There was bad news and good news laced through the April 19 inaugural meeting of the Connecticut Film and TV Alliance. The bad news was a fatal vehicular accident on I-84 that shut down the highway in both directions, thus delaying many attendees from reaching the meeting”™s location at Southington Cadillac Ranch event hall.
The good news came in the midst of the meeting an update that H.B. 6929, a bill designer to raise Connecticut”™s film and digital media production tax credits from 30% to 37%, successfully made it out of a General Assembly committee and was headed for vote in the full legislature. H.B. 6929 is a keystone in the new organization”™s mission of strengthening the state”™s attractiveness and vitality as a production hub for the film and television industry.
The alliance is spearheaded by Jonathan Black of Chair 10 Productions, a production services company based in Newtown, who told the inaugural meeting”™s attendees ”“ creative artists employed on both sides of the camera that his goal was to bring economic opportunities to Connecticut.
“We want to make sure we create jobs that will create opportunities and bring everyone together,” he said. “And this is going to take a lot of effort to move this state and make it an amazing opportunity for all of us to have jobs.”
Black stressed that the tax credit was crucial in creating a permanent presence for film and television production in Connecticut. Unlike neighboring Westchester and Orange counties in New York or Jersey City in New Jersey, Connecticut does not home sound stage facilities that can accommodate productions year-round.
“We”™re going to be trying to build soundstages,” Black continued. “Who wants to drive over the George Washington Bridge to get work? You want to do it here in your backyard. That”™s the whole purpose of this ”“ we want to do this.”
Black acknowledged his belated arrival to Connecticut, noting that he “lived in Los Angeles for 15 years and now I”™m sitting on six acres of land. And I”™m in heaven. I want to be 10 minutes from where we”™re shooting.”
Beyond H.B. 6929, Black stated the alliance would seek to provide opportunities for Connecticut”™s film and television professionals by launching a casting agency to represent union actors in the state and by hosting quarterly meetings to unite and update the local industry on developments impacting their livelihood.
“We want to double, triple quadruple this room,” Black told the attendees at the inaugural meeting. “We want to be able to pack places out and we want Connecticut to be the next place to go.”
The meeting was also addressed by Bob Dio, a board member of the alliance who is also a union actor and an instructor at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting.
“Our goal is to bring major film feature film productions and television series here to Connecticut,” Dio said. “Right now, most producers don”™t think of Connecticut, where you”™re currently squeezed out between New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and yes, even Atlanta, Georgia, who have hundreds of sound stages up and running. And that”™s a fact. I was astounded when I heard that.”
Dio observed that while Connecticut has “a few independent filmmakers shooting in our state somewhat regularly,” he noted that Black “has been working closely with major studios to coax them to the Nutmeg State. They say they”™ll come if we can prove to them that we have an infrastructure.”
Dio pointed out that while there were many supporters in Hartford of the alliance”™s goals, there were also legislators who were confused about what they were trying to achieve.
“It”™s amazing how many people don”™t understand what we”™re all about and how we make these things called films,” he said, recalling a legislator who assumed a film soundstage was a temporary structure that could be quickly disassembled and packed away when the production ended. “Jonathan and I looked at each other and kind of just said, ”˜Oh, my God.”™”
Dio concluded by stressing the need to show the wider entertainment industry that Connecticut is able to accommodate their business, adding, “As I steal this message from a well-known film: If you build it, they will come.”
As New Jersey and New York work to offer tax breaks for film studios it would be good to know just what the cost of these breaks are. How many jobs and are they permanent or short term. This is not to voice opposition but just an interest in learning what the specific impacts are.
Reality is a majority of film jobs are union and those unions are notoriously difficult to gain entry. Keep this in mind when they tell you about bringing jobs to your state.