Murky Work At The Iowa Capitol

Four years of making the breathtaking (as in getting winded) walk up the steps to the Iowa State House.  The ups and downs, hope and despair, honesty and misdirection, a varied bouquet of experiences, all to stay on top of the revival of the Iowa Film Office!  And here we go again, Jay and I meeting with Iowa legislators to implement the idea that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  We do squeak and it looks like the film office may get some grease at last.

It didn't take long for us to bump into our chief ally, Senator Bill Dotzler.  He said the senate appropriations study bill would be discussed as early as today and certainly by the end of the week.  I referred to the bill in my previous report, the one which included details in funding of the film office.  A reminder: the film office will be housed in Cultural Affairs and in a new Arts Division there.  After discussion in the senate, this bill will go to the house and then zig zag until everyone agrees on the language within the bill, such as the amount of money to be allocated for the film office.  Last year $200,000 was allocated, half of what Governor Branstad wanted, and now we know that half of that $200,000 has been spent.  One source told us that $100,000 was spent on "film-related business", although the film office isn't even reopened yet.  Another source said the money was more generally absorbed within state offices. (Hence the word "Murky" in the title of this report).

In addition, Jay and I also spoke with Rep. Dan Kelley and Anesa Kajtazovic, both of whom repeated their support for our mission.  A key player in all of this, Rep. Dave Deyoe, indicated that the Iowa House would likely go along with the Iowa Senate's recommendations after all is said and done.  It isn't clear if the remaining $100,000 in last year's film office budget would be supplemented to a lower House sum or added to the $400,000  suggested by the senate. 

We were told by Rep. Deyoe that he understood that the new Iowa Film Office director would be named next week.

Once the film office reopens, the new director will face a monumental task, to regain trust and interest from Hollywood producers.  Without tax credits in play the new director will have to use other incentives to make movies here worthwhile and attractive, such as our beautiful locations and talented and hardworking creative people.

Stay tuned.

Gene

photo: Jay and Gino

Merrily We Go Again On The Capitol MerryGoRound

I carried a folder with me today to the Iowa State House.  I had rubber-stamped "UNIMPORTANT" in large red letters on the front and back of the folder.  When Jay and I spoke with legislators I would first show them this folder to lightheartedly indicate our awareness of our status.  Every one of them found this to be very funny, which made our conversations very easy and pleasant.

Jay and I wanted to better understand the proposed Senate Appropriations Subcommittee On Economic Development Bill, which contains recommended funding provisions for the Iowa Film Office, so we took our copy of this proposed bill to the legislative services office and spoke with the person who actually publishes these documents and asked her what the heck all of this stuff says in easy to understand terms.  This person, Amber DeSmet, said the proposed bill provides $400,000 for the film office and suggests that unused IFO funds be carried over to next year's film office budget.  The film office is now in the cultural affairs department within the "arts division".  Cultural affairs is led by Mary Cownie.

We met with our friend Senator Bill Dotzler, who is one of the leaders in the Iowa Senate in the effort to fund and revive the film office and who is a primary author of the bill just mentioned.  On the House side, Rep. Dave Deyoe is the most important figure in this matter and he met with us today as well.  Rep. Deyoe suggested that the House will likely approve $300,000 to fund the IFO, versus the governor's recommended $400,000, but that he would not oppose the carry-over of unused IFO funds, which he believed to be over $100,000.  The original amount of the IFO funding from last year was $200,000, so it appears some of the money was spent on something unrelated to the operation of the film office.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee On Economic Development Bill is presently in the hands of the Iowa senate and will next be taken to the Iowa House to amend or strike and then be returned to the Iowa Senate to resist or approve and then back to the House to insist and then to a joint House and Senate discussion.  Did you follow that?  Did you fall off of the merry-go-round yet?  You've got to be dizzy.  Jay and I are!!!

Four More Years! (of waiting? I hope not!!)

Okay, okay, shall I begin as I always do, that Jay and I went yet again to the Iowa Capitol Building in our continuing effort to keep track of what is to become of the Iowa Film Office?  Sure, Jay and I went yet again to the Iowa Capitol Building today.  We got there early, before eight a.m. and met several legislators, which we always seem to do during these Iowa State House visits.

We had a quick conversation with  Senator Jack Hatch who has always voiced his support for we creative Iowans, and which he did again today.  Rep. Dave Deyoe spoke with us and told us he was fully behind the increase in the IFO budget.  Rep. Deyoe is one of the main players in this film office business on the House side.  Speaking of the House side, we enjoyed meeting with Rep. Dan Kelley of Newton, where films have been shot and many Iowans were employed by film-makers several years back.  Rep. Kelley has been a supporter from the beginning of his young legislative career.

Our strongest and most influential supporter is Senator Bill Dotzler from Waterloo.  Before convening a meeting in the former Iowa Supreme Court room, a meeting to discuss the Proposed Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Economic Development Bill, a "bill for an act relating to appropriations to the department of cultural affairs" and more, the senator granted an interview with Iowa WHO Radio reporter Richard Lee.  I listened closely as Senator Dotzler spoke of the importance of movie making in this state, that movie making creates jobs and brings financial rewards to communities in which movies are made.  He spoke of how the film industry employs creative Iowans and brings Iowa into focus as an interesting place to visit as a tourist destination.  Following this radio interview Senator Dotzler opened the appropriations meeting.

Most of the meeting pertained to matters other than the film industry, such as funding the continued repair of Iowa Civil War battle flags, supporting the World Food Prize, Workforce Development, Job Training, and more.  Although Jay and I could not see any reference to the film office in the appropriations report, Senator Dotzler spoke at the meeting of how the governor's recommended sum of $400,000 should be implemented because of the cost of restarting the film office, including the expenses of buying computers and furniture and recreating a locations file and production guide.  He said funds presently in the IFO would be carried over to next year's film office budget.

Following the meeting, Senator Dotzler pointed out to Jay and myself the specific section in the planned bill that covers the film office budget.  This bill will now go to the senate floor and on to the house.  As I understand it, this  matter will be discussed next week.  Jay and I speak English.  We don't speak that legalese mumbo-jumbo, so when we review bills and investigate scheduled committee meeting agendas it's like trying to read a foreign language!

If you are a creative Iowan, someone who loves to act or who loves to work on the other side of the camera, or if you're someone who wants to see Iowa's cultural image improve, I suggest you email your Iowa legislators and tell them how important YOU think movie-making is for this state and for many Iowans.

(photo shows Senator Dotzler being interviewed by WHO Radio's Richard Lee.  Note Jay doing a "photo bomb" in the background).

Iowa Film Office Closer To Reopening

Yet another excursion to the Iowa State House, home of the Big Golden Dome. We were immediately met by our ally, Senator Bill Dotzler, Jr., of Waterloo. Senator Dotzler is Senate Chairman of the Economic Development Budget Subcommittee and has served on other important committees and always stands for we members of the Iowa film industry and is readily available when Jay and I make our Iowa Capitol visits. On the other side in the Iowa House of Representatives, we were able to meet with the House Chairman of the above mentioned committee, Rep. Dave Deyoe, and vice chairman Rep. Bobby Kauffmann, who both indicated they were comfortably on board with increasing the Iowa film office budget from the current $200,000 to the governor's original suggested sum of $400,000. Rep. Deyoe said he wanted to be sure the film office has ample money to properly run and said Cultural Affairs Director Mary Cownie would be in charge of deciding how any funds would be used in her department. He also said Cownie is still interviewing candidates for the job of Iowa Film Office Director and that he expects a director to be named in a few weeks. Co-chairman Rep. Kaufmann said initial reaction to the $400,000 amount was that it is a good amount to get the IFO amply supported. We chatted briefly with other Iowa House Representatives, including Anesa Kajtazovic,Deborah Berry, and Peter Cownie. All of these legislators indicated that they approve of the increased IFO funding amount. The Director of Management and Budget, David Roederer, came by as we were perched at a table and spoke with us. He's in an important position in the governor's staff and is very much behind us and always has been. Last year the House was against the governor's recommended IFO funding sum of $400,000, and only half of that was allowed. The film office has not been active for going on four years and the $200,000 will be absorbed in the general Iowa funds unless the film office opens before July 1st. Stay tuned. (photo show Jay Villwock, Senator Dotzler, and myself.. we are in our determined pose).

Just #^*&#%^ DO It! (Please)

If anyone out there is an actor or a crew person I hope they will simply email their representative AND senator and stress that the Iowa Film Office is vital for Iowa's CREATIVE ECONOMY because film-making means not only jobs for we creative actors and crew but income for whole towns and industries when movies are shot in their communities. It's easy to email legislators. Just go to Google and get the email addresses and off you go!! Letters to the D M Register wouldn't hurt, either. photo: Medium Me, Senator Dotzler, Tall Jay