Hollywood East

The New Haven Register reports today about upcoming movie shoots in Downtown New Haven and the surrounding area, including one with Robert DeNiro and Kate Beckinsale scheduled for next week at Union Station.

According to the Register, "Connecticut has become known as “Hollywood East” because of a 30 percent tax credit given to filmmakers who spend money here." Apparently, the enormous tax credit is already having a spillover effect in the regional real estate market.

Last summer, a significant portion of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was filmed in Downtown New Haven, pumping an estimated $10 million into the local economy and attracting thousands of tourists from all over the world hoping to catch a glimpse of Steven Spielberg. According to New York Times coverage at the time, film production in Connecticut had increased from $750,000 to $52 million immediately after the tax credit was introduced, and was expected to top $300 million this year. In other words, don't be surprised if someone even more famous than Harrison Ford hits New Haven this summer.

While we're on the subject of tourism, check out this week's article in The Independent's (UK) Business Travel section that highlights Downtown New Haven. We are guessing that the travel correspondent attended last week's Discover New England summit in New Haven. Tourism to New England from Europe is rapidly increasing, in part due to the decline of the dollar.

Update: The Courant writes about how you can volunteer your house for a movie shoot.
Update 6/3/08: DeNiro films at Yale.