Montclair, NJ – If you were a first time visitor coming to Montclair State’s campus this week, you might think you took a really wrong turn. In place of Montclair State’s usual banner and signs, the campus was decked out to look like the University of Florida.

Flags with the Gators logo hang from every lamppost. Susan A. Cole Hall has been re-labelled as “Frazier Rogers Hall.” Multiple fake palm trees were wheeled onto campus to evoke a tropical atmosphere.

Miguel Rodriguez, Montclair State class of 2023, was dressed in his graduation attire, so he could take pictures to commemorate his graduation. His friend, Asa Hinson, Montclair State class of 2022, was his photographer.

Rodriguez and Hinson were trying to avoid the University of Florida signage in their photos.

“It’s graduation time,” Rodriguez said. “We are gonna have people come here to take pictures and I feel like I am at [the University of] Florida.”

Hinson noted that Montclair and Florida are very different places.

“I went on a college tour in Florida before actually attending Montclair State,” Hinson said. “The vibe is completely different. The people are just so different. What they wear is different. People up here are still wearing jeans and stuff.”


There is a reason for their confusion. 20th Century Television is filming American Sports Story: Gladiator on Montclair State’s campus. 20th Century Television opened a film studio in Kearny, New Jersey in 2022. It is within close proximity of Montclair State.

20th Century Television already released details about American Sports Story: Gladiator. It is a spin-off of the popular true crime series American Crime Story.

According to a press release from August 2021, “the limited series charts the rise and fall of NFL (and University of Florida) superstar Aaron Hernandez and explores the connections of the disparate strands of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide, and their legacy in sports and American culture.”

Jeff Pinedo, a production assistant on American Sports Story: Gladiator, was a TV production major at Montclair State. He graduated in 2020.

“I have heard of other shows shooting here, shows like Evil,” Pinedo recalled. “I think Wu Tang [An American Saga] was shot here. I know a couple other shows I’ve shot here, but I’ve never physically been here for a shoot.”

Pinedo described the set as a big production. Hundreds of college students worked on Montclair State’s campus as extras.

“I would say today we have upwards of 250 background and we have a crew of over 130,” Pinedo said.

Rahul Thakkar, a Graduate Assistant in Montclair State’s Computer Science department, found it objectionable to focus more attention on a killer.

“I watched the documentary about [Hernandez] on Netflix,” Thakkar said. “It’s a tragic story about a football player turned into a murderer, but I don’t like just giving more attention to that. I don’t know why it was picked up. It creates more attention for someone like that.”

For Pinedo, this is just a day in the life working in the film industry, but he understands he has a unique job.

“This is not that weird to me, but I’m sure for other people who don’t know what’s happening, it could be confusing to see things from another school.”

Once Rodriguez and Hinson learned that the University of Florida signs were props, it made a lot more sense.

“I was a TV production major,” Hinson said. “As a [TV] production major, I understand it, but at the same time, I think ‘why couldn’t they just go to Florida?’”

Photos: Hank Greenberg