Connecticut Technology & Intellectual Property

The Connecticut General Assembly continues to tweak its “Hollywood East” initiatives, which provide tax credits for producers of digital media and motion pictures filmed in state.  Substitute House Bill No. 6505 addresses a common critique of the effort to attract producers of digital media and motion pictures – the existence and development of a workforce with the requisite skills to support the production of these projects.

The bill would establish three film industry training programs designed to stimulate film and digital media employment in Connecticut.  The following state agencies will be tasked with fulfilling the General Assembly’s objectives: 

• The Connecticut Committee on Culture and Tourism (CCCT) would collaborate with the Office of Workforce Competitiveness (OWC) in various efforts to notify media and film professsionals, living in Connecticut, of various opportunities, as well as providing seminars on the film industry
• The OWC would establish a film industry training program to specifically support the areas of film production and digital media
• The Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) would establish a film industry job program targeting a wide-range of individuals, from experienced feature film industry professionals to students interested in the industry

The General Assembly’s tripartite approach appears a bit redundant.  Nevertheless the initiative is significant.  Rather than rely on tax breaks alone, the General Assembly is attempting to build an infrastructure to support the digital film and media industry in Connecticut.  The measure does notnot ensure success, but certainly appears to be a step in the right direction.

-Dan Fitzgerald

Gregg Notes: 

Remember that video game productions are included in the “digital media” definitions.   As I explained in a previous ConnTIP post (Connecticut Video Game Industry – Promise and Pitfalls), video game development could prove to be a valuable facet of the expansion of high-tech industry in the state, and these tax credits are an important incentive for its growth in Connecticut.

- Gregg J. Lallier