While New Jersey's big bet on the TV and film industry has hit the jackpot with a massive Netflix studio, a new analysis of Connecticut's film and digital media tax credit shows a fiscal benefit to the state of less than $1 million, despite more than $500 million in spending on Connecticut productions during the 2022 fiscal year.

Connecticut has offered tax credits for film, TV and digital productions since 2007, tweaking incentives over the years to lure more permanent jobs as the industry has evolved with the proliferation of digital production tools. Connecticut's tax credit tops out at 30 percent of qualifying expenses for productions costing $1 million or more.

ESPN and WWE have claimed credits over the years for their studios in Connecticut. NBC Sports moved its headquarters in 2012 to Stamford from New York City to take advantage of the incentives.

Blue Sky Studios relocated to Greenwich from New York, only to be shuttered two years ago after Walt Disney took over. Over 13 years, Connecticut awarded $267 million in tax credits on Blue Sky production expenses totaling $1 billion.

In the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development's annual report for 2022, posted online last week, DECD estimated the net fiscal impact from Connecticut's film and digital production tax credit for the fiscal year ending in June 2022 at $857,000.

The big giveaways have generated critiques over the years from some lawmakers who have questioned whether the state could get better returns through other economic incentive programs. Alongside four Democrat co-sponsors, state Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, filed a bill this year to phase out the film production tax credit over time. The General Assembly's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, on which Elliott sits, had yet to take any action on the bill as of Friday morning.

DECD says the tax credit has benefits that do not show up in the fiscal impact figure, including college programs that have been developed to train people for careers in digital production; and isolated examples of the relocation of studios like NBC Sports and the defunct Blue Sky.

But Gov. Ned Lamont's former DECD commissioner told legislators last year the state's film tax credit was one of the two most generous nationally per capita, with what he termed "a sharp fall off" after Georgia and Connecticut. The states are among a handful nationally that do not cap tax credits annually or by project size.

"If there was a dialing back of certain programs that we oversee, that would be the one I would suggest," Lehman said during a June 2022 Appropriations Committee hearing. "Does the cost exceed the benefit here? And I think that's something the General Assembly should explore again."

In an annual report this month, DECD stated the tax credits "supported and continue to support a range of projects, further encouraging companies to carry out long-term productions" in Connecticut.

Netflix chose the mothballed U.S. Army base on the New Jersey shore for a massive East Coast production lot, with plans to spend more than $900 million on the project with state incentives. Fort Monmouth is roughly the same distance to midtown Manhattan as Bridgeport. A DECD spokesperson declined to comment last year on whether Connecticut offered any alternatives for the Netflix studio, citing confidentiality in ongoing discussions the state has with Netflix.

Netflix estimates the New Jersey studios will generate at least $3.8 billion annually for the state economy. The state offers a 35 percent tax credit on eligible expenses and 4 percent more for productions that meet the criteria for diversity in the crews they hire to work on films and TV shows.

Last month, the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission revealed its inaugural group of towns certified under a "Film Ready Communities" initiative to encourage on-location film and TV shoots while enlisting native Danny DeVito and others to pump up opportunities there in a promotional video.

"When I get a call to explore 'where are we going to shoot this' ... I call the film commissions," said Carol Cuddy, a producer nominated for a 2014 Emmy for the HBO series "True Detective," which ran six seasons. "The New Jersey Film Commission is without compare."