Cupertino Filming Locations

CBS’s Cupertino takes its name from one of the most famous cities in Silicon Valley, but the legal drama was largely created on the opposite side of the country. Mike Colter stars as Michael Price, a lawyer who turns against the technology industry after being denied the stock options he believes he is owed. Rachel Keller plays Olivia Siffre, another recently dismissed attorney who joins him in representing people taking on powerful technology companies. Created by Robert and Michelle King, the series premieres on CBS and Paramount+ on October 8, 2026.

The California setting is central to the story, but the production itself belongs primarily to New Jersey. Kearny became the series’ home base, with major sets built at 10 Basin Studios, while crews also moved into real restaurants, downtown streets, corporate buildings and other locations across northern and central New Jersey. The result is a version of Silicon Valley constructed from places thousands of miles from the real Cupertino.

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Where was Cupertino filmed?

Cupertino was filmed mainly in New Jersey, with Kearny serving as the production base. The New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission identified the CBS, Paramount and Skydance production as being based at 10 Basin Studios, with filming scheduled from March through December 2026. State records described the project as a 20-episode series with roughly 110 filming days.

The production also traveled to Dunellen, Hasbrouck Heights, Fort Lee, Iselin, Union, Mahwah and Perth Amboy for practical location work. Together, those places were used to create the series’ fictional version of Silicon Valley while the main interior sets were constructed in Kearny.

Kearny, New Jersey

Kearny is the most important real location behind Cupertino. The production operated from 10 Basin Studios at 10 Basin Drive, where large portions of the series’ technology and legal world were created.

The New York Times visited the production in Kearny and described sets designed to resemble modern Silicon Valley offices, complete with curved architecture, greenery and intentionally unfinished elements. Robert and Michelle King wanted the environments to reflect the start-up culture surrounding the show’s fictional technology companies.

10 Basin Studios contains a 36,000-square-foot main soundstage as well as a second multi-use stage, production offices and other support spaces. That gave the production enough room to construct office interiors and other recurring environments rather than searching for a separate practical building for every scene.

Dunellen, New Jersey

Cupertino filmed in downtown Dunellen during summer 2026. Production notices placed crews around North Avenue, Washington Avenue and Front Street on July 28, with filming continuing into the evening.

Casting information connected with the Dunellen shoot sought children to portray soccer players as well as background performers with their own vehicles. That suggests the area was used for a neighborhood or community sequence rather than one of the show’s corporate interiors.

The production records confirm filming in Dunellen, although the fictional California location represented by those streets has not been publicly identified.

Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey

The production also filmed at an IHOP on Route 17 in Hasbrouck Heights. Local reporting says the restaurant received a one-day filming permit for Cupertino on March 9, 2026.

Using the real restaurant gave the series an ordinary public environment that contrasts with the sleek offices and wealthy technology companies at the center of the story. The property later experienced a serious fire in August 2026, several months after the Cupertino filming had already taken place there.

The available reporting confirms the restaurant as a shooting site but does not identify exactly which finished scene or episode was filmed inside.

Fort Lee, New Jersey

Ventanas Restaurant & Lounge at 200 Park Avenue in Fort Lee became another confirmed Cupertino filming location. The restaurant announced that it would close for production on August 11 and 12, 2026.

Its modern interiors and upscale atmosphere fit easily into the show’s world of lawyers, executives and wealthy technology figures. Unlike the Hasbrouck Heights restaurant, Ventanas offers a more polished visual environment that could convincingly stand in for an upscale Silicon Valley venue.

Production information confirms the restaurant was used for the series, although the fictional name of the location has not been publicly established.

Iselin, New Jersey

Centra Metropark at 186 Wood Avenue South in Iselin has also been identified among Cupertino’s filming locations. The modern glass office complex provides the kind of architecture commonly associated with corporate headquarters and technology companies.

Its appearance makes it particularly useful for a series set in Silicon Valley. Large windows, contemporary office spaces and landscaped business surroundings allow New Jersey to resemble Northern California without requiring extensive exterior set construction.

The production used several similar modern buildings across the state, allowing different New Jersey properties to appear as separate parts of Cupertino’s fictional corporate world.

Union, New Jersey

The Green Lane Academic Building at Kean University in Union was also used during production. The contemporary university building contains modern classrooms, meeting spaces and professional interiors that can be adapted for different screen purposes.

Location reporting connects the campus with Cupertino, although there is not enough reliable information yet to assign the building a specific fictional identity in the series.

Using an existing university property also gave the production another large-scale contemporary environment within easy reach of its Kearny studio base.

Mahwah, New Jersey

Ramapo College in Mahwah provided another filming location, with the Anisfield School of Business identified among the buildings used by the production.

The business school’s modern architecture naturally fits Cupertino’s technology and corporate setting. Its classrooms, offices and common areas can appear on screen as professional environments without requiring viewers to recognize the property as a New Jersey college campus.

As with several other practical locations, the confirmed production connection is stronger than the available scene-specific information, so it is best not to assign a fictional company or institution to the property until the relevant episode makes that clear.

Perth Amboy, New Jersey

Cupertino also reportedly filmed at the Perth Amboy Municipal Courthouse during April 2026. A real courthouse is particularly useful for a series built around lawyers taking on large technology companies, allowing the production to incorporate an existing civic building rather than constructing every legal environment on a soundstage.

The courthouse expands the show’s New Jersey production map beyond the corporate and residential locations used elsewhere. It also demonstrates how the series combined purpose-built interiors at 10 Basin Studios with practical buildings around the state.

Was Cupertino filmed in California?

Cupertino is set in Silicon Valley, but the strongest production evidence places the main shoot in New Jersey rather than California. Early industry listings mentioned Cupertino and San Francisco as planned locations, but state film records, local filming notices and reporting from the working set consistently identify New Jersey as the production’s real center.

Limited California establishing material may still have been obtained, but there is not enough reliable evidence to describe the real city of Cupertino as a major filming location. The fictional California world seen in the series was primarily created through New Jersey studios, offices, restaurants, streets and public buildings.

For viewers interested in tracing the production, Kearny is the natural starting point. It housed the principal sets at 10 Basin Studios, while Dunellen, Hasbrouck Heights, Fort Lee, Iselin, Union, Mahwah and Perth Amboy supplied the practical locations that helped turn New Jersey into Silicon Valley.