New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘Spawn’ actor plans Conn. film studio
Actor, writer and director Michael Jai White, who has Connecticut roots, announced Friday that he and a team of film industry veterans will launch what is being termed the state’s first “mini-major studio” for television, film and other commercial projects.
White’s studio will be called Jaigantic Studios, according to a press release distributed this morning by the actor and the office of Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim. White lived in Bridgeport at one time, according to the release.
Jaigantic will operate out of a production facility called Studio One in Fairfield while a multipurpose studio in New Haven is being built.
City sources have told Hearst Connecticut Media that the site the studio will be built on is 46-56 River St., and that the city was initially approached about this several years ago and again in the fall of 2020.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said in a statement that the city “is excited to work with Jaigantic Studios and on their proposed development on River Street.”
“Community conversations will be scheduled later this year as we welcome a world-class production company to New Haven,” Elicker said.
The New Haven studio will house several state-ofthe-art soundstages, production offices, post and support facilities. The press release from White said the studio “will be providing thousands of job opportunities, professional training, apprenticeships, and community
development projects.”
The state’s Office of Film, Television and Digital Media has been working quietly for months to make the new studio aware of available financial incentives, according to George Norfleet, executive director of the agency, which is part of the Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development.
Norfleet said his office is doing “everything in its power to give them a glide path” so the studio’s plans
could become a reality.
“We have given them an idea of an eco-sphere for the industry that is already as well what we can potentially do for them,” he said. “They could potentially be eligible for infrastructure tax credits for building the studio as well as production tax credits for projects that the studio works on.”
Norfleet said it is “too early to comment on the economic potential for what the studio could provide for state.”
“This is what we like to see happen, because these things drive additional tax revenue,” he said. “It would be great for the New Haven area to have company to contribute to the production infrastructure.”
ESPN has made use of the infrastructure tax credits to develop a second studio at the company’s corporate campus on the Southington-Bristol border.
Part of the goal of Jaigantic Studio is to do “community development projects
under the mandate of uplifting the communities who supported him along his journey,” White’s statement said.
Norfleet hoped that would include a commitment to bring more people of color into the industry — not just in front of the cameras, but behind them as well. “Diversity is a huge thing, a huge push,” he said.
Fritz Staudmyer, cochairman of Quinnipiac University’s film, television and media arts school, agreed that diversity in the film and television industry is more critical today than ever, due to changing demographics and a desire in communities of color have “to have someone up on the screen or working behind the camera who looks like they do.”
White attended Southern Connecticut State University, according to school officials, and worked for a time as a special education teacher.
As an actor and top-level martial artist, White has worked in over 100 films and television series. His most prominent roles include the 1997 film
“Spawn,” in which he portrayed a comic book superhero, “Mortal Kombat: Legacy,” and the HBO movie “Tyson,” in which White played the title role.
The first production completed under the Jaigantic studios moniker is the comedy western feature film “The Outlaw Johnny Black,” according to White’s press release. Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said there will be what he called “a pre-screening movie event” for the movie at the Bijou Theater later this year.
“It’s very exciting to see a former Bridgeport resident and talented individual make it to the stage and bring his talents back to our city — not just for a celebration but to inspire other students,” Ganim said in a statement. “We look forward to Michael filming in Bridgeport and growing his film production company.”
The film is in post-production and scheduled for release this Thanksgiving.