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Film, TV & Digital Media INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT › 32 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2017 Spin offs In 2012, NBC Sports Group opened its brand new headquarters in Stamford, a 320,000-square-foot campus costing about $100 million. It has six on-air studios and control rooms, more than 50 editing and graphics suites and includes more than 1,200 miles of broadcast cable. Almost all of NBC Sports' major programming now originates from Connecticut, including the in-studio portions of its flagship Sunday Night Foot- ball broadcasts, and the domestic base for its coverage of the Olympics. David Mazza, senior vice president and chief technology officer for NBC Sports, over- saw the redevelopment of the former Clairol factory into the Stamford headquarters and said the location was a natural fit. e state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) provided a loan to renovate the 32-acre site in exchange for the company agreeing to hire 450 workers. Being in Stamford meant that NBC Sports could readily find the talent to fill those jobs, Mazza says. ESPN's history in Bristol has created a wealth of workers, plus NBC is able to attract New York-based talent thanks to Stamford's close proximity. "By locating here, we're able to tap into the Manhattan-based workforce, but we have more space that's less expensive than being in New York," he explains. "at's hard to find." e DECD loan is one of many initiatives run by the state to encourage business devel- opment specifically in the media industry. Others include a digital media and motion picture tax credit, a digital animation pro- duction company credit, as well as hotel and property tax exemptions for media produc- tion. Since introducing the tax incentives in 2006, Norfleet says the state has distributed $555 million in tax credits, resulting in more than $1.8 billion in investments. Other media companies have followed NBC's lead, including is Old House Ven- tures, which owns the iconic home improve- ment show and various spinoffs. TZP Growth Partners, a private equity firm, purchased is Old House Ventures from Time Inc. and moved the operations in June 2016 from Manhattan to 12,000 square feet in Stamford. Collegiate connections While a major benefit for Connecticut's media industry is access to workers, educa- tional institutions in the state don't take that for granted. ere's been a concerted effort in recent years to train the next generation of workers for this industry. e University of Connecticut launched its Digital Media and Design Center five years ago and has 360 students taking courses at two campuses (in Storrs and Stamford) in six new media concentrations. "What's really exciting is the graduat- ing students aren't just getting entry-level jobs, they're getting jobs that are trending toward middle management and leadership positions," says Tim Hunter, who conceived the idea for the center and now runs it. "We're really proud of the quality of student coming out of the program and the jobs they're getting." Sacred Heart University in Fairfield has its own graduate program in sports com- munication and media, which launched three years ago. "You could make the argument that Connecticut is the center of sports media for the entire world," says Associate Professor Andrew Miller, who helps run the program that has graduated 50 students. "at puts us in a unique position to focus on this impor- tant sector. We can only do this because we're in Connecticut." While these programs are develop- ing the next wave of media workers, media professionals already working in Connecti- cut continue to find it as good of a place as any to do business. Connecticut native and author Wally Lamb can attest to that. Lamb is perhaps best known for his two novels that were chosen by Oprah Winfrey's national book club: "She's Come Undone" and "I Know is Much Is True." But Lamb, a former high-school English teacher at the Norwich Free Academy, saw his work on the big screen in 2014, when one of his other novels, "Wishin' and Hopin' " was made into a motion picture. It's a holiday-themed period piece from the 1960s about a fih-grade boy in the fictional town of ree Rivers, CT. "It's more or less fashioned aer me," Lamb says. It's narrated by Chevy Chase, fea- Digital Media, Film & TV Top Employers COMPANY CT HEADQUARTERS Blue Sky Studios Greenwich ESPN Bristol NBC Sports Stamford WWE Stamford PHOTO/NBC Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison on the set of Football Night in America. > Continued from page 31