacks.

Complete Convenience
On top of the convenience our Turnkey Soundstage provides, Cobalt is 15 minutes from Midtown. If you live in NYC, that’s closer than most stages in Brooklyn and Queens! Get here quickly and easily by car, train, bus, and ferry. Enjoy the convenient parking, shops, and restaurants nearby in a super-cute, safe neighborhood where you’ll feel comfortable spending time. You can also work, shoot, or stay at our Hoboken House location- a sundrenched 2,000 square foot carriage house three blocks away!

The Tao of Cobalt
While our Turnkey Soundstage is keenly focused on hardware and technology, we understand the need to balance those aspects with warm hospitality, comfort, and calm vibes. As a result, our next-level amenities and customer service have been compared to those of a boutique hotel. Host your VIP clients here and treat them to comfortable, private breakout spaces including a Meditation Room. We also use aromatherapy and green cleaning supplies throughout our facility for a healthy and happy environment.

MLet Cobalt elevate your next production experience.

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High-speed camera work demands critical synchronization of events which is virtually impossible to do manually. Luckily, we’re in the business of designing innovative technological solutions to meet all your production needs.

Cobalt’s Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)
Alex, our resident tech guru, designed and engineered a digital interface to synchronize the camera, camera mover, all your rigs, cuing, EVERYTHING to precisely coordinate each and every component for critically choreographed shots. (Shout out to Stage Manager Luke, who serves as our in-house Ladder Logic programmer. He spearheaded the whole system setup from engineering, wiring, to programming!)

The device triggers actions in a specified sequence and with millisecond precision to keep events on cue during high-speed camerawork. This is essential for high-speed shots because, as Alex put it, “You can have a high-speed camera mover, but you have to focus on something. If you can’t trigger the event, the subject might not be there when the camera gets there. So, for example, if you want to shoot a person falling with the shot starting wide and ending on an ECU (to show the grimace on his face), critical timing is key.”

Why Millisecond Accuracy Matters
With tools like Phantom high-speed cameras being more in-demand than ever, productions also require accessories to use the technology successfully. While the camera is moving fast, timing becomes vastly more important. When you’re shooting at normal speed, a fraction of a second doesn’t matter much. If it’s high-speed, however, the tolerance is closer to a millisecond. A switch or an electronic eye may trigger the action, but getting the shot depends on having the hardware and interface to control the cues. Being off by ¼ sec at 24 fps might not be a deal breaker. But, the same shot at 1000 fps would have the action happen after the station break. You get the point.

Flexibility to Create Without Limits
Cobalt is the Tri-State Area’s destination for innovation, and we can customize a user-friendly technology package for any production needs you can think of. We even put Cobalt’s Programmable Logic Controller in a travel case - compact, quick-n-easy, and the solution for all your critical choreography needs!

Make our Turnkey Soundstage your go-to tech partner.

Let's talk.