Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/688926
Film, TV & Digital Media INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT › 32 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2016 film industry nationwide supported 1.9 mil- lion jobs and $113 billion in total wages in 2013. Connecticut is looking to get its share of that pie. ere are many factors that make Con- necticut a stronghold for the media industry. From a geographic standpoint, the state is strategically placed close enough to New York City to tap into resources there, but far enough away that there are less expensive production costs. Media companies need competent workers, too, and Connecticut has a concentration of highly skilled work- ers that exceeds the national average by 33 percent. Much of the success in the television industry has benefitted from a sort of snow- ball effect. Perhaps the best-known gem in Connecticut's media industry is Bristol's ESPN — the worldwide leader in sports. e company was founded in the late 1970s with Connecticut its home court for broadcasting to the 94 million people who subscribe to the 24-7 sports network. ESPN's stronghold in the state has en- couraged other sports media entities to look to Connecticut. In 2013, NBC completed a $100 million project to consolidate much of its Northeast operations into a new facility in Stamford. It includes 200,000 square feet of production space, plus another 50,000 square feet of administrative offices for NBC Sports, NBC Olympics and Comcast Sports Management — which oversees 14 regional sports networks across the nation. NBC used a $20 million state loan to construct six on air studios and control rooms and 100 edit and graphics rooms at the site. WWE wrestling television, the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets pre- and post-game shows on the YES Network, e Jerry Springer Show and e Maury (Povich) Show also all film in Connecticut. Connecticut has seen its share of major motion pictures filmed in the state, too. One company that's been at the center of film pro- duction in the state is Waterford's Sonalysts. e company was founded more than two decades ago as a consultancy for the U.S. military, but built up an expertise in audio rendering, computer-generated imaging and eventually film production. Sonalysts built three massive sound stages and studios — one 15,000 square feet, another 7,000 and a third 5,000 square feet — which it rents out for television, film and musical production. Given its mili- tary background, its site turned out to be the ideal location to film parts of the Cold War-era thriller "e Hunt for Red October" starring Sean Connery. Legendary movie director Steven Spielberg used the studios to film scenes from his 1995 movie "Amistad." Aerosmith, Billy Joel and Kelly Clarkson have used the sound stages at Sonalysts as a practice space for their world tours. State incentives Perhaps the biggest driver of growth for the state's media industry has been a series of lucrative tax incentives established by the state legislature in recent years. One gives compa- nies up to a 30 percent tax credit for produc- ing film or digital media projects in the state; another infrastructure tax credit is worth up to 20 percent of the cost (above $3 million in spending) of building new permanent media facilities in Connecticut. And there's a digital animation company tax credit, which was established in part to help entice Blue Sky Studios to move into the state. Tax credits were part of the reason why Blue Sky Studios — which since 1997 has been a wholly owned subsidiary of 20th Century Fox — was attracted to Connecti- cut, but it wasn't the only one. "It was the beauty of the space, which has been very conducive to doing creative projects," noted Keane. "And there was also an aggressive, relevant production tax credit program that facilitated our ability to build our business here." Every aspect of the studio's movies is now made in Con- necticut — from inception to story boarding to graphical animations and postproduc- tion renderings. While Connecticut's media sector has strongholds in film, television and digital me- dia, it is a multi-faceted industry. Digital gam- ing companies have used the tax credits, too. Connecticut native Brandon Curiel founded Venan Entertainment more than a decade ago, but in recent years the Middle- town-based company has come into its own. > Continued from page 31 Digital Media, Film & TV Top Employers COMPANY CT HEADQUARTERS Blue Sky Studios Greenwich ESPN Bristol NBC Sports Stamford WWE Stamford PHOTO/BLUE SKY The 2015 film, "The Peanuts Movie," brought Charlie, Snoopy and the gang back to the forefront of the cultural conversation. The digitally animated film was created in Connecticut at Blue Sky Studios in Greenwich.