(NEWARK, NJ) -- Atlantic City is prominently featured in the highly-anticipated sports drama Bruised, set to air on Netflix on November 24. The movie stars Oscar-winner Halle Berry and marks her directorial debut. It is a story about a former mixed-martial arts fighter struggling to regain custody of her son and rekindle her athletic career. Bruised was written by Michelle Rosenfarb, and produced by Basil Iwanyk, Brad Feinstein, Guymon Casady, Linda Gottlieb, Erica Lee, Gillian G. Hormel, Paris Kassidokosta-Latsis and Terry Douglas.
Filmed entirely in New Jersey, the movie was shot largely at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and Elite Heat Boxing Gym on Mount Pleasant Avenue in Newark. Cast members include Shamier Anderson (Wyonna Earp), Adam Canto (Designated Survivor), Sheila Atim (Bounty Hunters), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Lincoln), UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko and Lela Loren (Power).
Motion picture and television production in New Jersey has been booming since the Garden State Film and Digital Media Jobs Act took effect in 2018, and businesses across the state are profiting. In 2019, production work enhanced the local economy by more than $420 million and created thousands of jobs. Filmmakers have already spent in excess of $500 million in the year-to-date.
“We are delighted that Halle Berry chose the Garden State to make her feature film directorial debut, and that Atlantic City will be front and center,” said Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “Throughout the production in both Atlantic City and Newark, the team behind Bruised spent nearly $10 million in New Jersey and hired hundreds of local cast and crew members to bring this project to the big screen.”
The New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program currently offers eligible production companies a 30-35% transferable tax credit on qualified film production expenses, and an additional 2% diversity bonus for qualified productions. Bruised is one of many projects recently attracted to the state by the program. Other recent New Jersey projects include the Warner Bros. feature The Many Saints of Newark, Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming remake of West Side Story.
The NJ Motion Picture and TV Commission (NJMPTVC), which falls under the New Jersey Department of State’s Business Action Center, is staffed by industry professionals and serves as a resource for production companies. The Commission promotes film and television production in New Jersey.
