This month we spoke with Ewing Township resident Shelton Minor of Studio City New Jersey as part of our series of interviews with local business, community and cultural leaders, co-produced with Kevin Moriarty’s Sky Dog Media. Studio City New Jersey is a media production facility located in part of the former Hill Refrigeration plant off Pennington Avenue.
Trenton Downtowner: What’s your background in the film business?
Shelton Minor: Basically, I started out as a photographer. At the age of 17 I became one of the top fight photographers in the country. Boxing. I traveled all over; I’ve had covers on almost every major sports magazine in existence. I covered everyone from Muhammad Ali to Sugar Ray Leonard to Tyson; all the fighting stars of the 1980s and 1990s.
And I kind of got bored and I moved over into film. I was shooting for HBO at the time and at HBO, you have the opportunity to work on other projects, so I started working on films. I was a production assistant and an additional still photographer and that’s where I got bit by the bug.
TD: What led you to believe you should start something like this in Trenton?
SM: Well I really wanted to create a playground for myself. So the only way I could create a playground for myself was to create an industry where others would come in and make their movies and allow me to make my movies for free.
I picked Trenton because it was the state capital and I moved from New York to New Jersey. We just thought it was a good spot for it. The city needed it and we’ve been right behind it ever since.
TD: There have been other attempts at this, most notably or notoriously, the Manex Entertainment project which never came to fruition. They never got off the ground. You’re open for business. How are you succeeding so far?
SM: Well it’s been a struggle. Basically, their deal was too big, too big for the city. And with us not having a tax credit now in place, that makes it especially hard for a business. Especially for a business that size. We need the state tax credit to allow major films to come to the city and to the state to bring their revenue.
TD: So are any of your clients getting any assistance from the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission and the New Jersey Film/TV Tax Credit?
SM: Well, the film commission really has very little to do with that. The film commission’s job is to drive projects to the state, and they are doing the best they can to do that. But without the tax credits it’s hard for the majors to come here and spend money when other states are giving 25–30 percent tax credit to come to their states. So a lot of times they will go to New York, skip over New Jersey and go to Pennsylvania.
Steven Gorelick, the executive director, has been very helpful in trying to still steer business back here. They had Batman here a couple of weeks ago for a couple of days in Newark. That’s due to his efforts.
TD: In this regional market, what are you looking to compete for: feature films, Indy films, music videos, commercials and the like?
SM: Films, music videos. It’s all independent work. Even the majors are buying their films from the independent market. So the studios are making very few films. It’s always the independents that are selling their projects to the major studios.
But, music videos, commercials, documentaries … anything we can get our hands on.
TD: How much are your clientele production companies, and how much individual filmmakers?
SM: We have teams in place that can handle all the business. And you can bring your own crews in as well. We have enough space to accommodate everybody.
TD: Are you producing any of your own projects here?
SM: We’ve done very few of our own projects yet. We’re still working the kinks out of getting other people to realize that this is here and that it is a serious business that can handle all of their needs.
That’s been our struggle, getting the word out. How do you market it; the best way to get the word out. It is a totally networking business. Once people come in here, they always come back. There is nothing like this in the state.
TD: How many of your clients bring their own crew and equipment here, and how many ask you to provide those services? Do you hire many Trenton workers? Do you train them or do they come with experience?
SM: There is so much talent in this state, and in this city, that you’d be shocked to find out. People drive by and the see the sign, and they come in and they bring their reels. And you can see that this guy is doing high-quality work, and nobody knows he’s here because he leaves New Jersey and he goes to New York every day.
That’s the amazing part. I have a gentleman here now who is a rapper breaking into the movie industry. We’ve created this joint venture, where I wrote and I am going to direct his projects, which are designed to break him into the movie industry. It’s an unorthodox way of doing it, but it’s been very effective for a lot of people.
TD: It’s been a year and a half or so since your grand opening. How closely did your initial plans hold up to reality? Do you have the right mix of facilities and equipment for your clients? Do you have any plans to expand?
SM: Of course. I think we’ve made a lot of mistakes being a new business and having the weight of the world on your shoulders. But it is still about putting together a strong team.My partner, Ed Groves. Tony Romano, one of our original investors.
We’ve just been really trying to build a strong powerful business, and the fact is we still need the support of the city. And we’ve had a lot issues in the city with things that are going on and I don’t think we have gotten the support that we could have gotten.
We still need that tax credit in place. We need to do a better job of marketing ourselves. But at the same time, we’ve been fairly successful at doing what we do.
TD: All private investment to start this up? Any government assistance?
SM: There was none. Everyone we talked to said, “There’s no money.” The state has no money; the government has no money. So we had to rely on ourselves.
TD: Do you feel like you have the right mix of facilities and equipment to meet the needs of your clients?
SM: You can always have more equipment. The business is expanding, and it changes so rapidly. The hot camera of today is gone in six months and you’re on to something else. The industry is very funny that way, in that they need the latest and the greatest even if they don’t understand why they need it.
But definitely, we have equipment that can handle most projects, and what we don’t have we can always rent.
TD: I want to go back to the point you made about the city. Were you referring to the city, the community, not supporting you or being aware of you? Or the city government?
SM: No, the government can’t really do much. The community. You want the community. We’ve done a few special events and parties and stuff like that. But we don’t want to be known for parties. That’ll get you in trouble.
We’re a production facility. Naturally, we have had to do other things to supplement our income until the bigger projects come in. In the meantime, we’ve just been trying to figure out what’s going to work and what’s not going to work.
It’s a learning curve. Nobody has been able to do this. There is no book. There is no blueprint. There is no map. There is nobody to call. I’m the only guy that’s doing it. There are other production companies in North Jersey, but nobody is doing it on this scale.
So when you are creating the book, it’s a lot harder, because you are winging it. We created an incredible business plan, but as you go through the plan, you realize that certain things aren’t going to work. You have to adjust. It’s almost the two-year mark and we’re still here.
There’s been some pitfalls. We’ve lost some investment. We’re looking for new investors, but this is still a viable business. Once we get that tax credit in place, and I know we will, the city and the state is going to be in good shape.
TD: Looking ahead six months and then a year, what do you think?
SM: I think we’ll be doing a lot more features. I think by that time, we’ll be ready to do our own projects. And bringing in other new artists that want to create their own projects and reality shows and TV shows. We’re getting a lot more of that now.
And we’re going to do more for education. We want to do more to help programs that want to teach children other things to do other than building. Kids want to learn how to make movies and the other side of it. They want to make music. We have a recording studio here. We have a photography studio and all of these things are available to anyone who wants to come in.
Web: studiocitynewjersey.com.
,
