Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • February 11, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Matt Pilon mpilon@hartfordbusiness.com C ertain movies are inextri- cably tied to the cities in which they're set — urban geographies that stamp their identities onto the films, just like the actors do. Boston's got "Good Will Hunting" and "The Departed"; Chicago has "Fer- ris Bueller's Day Off"; and New York? Too many to pick. Those are prominent cities, certainly, with major league sports teams and populations many times that of Hart- ford, but couldn't the Capital City of one of the country's wealthiest states get just one such movie connection? A New York-based production team says it's ready to try with a film about famed Hartford boxer Willie Pep. A few local executives have pledged their own money to back the produc- tion, hoping Hartford can land its own version of "Rocky," the iconic Sylvester Stallone film that boosted Philadel- phia's profile in the mid-1970s. "Pep" is about famed featherweight boxer Guglielmo Papaleo, who was born in Middletown and trained to fight in Hartford, where he had his first profes- sional bout in 1940. Papaleo, who died in 2006 at a Rocky Hill nursing home, is said to have collected the highest number of wins of any boxer in history over his 22-year pro career. Before Brooklyn-based production company Pep Films LLC can get into any of that story, it needs to raise hun- dreds of thousands of dollars to cover the film's projected $1.5 million budget. Last fall, the company bailed on a plan to shoot the movie in Cleveland, Ohio, after it couldn't raise enough money. It soon turned its sights to Papaleo's home turf, visiting twice last month to scout potential filming loca- tions at The Society Room, XL Center, Pratt Street, The Hartford Club, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, local diners, parks and other spots. After just a few months, "Pep" has made hay here in Hartford, securing nearly $300,000 in equity investments. One "Pep" backer is Manon Cox, former CEO of Meriden's Protein Sci- ences, which Sanofi acquired in 2017 in a deal worth at least $650 million. Cox, who has agreed to invest $100,000, is certainly no boxing junkie, nor a film- production investor. "It's totally weird, it's not some- thing I've ever done before or thought about," Cox said in an interview. There's always a chance a major studio buys "Pep" at Sundance and its investors make a handsome profit, but Cox knows the movie business can be tough. She views her "Pep" bet as potentially risky, but worth making. The reason she decided to kick in a six-figure sum is because she hopes the movie will raise the profile of Hart- ford and the state. "We have so many people speaking negatively about the state," Cox said. "It's important for Connecticut to start creating some buzz, and whatever we can do to make that happen is good." Protein Science's former head of global business development, Daniel Adams, is also investing $100,000. Adams, an attorney, has some prior experience with film investment con- tracts. While he's not counting on turn- ing a profit, he feels pretty good about what "Pep" is offering to investors. The terms seem favorable, he said. "Hartford needs some help, and any- thing I can do to help, I'll do," Adams said. Meanwhile, Robert Patricelli, former CEO of Women's Health USA (he sold his majority stake in 2017) and recent co-chair of the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth, con- firmed he has also pledged an undis- closed investment in the movie. "Willie Pep was part of growing up in Hartford and I think we need to celebrate our history as the city finds its footing," said Patricelli, who recalled his father — a longtime WTIC television and radio executive — taking him in his youth to watch boxing matches in South Hartford. Patricelli, who was around 12 years old when Pep fought his final title match in 1951, can't remember seeing the boxer fight live, but recalls meeting him and listening to his fights on the radio. He thinks the movie could provide a shot in the arm for Hartford's fairly active boxing community. But can it possibly achieve Rocky-esque heights? "Needs a good theme song," Patri- celli quipped. Local connections Having a well-connected advocate on the ground wrangling investors has been crucial in Hartford, said Pep Films principal Steve Loff, who is the producer and author of the movie's script, and a studio accountant by day. For Loff and his team, a key person in Hartford has been Donna Collins, associate publisher of the Hartford Business Journal. Enthused by the potential boost a feature film might provide for Hartford, she agreed several months ago to take on "Pep" fundraising as a side project, after Hartford attorney John Wolfson of Feiner Wolfson LLC called her to ask for help. Wolfson's son-in-law, Larry Hummel, is a "Pep" producer and a voiceover talent agent in Los Angeles. When Wolfson learned from Hummel that a movie about a Hartford boxing legend wasn't going to be filmed anywhere near Hartford, he was perturbed. "This is a Hartford story about a Hartford hometown hero, and you Hartford's 'Rocky'? CT execs pony up for film about Willie Pep's boxing comeback CT's film tax credits In 2006, Connecticut launched a series of tax credits to entice in-state production of movies, digital media, animation, and investments in related infrastructure. The legislature made motion pictures mostly ineligible as of July 2013, so the producers of "Pep" intend to release their film on a stream- ing platform to qualify for a 30 percent credit worth more than $300,000. Here's a breakdown of film tax credits in Connecticut in recent years. Source: DECD annual reports 0 $100,000 $200,000 $300,000 $400,000 $500,000 $600,000 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 $ figures in 000s Qualified expenditures Tax credits issued Several local executives have invested in a production company working to make a movie about the late Connecticut boxer Willie Pep (left), a featherweight champion who holds the record for career wins. Actor James Madio, pictured right at a New Britain diner, will play the lead role of Pep, who died in 2006, if the film makes it to production. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED

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