By Andrew Brink

In 2005, Spike TV aired a four-part reality series called “Invasion, Iowa.” Filmed south of Iowa City in Riverside (population 961), “Invasion” starred William Shatner playing an inflated version of himself. The series chronicled his attempt to bamboozle Riverside’s residents, who were led to believe their town had been chosen as the setting for a big-budget action movie.

In reality, Shatner and company were there to broadcast the “aw-shucks” moment as people discovered the production was nothing but a sham. It was “Candid Camera” meets the “The Simple Life,” without Ed McMahon or Paris Hilton but plenty of humble pie for everyone involved.

The show’s premise was built on the belief that Iowans, assumed to be welcoming, innocent soybean farmers, are so far removed from wily, innovative Hollywood that we can’t tell a gaffer from a gopher.

That stereotype weakens when examining, even briefly, the catalogue of the nearly 300 film and television projects produced in Iowa since 1935, which includes the 1939 film “Union Pacific,” directed by Cecil B. DeMille and shot partly in Council Bluffs and David Lynch’s Oscar-nominated 1999 film “The Straight Story,” filmed in Clermont, West Bend and five other Iowa communities.

The stereotype is sure to fade even more thanks to the recent passage of the Iowa Film Promotion Act by the state legislature.

Put simply, the new law — officially referred to as House File 892 — authorizes tax incentives that make Iowa an attractive place to shoot a film. Observers say it single-handedly recasts the state’s role in the film industry.

Incentives, incentives, incentives

Location is often cited as the most important element in filmmaking (a belief usually uttered in threes: “location, location, location.”). In fact, money is more important.

“The nature of the film industry is a concern for the bottom line,” says Tom Wheeler, who has managed the Iowa Film Office, an offshoot of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, since 2003.

“Regardless if it’s Hollywood or independent filmmakers, everyone needs to address the high costs of production.”

The Iowa Film Promotion Act, passed by the Legislature in April, responds to the film industry’s concern for the bottom line. As of press time, the legislation awaited Gov. Chet Culver’s signature. Once signed, it will provide a 25 percent tax credit to film producers and investors on money spent exclusively in Iowa and paid to Iowa-based companies or Iowa residents. The act includes one requirement: at least $100,000 must be spent in Iowa.

Details of the program will be ironed out as the legislation is moved through the rules process. Yet to be determined are the structure of the application process that qualifies filmmakers for the tax credits and what expenditures count toward the required cumulative total.

“The program starts with an application, where a production company will formally express their interest in shooting in Iowa,” Wheeler says. “They will specify what the nature of the project is, who is involved in the project, how long they will be in Iowa and how much money they estimate on spending.

“Once approved, the filmmaker will have credentials to start fundraising for the project. Investors would be eligible for a 25 percent tax credit on their total investment. In addition, the production company can claim 25 percent in exemptions on their investment. But the exemptions aren’t granted until all the money has been spent.”

The film promotion act is four years in the making. Rep. Mark Davitt, D-74, which includes Indianola and Norwalk, introduced a bill in 2003 that outlined incentives for the film industry.

“Literally, it was a page and a half,” Davitt says. “But it was only meant to create a conversation and measure how much support would be out there for such a package.”

Davitt’s original bill was met with little excitement and went nowhere for two years. “It was clear that people didn’t understand how this program could benefit Iowa,” he says.

Working with a statewide coalition, including the Iowa Taxpayer’s Association and the Quad City Development Group, Davitt helped generate support for the bill until it was approved 48-2 by the Senate on April 18.

“Really, this is about tourism and local jobs, and people understand that. Production in your town means people will stay in your hotels, eat in your restaurants and shop in your stores.

“People complain that we lose our kids to New York, Chicago and Seattle. By providing incentives to grow the film industry, we are taking another step to revitalize Iowa’s creative culture.”

Fields of dreams

Wheeler represented Iowa at the Association of Film Commissioners International’s Locations Trade Show in Santa Monica, Calif., in early April. The Los Angeles Times covered the event, reporting that it “drew an audience of nearly 4,000 producers, scouts and other industry professionals, marking the biggest turnout ever — and underscoring the mounting competition Southern California faces to keep film and TV jobs here.”

Iowa’s presence symbolized such budding competition. Even though the film promotion act had yet to pass the Senate, the Iowa booth received a lot of traffic because buzz about the pending law had already placed Iowa on producers’ radars, Wheeler says.

At the trade show, Wheeler distributed postcards outlining the forthcoming incentives. The cards featured idyllic scenes of Iowa — a multi-colored train crossing a river valley, a snow covered hillside, Des Moines’ skyline lit by the sunrise — demonstrating that the state also offers natural good looks.

“Before this year, the film industry by-and-large didn’t even look at Iowa because we provided zero incentives.” Wheeler says. “I was telling legislators, ‘because of that fact, our state has experienced a 100 percent loss in opportunities.’”

Since returning from California, Wheeler’s phone has been ringing with calls from Hollywood producers wanting to know more about the program. “Hollywood knows about the program,” Wheeler says. “It gives me the chance to fight for projects.”

According to Wheeler, there are no films currently in production in Iowa. But once the legislation is signed into law, at least two films will begin shooting in the state: “The Curse,” a horror movie, and “Sugar,” a film about a Dominican baseball player.

He is optimistic that many others will follow.

“Producers will adapt a script to accommodate a specific place,” Wheeler says. “We can now be proactive in seeking out high profile projects.”

Iowa is one of the last states in the country to pass a program dedicated to providing incentives to the film and TV industry.

“Whether or not you can say we need this legislation, all the states who have provided incentives have benefited and found success with them,” Wheeler says.

Of the six states bordering Iowa, all but Nebraska and South Dakota have film promotion packages. Minnesota provides a 15 percent rebate on all in-state production costs and Illinois offers a transferable tax credit against state income tax equal to 20 percent of all in-state spending. Wisconsin provides a 25 percent credit on all direct production expenses.

“We can now compete directly with each of those states,” Wheeler says. “And not only can we compete, we will complement other production work going on in neighboring states.

“Film and television projects require a variety of locations to shoot. Now a production shooting in Chicago can go to Northeast Iowa and pick up shots. Same with shoots in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.”

Past productions provide a hint of how Iowa could benefit from the new legislation. According to the Iowa Film Office, Dyersville, the setting for the 1989 Oscar-nominated “Field of Dreams,” welcomes 65,000 fans of Shoeless Joe Jackson each year. Nearly 50 bus tours, filled with people wanting to experience “The Bridges of Madison County” first hand, drive through Winterset annually. And “The Final Season,” a film starring Sean Astin that was shot in Eastern Iowa and recently premiered to positive reviews at the TriBeCa Film Festival in New York, spent about $1 million in Iowa during filming.

“Economic impacts of past films are hard to quantify as no numbers are gathered by the film office and no dedicated study has been conducted,” Wheeler says. “I expect that major studios will watch as smaller, independent projects go through the new program first. But by next summer, we’ll definitely see an upturn in film projects in Iowa.”

The worst thing that could happen

Kent Newman is a writer, producer, director and president of the Iowa Motion Picture Association, a professional organization that promotes and provides continuing education for members of the Iowa film and video production community. He couldn’t be more ecstatic about the passage of the Iowa Film Promotion Act and its potential to help grow local talent.

“This legislation impacts all films. The threshold of $100,000 may sound high, but it’s not,” Newman says. “A five-minute independent film can be made on that budget. With these incentives, Iowa will get a bigger piece of the action. And it will make fundraising for projects easier.”

Newman, who also owns Full Spectrum Productions, a Des Moines media consulting and production company, recently produced and directed “A Little Salsa on the Prairie.” Written by Jody Swilky, the documentary tells the story of the rise of the Latino population in Perry and won the Gold Eddy Award in the Professional Documentary category at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival. The documentary has been accepted to the Rural Route Film Festival in Brooklyn.

Newman says the incentives will be a spark that will ignite ideas that have been simmering for years. He mentions a group of investors in Des Moines who have been interested in constructing a production facility in the metro area that would house two sound stages. And he’s currently speaking with local screenwriters about bringing their ideas to the big screen.

“I’ve seen some really good scripts and am interested in producing a short feature. It’s not inconceivable that Des Moines will be home to more video, television and film projects. With technology now, we live in a global village.”

The incentives are another way to lessen the gap between Iowa and the coasts, says Newman.

Chuck Hughes, current board president of the Iowa Scriptwriters Alliance, is hoping the incentives will lessen the gap between Iowa and Canada.

“I’ve had a film in production for about eight years,” Hughes says. “Right now, the director wants to shoot it in Canada because of the tax breaks there. But the story takes place in Iowa, so now it might be possible to shoot here.”

Hughes is originally from Manning but lived in California for a number of years before moving to Des Moines close to a decade ago. While in California, three of his scripts were made into films, including the comedy “Ed and His Dead Mother,” starring Steve Buscemi.

Hughes is interested in the long-term, domino effect the incentives will have on the local film industry.

“The required minimum budget is not huge and I see it opening doors. It creates a more formal structure where you can set up a company, raise the money and make a film,” Hughes says.

“And as people fundraise, it will allow them to make more connections in the industry, which will lead to even more projects being made. I’m very hopeful.”

Newman’s same sense of hope is tempered only by the knowledge that in order to fully benefit from the tax incentives, Iowa will need to build its filmmaking infrastructure.

“Iowa is famous for its friendliness and outgoing people, Newman says. Filmmakers who have worked here remember that. But the worst thing that could happen is that a production is attracted by our incentives and then discovers that we don’t have the people they need.”

Anyone who has watched a film’s credits understands how many people it takes to make one: best boys, grips, drivers, gaffers, assistants, location scouts.

“I would give Iowa a ‘B’ in terms of infrastructure,” Newman says. “We have a core group of people in the state. But it wouldn’t take many projects happening at once to employ the entire group.”

Newman’s “B” rating is reflected in the Iowa Film Office’s production guide, a 194-page tome listing Iowa’s production professionals, from accountants to video assistants, who have worked on projects ranging from national commercials to the film “8 Mile.”

“During the next year, Tom [Wheeler] and I plan on working with Iowa Workforce Development to see if there is any federal money for job training or continuing education,” Newman says. “We’ve got to crank up the infrastructure, from entry level production assistants to finance and legal people familiar with the film industry.

“We want to be able to catch as many pieces of the pie as we can. If the production company can’t find it here, they’ll find it somewhere else, and that’s another case of lost opportunities.” CV

Take action
Tom Wheeler, of the Iowa Film Office, and Kent Newman, of the Iowa Motion Picture Association, are working to build the production infrastructure in Iowa. If becoming a best boy, gaffer or screenwriter sounds interesting, you may want to connect with one of the following organizations and resources.

Crews Control
An organization connecting clients with production crews.
www.crews-control.com

Film Festival Server
A Web site featuring a list of national and international film festivals.
www.filmfestivals.com

iFilm
A resource for filmmakers using digital technologies.
www.ifilm.com

Iowa Film Office
A resource providing production guides and links to funding sources for film and video projects.
www.traveliowa.com/film

Iowa Motion Picture Association
A professional organization formed to promote and enhance the talents and skills of members of the Iowa film and video production community.
www.impa.tv

Iowa Scriptwriters Alliance
Dedicated to improving the art and craft of scriptwriters through education, communication and participation.
www.iowascripts.org

Writers Guild of America
An online writer’s resource guide.
http://www.wga.org

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