When the movie cameras were rolling in Iowa

“Peacock”

One of the bills that passed in this year’s legislative session was Iowa Bill SF657, the Economic Development Bill that includes tax credits and incentives. One of the programs that finally made it through during the DOGE era was a new Iowa Film Tax Incentive program. I never thought I would see the day.

I moved back to Iowa in 2007 while the original tax incentive was being put in place. For a short while in the late 2000s, Iowa looked like it was about to become a star in its own right. The dream was simple enough: Create a tax incentive program that would make Hollywood look twice at our towns, our skylines (or lack thereof) and our cornfields. By 2007, with the passage of House File 411, the Iowa Film Office suddenly had the tools to lure two or three major features a year. It wasn’t difficult to imagine boom mics dangling over Winterset’s square or a caravan of production trucks pulling into Newton.

By 2009, the cameras were rolling. In Winterset and Lenox, Timothy Olyphant was running through the streets in the remake of “The Crazies,” a big studio remake of the George Romero low-budget classic that seemed to promise Iowa’s arrival on the industry map. For locals, it was surreal. A town better known for John Wayne and covered bridge festivals suddenly had Hollywood crews adjusting lights outside its hardware store. Meanwhile, in Council Bluffs, Cillian Murphy and Susan Sarandon arrived to shoot “Peacock,” a strange psychological drama where Nebraska farmhouses doubled as Midwestern backdrops.

“Ticket Out”

Even Newton had its moment. Ray Liotta spent time there filming “Ticket Out,” a modest thriller but still a Hollywood presence during the thick of winter. Iowa wasn’t just the background for quaint family films or B-movies; it was pulling in recognizable stars and notable budgets. For a few months, Iowa felt like a set. Extras lined up for casting calls. Coffee shops buzzed with crew members on break. I remember walking down Locust across the bridge to the East Village and saw a pile up of cars. I thought it was a bad accident, but there were no ambulances or police. They were set pieces for a scene that was going to be shot the next day. The tax credit program wasn’t just a line in legislation; it was a living, breathing part of Iowa’s economic culture.

By the fall of 2009, the dream soured. Gov. Chet Culver froze the incentive program after auditors uncovered alarming irregularities. Cars and luxury items were being written off as “film expenses.” Receipts weren’t adding up. What had looked like an economic engine started to feel like a trash fire.

The freeze came fast, and so did the headlines. By early 2010, lawsuits piled up. Some filmmakers demanded credits they had been promised; the state pushed back. Local vendors who had done honest work — catering, carpentry, costumes — were left holding unpaid invoices.

“The Crazies”

After the freeze, I remember being at an Iowa Motion Picture event at the Des Moines Social Club when it was on Locust (where Flynn Wright is now located). It was early 2010, and several crew persons were standing around talking loudly about how their livelihoods had been taken away, not unlike what is currently happening in Atlanta now that Disney is pulling out Marvel Studios and relocating it to Europe. Most of what I was hearing from people was just noise. However, one person said something smart: “If a light bulb doesn’t work, you fix it. You don’t just turn out the lights.”

I agreed with that statement. Iowa was simply moving too fast with it, and people get tunnel vision when they start to see people in the wild who they previously only saw on their TVs. But, we have the opportunity for a fresh start now. The state of Illinois has created a lucrative film, television and commercial industry that feeds the economy. Although the hub is in Chicago, the sound stages and studios have expanded west toward the Quad Cities. Everyone needs to remember that films are made with blue collar workers: carpenters, electricians, painters, etc. Iowa needs better-paying labor jobs, ones that are more interesting than assembling toothbrushes or filling pallets of beer overnight to be delivered to local bars. Something that when you wake up each day for work, you are excited to be there.

Will the cameras roll again? ♦

Kristian Day is a filmmaker and writer based in Des Moines. He also hosts the syndicated Iowa Basement Tapes radio program on 98.9 FM KFMG. Instagram: @kristianday | Twitter: @kristianmday