As the film industry expands in New Jersey, including a proposed Lionsgate studio in Newark slated to open next year, the metro region is building a reputation as “Hollywood East.’’
But unless you’ve been to film school, the vast range of movie-making jobs are unheard of. And for many, they’re inaccessible, said Yvonne Shirley, director of the Community Media Center(CMC) at Express Newark, a hybrid art space at Rutgers-Newark that brings together faculty, staff, and community artists.
It’s the perfect time, then, to “demystify” the film industry, she said.
“Movies, TV, digital media content are so ubiquitous in our lives, but access to the industry that produces them is challenging,” said Shirley. “We need to break down barriers, and create pipelines to these career pathways,’’ she said.
The media center is part of a collaboration called Newark Film Works, which was awarded a $750,000 grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) Board to fund workforce development initiatives.
The program will provide training for Production Assistant and Rigger/Grip/Set Grip positions, along with additional hands-on training. Newark Film Works will provide wraparound support services, professional development, career mentorship, and job placement support. All programming will be free to Newark residents.
CMC filmmaking initiatives and events are open to Rutgers-Newark students. Follow @ExpressNewark and @CMCExpressNewark on instagram to stay updated on our programs and email CMCExpressNewark@gmail.com to join our email listserv.
“We have so many people in our community that have the talent and ability,” said Shirley. “It’s about creating opportunity.”
The grant comes at a time when Newark has emerged as one of the top filming locations in the state, alongside Jersey City and Montclair. In the past year, it has been the location for several big-budget productions, such as The Bride, a horror movie inspired by the Bride of Frankenstein, starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale. Also filmed in Newark was Here Comes the Flood, a bank heist movie starring Denzel Washington and Robert Pattinson that’s slated for release this year.
“Working in partnership with the Newark Office of Film and TV, our trainees can access entry level jobs on the large scale productions that come through our city; but we’ll also connect them to the independent film and digital media ecosystem that’s crucial to sustainability,” said Shirley.
Newark Film Works is led by the City of Newark’s Economic Development Corporation, Invest Newark. Collaborators include the Newark Office of Film and TV, NewarkWORKS One Stop Career Center, Express Newark’s Community Media Center, Newark Film School, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Express Newark’s Community Media Center was invited to join the coalition on the strength of its work within the community. Since 2017, it has supported local independent filmmakers and digital media creatives – new and experienced – in developing their craft, creating and sharing work.
“We have to tell our own stories. There’s been a lot of harmful outside narratives about our communities. Those of us who have lived here know them to be reductive, motivated by racism and classism,’’ said Shirley, who grew up in the Newark area. “It’s really important to protect, preserve, and amplify community-centered voices and visions for our future.’’
Through the center’s membership program, participants have free access to equipment and software, an editing lab, and production studio. The center also offers free workshops to the public, teaching skills in filmmaking, podcasting and digital media production.
Shirley, a former member of the Community Media Center, became its director in 2021. Since then, the center has been guided by Express Newark’s ethos of co-authorship, partnering with community-based organizations on dynamic filmmaking initiatives and public programming.
In 2023, they launched YOUTH FILM LAB (YFL) with Yendor Theatre Company, where Newark High School students write and produce a short film to be used as a tool for civic engagement. The program’s first film, Finding Joy, won the Umoja Award for Best Film at the 2024 Kwanzaa Film Festival. The film has been used by The Shani Baraka Women’s Resource Center to bring awareness to domestic violence in faith-based communities. The agency honored the program with commendations from the city in 2025.
Also in 2023, the center worked with the Newark LGBTQ Film Festival to create The Sakia Gunn Legacy Filmmaker Fellowship, uplifting the transformative history of Sakia Gunn, the lesbian teenager tragically murdered in Newark in 2003. The annual program supports two emerging local BIPOC LGBTQIA+ filmmakers telling stories of the Queer experience, providing each a $7K production grant, professional advising, and equipment to create original short films that premiere at the Newark LGBTQ Film Festival.
The center also launched Muslim Voices of Newark, providing free filmmaking instruction and tools to create short documentaries about the Muslim community of the greater Newark area. In its first cycle, the program produced two films, includingMuslims of Hunterdon St. by Kalenah Witcher, a multicultural portrait of Muslim life in one small and diverse Central Ward community. That effort was part of Muslim Voices, a national community history project, founded by Philadelphia’s Scribe Video Center, a pioneering community media space directed by Louis Massiah.
“Filmmaking is a tool for community building,” Shirley said. “And that’s what we center in everything we do.”
Shirley’s own career path informs the Community Media Center’s mission. She was one of only three Black students in a class of 37 at NYU’s graduate film program. After graduation, she worked with celebrated filmmakers, Michael Moore, Spike Lee, and Orlando Bagwell, and went on to direct and produce award-winning documentary and narrative films.
Her work as a director and as a producer has been featured at festivals including Sundance, BlackStar, Slamdance, and Tribeca film festivals, distributed by HBO, Criterion, and Topic Studios. Her filmwork primarily centers contemporary Black experiences, exploring the personal as political in the creation of self. Her practice is concerned with filmmaking as a space for gathering, empowerment, and preservation.
As Newark continues to attract film investment, Shirley is committed to ensuring local residents are not left out.
“Newarkers should be at the center of new investment, development and opportunity here,” she said. “We want to help make sure that’s the case.”
