movies
LOCATION,
LOCATION, LOCATION
Can you recognize the settings for movies shot in our area?
WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
E
ver spot a familiar
setting in a movie
and think, “I know
that place! It’s not
far from here!”
Chances are you’re
right. The Wayne area has
served as a backdrop for lots
of movies. Though the Christie
administration shut down the
state’s filmmaking tax incentives
program, there’s new optimism
that Governor Murphy will
sign recently passed legislation
providing up to $425 million in
state tax breaks over five years.
With that in mind, we thought
it would be fun to look at some
projects connected to our
region.
IN
& OUT 1997
FEATURING: KEVIN KLINE,
JOAN CUSACK, TOM SELLECK
CONNECTION: POMPTON LAKES
HIGH SCHOOL
Kevin Kline stars as an Indiana high
school English teacher who is thanked,
and identified as gay, during a former
student’s Academy Awards accep-
tance speech. Per film database IMDb,
“All of the high school scenes were
shot at Pompton Lakes High School…
Unfortunately, the school district’s
superintendent forgot to sign the
waiver allowing the school’s name
to be mentioned in the credits.”
The filmmakers also shot scenes in
Montclair and Glen Ridge.
CITY
HALL 1996
FEATURING: AL PACINO,
JOHN CUSACK, BRIDGET FONDA
CONNECTION: SCENES SHOT
IN WAYNE AND PEQUANNOCK
Political scandals abound in this
mob-related saga, which unfolds after
a child is killed in crossfire between
a cop and a mobster in the streets of
New York City. In one scene, Cusack
and Fonda’s characters are delayed by
snow, and they get a hot drink in the
deli across the street from a Wayne
train station. Another scene was shot in
a house in Pequannock. “Fifty percent
of the movie was shot in New Jersey,”
says Schoner of the NJ Motion Picture
and Television Commission.
>
WAYNE MAGAZINE MAY 2018
45