April 7, 2025
Meet the Bloomquist brothers, two of CT’s most prolific filmmakers; as film industry grows, tax credits remain in crosshairs
HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER
Erik Bloomquist (left) listens as his brother Carson makes a point about filmmaking while sitting in Cinestudio at Trinity College in Hartford. The Newington natives have produced nine films and a New England Emmy-winning TV series.
Newington natives Erik and Carson Bloomquist have co-produced nine films and an Emmy-winning TV show, and nearly all of them were filmed in Connecticut.
Erik, 32, is a producer, writer, director and actor, while Carson, 29, is a producer, writer and editor. Together, they founded Mainframe Pictures, an independent production company based in Hartford.
Their most recent film, “Founders Day” — which Carson described as having a “‘Parks and Rec’ meets ‘Scream’” theme — was released in January 2024. It was primarily filmed in New Milford.
“It’s a beautiful place to shoot,” Erik said. “We had community support. So, it’s just a really nice little bubble to be in. … We like working within and being part of a community of folks.”
Connecticut is a location scout’s dream, he said, offering settings ranging from forests to beaches, from urban to farmland.
“One of the cool things about Connecticut is that it has everything here,” Erik said. “Everything except desert.”
Like all companies that produce films, TV shows and digital content in Connecticut, Mainframe Pictures has made ample use of the state’s film tax credits.
That credit recently has been the target of those who think the money it provides to the film, TV and digital media industry — estimated at more than $1.5 billion since it was first available in 2007 — could best be spent elsewhere.
For the third year in a row, there is an effort in the General Assembly to reduce the tax credit; some want it fully eliminated.
Among those proposing a cut is Gov. Ned Lamont. His budget bill — currently under consideration by the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee — proposes reducing the 30% tax credit to 25%.
That would save the state $26.3 million over two fiscal years, according to the Democratic governor’s budget proposal.
Those in the film and TV industry, though, say a reduction would have the same effect as eliminating the credit — that is, it will cause productions to leave the state.
‘A consideration’
All types of film, TV and digital productions are eligible for the state’s film tax credit, as long as the production company spends a minimum of $100,000 in Connecticut.
The Bloomquists declined to discuss their production costs, but Erik recently led a fundraising campaign that provides a window into the business of making a movie.
According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public last September, Erik was seeking to sell equity in a company called Truth Ambassador LLC, with a minimum investment starting at $10,000, and a goal of raising $150,000.
The fundraising goal was met, according to the filing.
Speaking generally about raising equity for projects, Erik said each movie is “its own specific entity. So, the way we do it is each movie is its own kind of vehicle for investors.”
He said many production companies create “short-term LLC vehicles” that are specific to each project, and then close them after they’re completed.
While the majority of their productions have been filmed in Connecticut, Erik said any changes to the tax credit would be considered when they develop future projects.
“Tax credits are a consideration,” he said, “but there’s no hard-and-fast answer, as there are many factors that contribute to decisions for where we end up shooting — including locations, time of year, proximity to crew, and various intangibles that complement the specific needs of any given production.”
‘Scares people’
Others in the industry, though, say the tax credit is generally a prime consideration for production companies.
Jonathan Black
Jonathan Black, partner and producer with Chair 10 Productions in Newtown and co-founder of the Connecticut Film & TV Alliance (CTFTVA), says major studios and independent film production companies factor any state’s tax credit into their budgets.
“If you have a $10 million budget, the financier only gives you $7 million,” with the rest expected to be covered by the return from the tax credit, Black said.
Black, who has fought against altering or eliminating the tax credit for three straight years, said even talk of changing the incentive “scares people.”
“We’ve lost projects already,” he said. “People don’t trust the state.”
Edward Cohen, also a co-founder of CTFTVA, said that once a production is approved, the first decision is where to film it.
“The first decision that overrides that is, ‘Where am I going to get the best tax incentive right now?’” Cohen said. “The tax incentive, as it exists now, we have been able to sell.”
Black said a cut to 25% would place Connecticut’s tax credit well below those offered by other states.
New Jersey, for example, offers a 30% to 35% film tax credit, plus a bonus diversity credit of 2% to 4%.
“If I’m a producer doing a $40 million or $50 million movie and I look at a 25% credit and a 37% credit,” Black said, “where do you think I’m going to go?”
Black also noted that he continues to fight the myth, expressed by opponents, that the tax credit only lines the pockets of the producer or production companies.
“That’s absolutely incorrect,” he said. “Industries are tightening their belts already. Between all the strikes, between the fires in L.A., just the world economy, everything is tightened.”
In fact, he said, the film industry has shrunk about 45% overall.
“So, what’s happening is, a lot of these studios and producers are looking for the best bang for their buck,” Black said.
While Lamont’s bill would reduce the film production tax credit, some lawmakers from both parties have tried to restrict it even further, or eliminate it altogether.
One of opponents’ main arguments is that the money can be spent better elsewhere, especially at a time when lawmakers are restricted by spending caps and other budget guardrails.
In fiscal 2024, the state issued 42 film, television and digital media tax credits valued at $171.2 million, according to the Department of Economic and Community Development. That was based on $570.8 million in spending by production companies, which created an estimated 3,820 new jobs, according to DECD estimates.
DECD also said over $5 of new economic activity was generated in the economy per $1 of tax credit awarded in fiscal 2024.
Some of Connecticut’s largest employers are the biggest annual beneficiaries of the film production tax credit.
In fiscal 2024, NBC Sports Network earned $50.1 million in tax credits, while ESPN earned $15.4 million and World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. earned $12.7 million.
Supplemental income
As devoted as the Bloomquist brothers are to their film productions, and as proud as they are of the results, it hasn’t exactly made them rich.
In fact, they supplement their income by doing other things.
Erik, who has a degree in theater and dance, with a minor in music, from Trinity College, describes himself as a gig worker in the entertainment industry.
“I do a fair amount of stuff,” he said. “I’ll do production services for movies. … I did one of the Christmas movies that was shot in Wethersfield, called ‘Rediscovering Christmas.’ I was the production manager on that movie.”
He has also worked as an actor, both in his own films and others and on stage. That includes a role in Hartford Stage’s production of “A Christmas Carol” in 2023 and 2024.
Carson, meanwhile, has a degree in film studies with a minor in economics from Connecticut College in New London. For the past three years, he has worked full-time as a creative producer with Adams & Knight, an advertising agency in Avon.
“We work with clients in tourism, financial services and health care, and I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “I think the advertising space and the filmmaking space, for me, make each other better, and having a foothold in both really is gratifying.”
His foothold in both spaces served him well in November, when Adams & Knight helped the state unveil the nation’s first Christmas Movie Trail, offering fans of Hallmark, Netflix and Lifetime holiday films a map with 22 locations statewide that were used in the films.
One of the featured actors who attended the trail’s unveiling was Michael Rady, who has had roles in Hallmark Christmas movies, but also starred in the Bloomquists’ 2023 film, “Intermedium.”
That movie, a musical that “is like ‘Casper’ meets ‘La La Land,’” was shot in Wethersfield, Erik said.
Gauging success
So, if the box office take isn’t the primary goal for the Bloomquists as they continue to produce their films, how do they gauge their success?
“I think we do whatever we can to keep the human element alive, and that varies by project,” Carson said. “And I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all answer.”
Erik said they have found a “very specific” way to gauge their success. He told the story of a teenage girl in California named Kylie, who fell in love with their film “Founders Day.”
“She got her dad to take her every single day it was in theaters, so she went, literally, like 14 or 15 times in a row,” he said. “She started bringing friends, and then she could recite the script.”
The brothers met with Kylie and her father when they had a trip to California for an event.
“We just chatted with them, and we just saw how much the movie mattered to and touched her,” Erik said. “I mean, there are other ways to gauge success, but there’s something about that.”
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