Real estate developer and co-creator of E! Entertainment, Alan Mruvka, is making a nine-figure bet that the historic Reinhardt Mill complex in Paterson can become a destination for entertainment. The developer is set to lead a $250 million project that will deliver a 250,000 square-foot studio at 61 State Street.
The project, known as ‘Filmology Labs,’ will be optimized for mobile-first mini-series, podcasts, and AI-driven media. It will feature 21 production sound stages with permanent standing sets designed for speed and scale, according to a report in Variety. It will include AI studios, podcast studios, a green-screen stage, creative office space, a commissary for up to 200 people, and a fitness and yoga studio, to name a few.
Mruvka said that his own mobile-first, mini-series platform Verza TV will be housed in the new studio and that the project is intended to support the production of at least two other mini-series, also known as micro-drama productions, from other producers, production companies, and independent content creators.
A press release from Filmology Labs emphasized that the decision to set up shop in the Garden State came down to the ability for production companies to take advantage of the state’s tax credits. The location in Paterson, the firm said in that same release, is also strategic due to its proximity to I-80 and New York City.
Although the project will be Mruvka’s first studio in Silk City, it will not be his first commercial development in Paterson. Mruvka is the founder of self-storage firm StorageBlue, which owns four locations in New Jersey, including Paterson, at 204 Van Houten Street, Clifton, Newark, and Garfield.
He did not return a request for comment from Jersey Digs.
While Filmology Labs will attempt to reinvent the historic complex, and bring a whole new industry to Paterson, the project is poised to change the literal ‘fabric’ of the city.
The building at 61 State Street is part of a larger complex that was designated a Historic Place by the National Park Service in 2003. It was built in 1909 as part of Franz Reinhardt’s silk shoelace and cotton dyeing business and remained in operation until the 1970s. The building was then sold to Garden State Cutting Co., according to a report in Daily Voice, which used the building until the late 1990s. The building sat vacant for many years afterward. The moving company Padded Wagon moved into the building in 2016, but the building was listed for sale in April 2025 for $13 million by the brokerage firm The Marmarou Team.
A portion of the complex has already been redeveloped into the Paterson Commons apartment complex and Philip’s Academy, the latter of which was opened in 2019.
While several reports from Variety and other publications mention that the mobile-first mini-series industry is in its relative infancy, and earned less than $7 billion worldwide in 2025, the industry is projected to expand exponentially in the next decade, which could be good news for Mruvka and Paterson.
A report in Variety said that mobile-first studios like Quibi, which raised nearly $1.8 billion in funding and recruited talent including Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro, struggled to take off and were shut down in less than six months. Chinese digital studios have found more success outside of Hollywood. Revenues from Chinese mini-series surpassed domestic box office revenues for the first time in 2024, when they reached $7 billion. That was just three years after revenues for these mini-series were at $500 million.
The success in the industry has been characterized by low production costs, speed, scale, and repeatable intellectual property, but has been hindered by the high cost of distribution, according to Variety.
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