STAMFORD – When Mayor Caroline Simmons met with Gov. Ned Lamont recently about the plan to cut the film, TV, and digital media tax credit to 25%, she gave credit to the Stamford coalition of businesses who joined her to keep the credit at 30%.
“They (the governor and economic development and community development commissioner) definitely recognize the value and jobs that these companies are bringing,” the mayor told a crowd of people in the Stamford Government Center today. “It’s (film and digital media) a substantial part of our economy. It’s one of fastest growing sectors.
“When we think about how our city has evolved from being one of the financial hubs of the region. It’s really now transitioning into really a digital media hub as being one of our clusters and industry sectors.”
A recent state Department of Economic Community Development report stated that each dollar the state spends on film and TV production tax credits generates more than $5 in economic output, resulting in a net gain of $30 million in state tax revenue over the past five years.
Simmons, who was joined by representatives of the Connecticut Film and TV Alliance and Digital Media & Design Department at UConn earlier today, cited a list of production companies that have called Stamford home the past decade. They include WWE, NBC Universal, NBC Sports, and ITV America.
The proposed tax credit, which is now in the Senate Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding, was shot down two years in a row. In his fiscal 2026 budget, the governor stated the reduction in the film tax credit would raise $9.2 million in FY 2026 and $17.1 million in FY 2027. That would be part of a tax revenue plan to raise $368.1 million in general fund revenue for 2026 and $594.7 million for 2027.
“Cutting a revenue-positive program at a time when major companies such as NBC Sports, ESPN, and Major League Soccer have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into infrastructure in Connecticut puts the state at risk of losing tens of thousands of long-term jobs and weakens our position as a leading sports media and entertainment production hub,” Simmons added.
At the same time as the press conference, the Connecticut Film and TV Alliance (CTFTA) released the results of a voter survey conducted by Echelon Insights. It showed overwhelming levels of support for the tax credit.
According to the poll, overwhelming bipartisan support for the existing credit with 79% of voters supporting the program — including 84% of Democrats, 79% of Independents, and 72% of Republicans. Additionally, 66% of voters expressed significant concern that cutting these incentives would shift production — and vital economic activity — to neighboring states like New York and New Jersey, and Rhode Island.
For the survey, 455 registered voters in the likely electorate were interviewed between March 3 and March 6. More than two-thirds of respondents were contacted via text message to complete the survey online and the remaining 33% were interviewed using a web survey. Calculated the way it would be for a random sample and adjusted to weighting, the margin of sampling error is +/- 4.0 percentage points.
“One of the reasons we have been able to have a very successful and thriving program in digital media and design at UConn is that there are so many opportunities here,” said Heather Elliott-Famularo, professor and head of the Digital Media & Design Department at UConn and Board Member of the CT Film and TV Alliance.
“There are very few places where students can walk down the road and do an internship at places like WWE, NBC Sports, NBC Universal, you name it,” she added.
Lauren Black, who owns Newtown-based Chair 10 Productions with her husband Jonathan, told those gathered at the Stamford Government Center how much the much improved film industry in Connecticut.
“It’s really great for me knowing that my industry is thriving in this state,” she said. “There are a lot of opportunities for people like me here. I talked to people in L.A. And they asked me if you want to get out of L.A., where should I go. I told them to come to Connecticut.”
