&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t fake New York. &nbsp;There&rsquo;s just a texture to the city, and as great as production designers can be and visual effects can be, there&rsquo;s just something about the city that&rsquo;s undeniable.&rdquo; &nbsp;Matt Tolmach, co-producer of &ldquo;The Amazing Spiderman 2&rdquo;, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/filmmakers-focus-nyc-spider-man-2-shoot-article-1.1766802" target="_blank" title="&quot;Filmmakers made the most of NYC during shooting of 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' &quot;">recognized there can be only location for Peter Parker&rsquo;s heroics</a>, adding to the city&rsquo;s renewed place in film.
The state is providing <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-ny-la-rivalry-20140503-story.html#axzz30qpKiwFV&amp;page=1" target="_blank" title="&quot;New York taking a larger bite out of Hollywood productions&quot;">up to $420 million annually in rebates for the film industry</a>, and has a program that can cover projects of a scope that might be disqualified for California&rsquo;s. &nbsp;New York City in particular, which might still be a popular location anyway due to the fact that it&rsquo;s New York City, was made even more so by Katherine Oliver, the city&rsquo;s Office of Media and Entertainment director under Mayor Bloomberg. &nbsp;Adding to the city&rsquo;s appeal are free police assistance, and productions that donate to the city&rsquo;s cultural institutions can receive a credit for free advertising.
Evidently, the incentives are working, with 2013 attracting 181 projects, and an estimated $2.1 billion in spending. &nbsp;Marvel will be expanding its extensive list of television and film projects with a 60-epsiode, $200 million budget, Netflix exclusive series based on The Defenders, which will be produced in the city. &nbsp;Mayor De Blasio is taking note; last month, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-new-york-film-commissioner-20140418-story.html" target="_blank" title="&quot;New York Mayor De Blasio names new film commissioner&quot;">he appointed a new film commissioner</a>. &nbsp;Cynthia Lopez, formerly an executive vice president of PBS&rsquo;s &ldquo;POV&rdquo; series, is on board with continuing the program stating, &ldquo;New York City is a thriving center of production and home to thousands of creative professionals who contribute to the film and television industries - and I look forward to leading the administration&rsquo;s efforts to drive more film production to New York.&rdquo;
As it is, Astoria is home to the Kaufman Astoria Studios, which in addition to its current use, has a history that&rsquo;s been so integral to the nation&rsquo;s film heritage that it&rsquo;s been integrated into an arts district. &nbsp;Additionally, a Brooklyn nonprofit group trains lower-income residents to be production assistants. &nbsp;Staten Island is making a case for itself, with a 100,000 square foot production complex in the works.
This leaves New Jersey struggling to keep up, as state legislators <a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/05/nj_senate_panel_wants_more_tax_breaks_for_movie_tv_studios.html" target="_blank" title="&quot;NJ lawmakers want more tax breaks for movie, TV studios&quot;">push a bill to remove existing caps on incentives</a> for the industry, as its been losing its appeal as a shooting location due to a lack of competitive benefits. &nbsp;The existing incentives were put in place in 2005 for a 10-year horizon, but was suspended in 2011 by Governor Christie. &nbsp;Maybe the Toxic Avenger can step in.