Since New Jersey introduced its financial incentives for filmmakers back in 2018, in-state production numbers have been soaring. Concurrent to the influx of filmmakers is the demand for critical infrastructure. As a result, equipment houses, prop houses, production companies and massive studios continue to open here in the Garden State. Last month we welcomed yet another business into our New Jersey family: Phiphen Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Phiphen boasts an impressive history of high-quality film production, such as Butcher's Crossing starring Nicholas Cage, which received its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last month. Recent trends in the New Jersey film industry have led Molly Conners, Phiphen's founder and CEO, and Jane Sinisi, the CEO of Phiphen Studios, to embrace an even greater vision.

Molly Conners

“I grew up in Englewood, so New Jersey has always been home,” shares Jane. “As I went off in my career and produced movies all over the world, I always wanted to bring that part of my life back here. So when the opportunity presented itself to open up Phiphen Studios right in my own backyard, it was a no-brainer. I'm just so proud to be a part of the film community here and to help it grow. A career highlight, for sure!”

Jane Sinisi

Both Molly and Jane were also inspired by New Jersey’s rich film history dating back to the silent film era in Fort Lee, and make special mention of pioneering female filmmaker (and NJ Hall of Fame inductee) Alice Guy-Blaché. However, there were other mitigating factors in opening the post-production facility here.

“The environment is thriving and still growing,” explains Molly. “That's a huge part of the reason we built the studio here to begin with. We both knew the incentive would make NJ a super attractive location to shoot and, so far, that's really been borne out. Whether it's film or television, studios or independent or anything in between, we've seen so much production coming to the area and, most importantly, coming back to the area after they had a great experience.”

With record levels of in-state production, the producing pair anticipate steadily increasing demand. And they come prepared, with 10,000 square feet of boutique post-production and office space, a 25-seat 4K theater, executive suites, a conference room, kitchens and an outdoor common area. Editing rooms will be adaptable to DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Premiere and Avid Media Composer. The audio department will have two mix rooms outfitted for 5.1 mixing and voice recording and offer full-service sound design, editorial services and mixing including ADR and VO. Other services will range from online editorial to color grading to mastering.

Aldey Sanchez, the managing director of Phiphen Studios, believes that all these services will pay off. “Very simply, we see Phiphen Studios as the go-to for post-production services in NJ. By offering a variety of services to filmmakers, we will continue to be a part of their creative process from pre-production to deliverables. Our services will include the latest tech and workflows benefiting filmmakers for years to come.”

Molly tells us the projects are already lining up. “We can’t share specifics on individual projects, but we can say that we have already begun working with some excellent people on films we hope you'll be seeing soon. On another note, we will absolutely be bringing our own projects to the studio. We have two features we're planning to shoot in Jersey, which we will definitely be posting here.”

Jane is very excited about the future of Phiphen Studios in New Jersey. “We're thrilled to be able to help all the great projects shooting in the area. Even in the time since we started building the studio, we've seen production here booming and we don't expect that to slow down. We're so happy to be opening our doors and only anticipate that the studio will grow with the larger industry here.”

Phiphen Studios officially opened its doors in September. For more information, please visit their website: https://phiphenstudios.com