For years, Connecticut has been the state for Christmas movies. But it may lose its title, because producers say state support is shrinking and uncertain.
Andrew Gernhard is a lifelong Connecticut resident who founded his movie production company, Synthetic Cinema International, and filmed many Christmas movies in his home state. The state even launched a Christmas Movie Trail to celebrate these productions.
But now, Gernhard has moved his work to Buffalo, New York, because that state offers much better financial incentives for filmmakers. He’s currently working on his second project in Buffalo.
“The main problem is Connecticut's film and television incentive is basically on the blocks of what's happening to it,” Gernhard said. “Is it staying the same? Is it changing? And nobody knows, which uncertainty is what will push networks and studios away from shooting in Connecticut. Uncertainty is the big thing. And I know the proposed changes, still up in the air, will also not help film and television to come to the state of Connecticut.”
Connecticut offers a 30% tax credit for film production, but it’s constantly under threat of being reduced. In contrast, Gernhard’s new home base of Buffalo offers up to 45% cash rebates. That saves producers hundreds of thousands of dollars per movie. Plus, Gernhard said there’s a better local film infrastructure.
Now the question is, is it possible to recreate the Christmas-y settings of Connecticut in another state?
“I love Connecticut,” he said. “Connecticut does have the perfect look for Christmas movies. You know, the Victorian houses, the streets, the small towns, the gazebos – everything is close to each other. So you have hotels for your crew that can be close by. But New York also has that. We've already shot in various small towns, and Buffalo in particular. And they have similar looks, like Hartford can be New York, but also Downtown Buffalo can be New York, or it could be Hartford, or it could be Chicago or Boston. And then there are parts of Connecticut that can look like Virginia or even Minnesota. Same thing for Buffalo. So I would say it's almost an equal playing field, as far as location looks, but Buffalo has a little bit more to choose from and Connecticut has a little bit more condensed. So I would say the actual look and feel of locations are very similar. But I do feel there's more available in Buffalo because it's a larger net.”
And he said he’s not the only one who has moved production to New York state.
“New York is going to become the new Christmas state because they already have five of them this year alone,” Gernhard said. “And they're also getting a lot of bigger films. I'm hearing that $5 to $10 million films are coming here. I'm hearing that there's going to be a series up here in Buffalo, and what is terrible is that a lot of this work could go to Connecticut and we're just totally missing that revenue stream.”
He said that losing the motion picture and television industry would be a very bad look for Connecticut, and some sort of action must be taken.
“I think Connecticut's got to do something or they're going to totally miss the boat. There's a lot of turmoil in film and television right now. And New Jersey and New York, I think, are going to be the epicenter of getting all the business in America for domestic shoots because they've got large infrastructure; New Jersey's got like a 35% incentive, New York is at 40%.”
According to Gernhard, an increase in the credit to at least 35%, along with a guarantee to maintain it for at least a decade, could be a good way to bring production companies back to Connecticut.
“I think to make projects and producers come to Connecticut, they need something that is long-term. My dream would be that Connecticut would offer a 35 or 40% incentive and keep that for ten years, so people can build a base.”
