Dead Weight

Things have not been looking too good for the last several months for this thing we call an Iowa film industry. First Governor Chester Culver freezes the film tax credit incentive program because of abuses leaving the production of movies in limbo then it takes a lawsuit to supposedly get films already in the pipeline going again. Since then - nothing. Much of it is gummed up within the Iowa Attorney General's Office and most recently the Iowa State Legislature has voted to suspend the program for 3 years.

In all this time since September 2009, when the freeze went into effect, it has been only a very tiny minority of those who got jobs in films in Iowa or who otherwise benefited from money brought in who have made the effort to save our fledgling film industry. I worked on a movie this summer and the number of people who showed up at the craft services tables on a typical day easily outnumbered the small number who had tried to stand up for our industry since September.

Why has this been so? It was fun while films were still being made. Everyone enjoyed seeing the stars on location. Those that worked enjoyed the food, the hanging out with fun people, the glamor, and the MONEY. But where are those people now? Were they even serious about making a living in film or was it simply a fun experience like backpacking across Europe?

I'm afraid what we have in Iowa is APATHY and, unless I'm proven wrong about this, you can kiss a viable Iowa film industry goodbye. Hollywood producers certainly aren't attracted to the place under these circumstances and won't be unless you are willing to fight for it. Prepare for the new wave of the Iowa film future: volunteerism where for all films you have to work for free and the quality of productions adjusts downward accordingly.

With this future in mind, here is a suggestion for our new state slogan: "Iowa - Bland is our brand".

Of course for those who really cared about having a film industry in Iowa and lots of Hollywood producers we already have an unofficial state slogan: "Iowa - A four-letter word".