The Fabelman family first lives in New Jersey in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans.
The semi-autobiographical film begins with young Sammy Fabelman and his parents in New Jersey. The family later moves to Arizona and eventually California as Burt Fabelman’s career develops and the family’s personal relationships change.
The New Jersey setting connects the fictional family to Spielberg’s own early childhood. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but his family moved during his youth, and the film reshapes autobiographical experiences into a coming-of-age story about filmmaking, family, and artistic identity.
The later locations are easy to confuse because much of the film’s emotional development occurs after the move west. Arizona becomes important during Sammy’s adolescence, while California frames the final stage of his path toward a professional film career.