Connecticut Law offers filmmakers 30 percent tax credit

posted by shoeshoe14 on May 3, 2007 at 12:44 pm

In July, Connecticut passed a law that offers filmmakers a 30 percent tax credit for productions costing $50,000 or more – cited as the most generous for filmmakers in the United States. This has worked as we’ve seen 5 movies being filmed in Southwestern Connecticut since then, with more slated for the coming months.

New portions of the initiative would extend eligibility to 50 percent of a production’s out-of-state expenses and eliminate limits on talent fees for extras and actors with small roles. Pornography would not qualify.

Credits cannot be granted to actors making more than $10 million to anyone working on a production or their representatives.

A 10 to 20 percent tax credit to build more film production studios and other movie and television infrastructure will also happen soon.

This past week, a Barry Levinson-directed film (he lives in nearby Redding) was shooting in downtown Stamford, the fifth movie to be filmed there since July. The movie, called What Just Happened? stars Robert DeNiro, Sean Penn, John Turturro, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci and many more. They were also filming in nearby Bridgeport at a movie theater (which had to be cleared out to film in).

Mr. Deeds (2002) with Adam Sandler was filmed in New Milford many years ago and Sleepers (1996) with Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn was filmed at the former Fairfield Hills Psychiatric Hospital in Newtown. Steven Seagal is scouting locations in Stamford and Norwalk for his new movie Marker.

The CT Film Commission was started under the umbrella of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism in 2003 and offers incentives for statewide film television and media production.

Feature films, television commercials have pumped more than $67 million into Connecticut’s economy.