In attempting to create an oasis for the silver screen, whether by accident or by design, Connecticut has become an outpost for the small screen.
And it”™s turning into big business.
In 2006, after Connecticut instituted a 30 percent tax credit on film and TV production expenses, the film industry responded ”“ both in the form of major feature films shooting on the streets of Connecticut, as well as with Blue Sky Studios”™ relocation to Greenwich from across the border in White Plains, N.Y.
Save for Blue Sky, however, feature films in the mix for Connecticut have slowed to a crawl ”“ entering 2012, the Connecticut Film Office listed no crew or casting calls for upcoming movies to be made in Connecticut. “Pawn,” an indie thriller from Michael Chiklis, wrapped up a three-week shoot in West Hartford last month. After surfacing 14 months ago, the “Thunder in the Deep” submarine thriller has yet to move forward with filming in the New London area.
If movie work is flagging in Connecticut, that void has been offset by increasing television work ”“ most recently in the case of NBC Sports”™ and the NHL Networks”™ move this past fall to create a major new studio in Stamford.
“I think the changes have made the program more efficient,” said Kevin Segalla, CEO of the Connecticut Film Center who worked to bring NBC Sports to the city. “It is becoming much more television-oriented and less movie-oriented ”¦ From a TV point of view, we have really arrived as a permanent industry.”
The Connecticut Film Center provides studio space for two series today, Showtime”™s “The Big C” and TBS”™ “Are We There Yet?” Rich Forum hosts three NBC talk shows and Encompass Digital Media has three studios occupied by A&E, Lifetime and the YES Network at 250 Harbor Drive. And World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. secured space at a Connecticut Film Center studio in Norwalk as Stamford-based WWE readies a cable network for this year.
In a universe where cable TV networks have a thousand channels to fill ”“ figuratively or not ”“ as a now-known commodity Connecticut would figure to get an increased share of the action.
Small problem ”“ there aren”™t a whole lot of studios more to accommodate the industry. The Connecticut Film Center competes with more than 50 studios in New York alone, though its three largest soundstages in Stamford and Norwalk are as large as most of those in the Big Apple, as tallied by the New York State Film Office. Plans for film lots in Stratford have yet to move forward.
“Facilities are a tricky business,” Segalla said. “We are working on more ”¦ We are hoping we could pull something together quickly.”
And New York has countered Connecticut”™s incentives with up to $420 million annually through 2014 to support its own film tax credit programs, including a new credit covering 10 percent of post-production expenses even for footage shot elsewhere, though the latter credit is capped at just $7 million.
Still, New York”™s tax credit is non-transferable, representing a simple refund. Under Connecticut”™s program, producers can sell off the tax credit they generate at a discount, allowing smaller productions to get cash up front to pay for expenses. Legislators altered the credit to allow only a quarter of its value to be transferred in any given year ”“ save in cases where a program has been created entirely at a qualified production facility, in which case the full credit can be transferred. That would appear to favor more television work, where producers need a set for ongoing taping.
If aiding the television industry in Connecticut, Segalla says more than anything the industry looks for stability in its outlook, like any other business.
“One thing that we can do is stop messing with the tax credits every year,” Segalla said. “Every year there”™s talk about it, and it creates instability that hampers growth.”
