A Meeting With Liz Gilman, Executive Director with Produce Iowa

Today I met with Executive Producer of Produce Iowa (our renamed Iowa film office), Liz Gilman. Joining us was Jay Villwock and Dave Thrasher, both dear friends of mine. Although Liz is still waiting for her own decent desk and ample space at Cultural Affairs, her determination and enthusiasm to get Iowa actors and crew back to work is obvious. She said she hopes more Iowans will visit the Produce Iowa website and sign-up on the Media Production Directory. Liz said the software, Reel Scout, is what the new directory utilizes, and which is widely regarded as the best in the industry. Only 150 have signed-up for the directory thus far. To list yourself, go to the Produce Iowa website and click on "Crew", then go to the Media Production Directory. We learned that the present budget for the film office (I will use that term instead of Produce Iowa) is $300,000. When I asked if she has a staff, Liz said she is able to tap into staff within Cultural Affairs when needed. Liz has two trips to Los Angeles planned to meet with other film office leaders and producers. She has plans to attract successful Iowans within the entertainment industry to give talks to members of Iowa's film industry. We talked about funding for Iowa filmmakers and she suggested contacting the Iowa Arts Council and Iowa Humanities offices to explore grants, especially for documentaries. Considering what Liz inherited, and how she faces super close scrutiny for anything she does, I think she's doing a great job.

— with Liz Gilman.

Our Fifth Year of Iowa Statehouse Visits

Jay Villwock and I resumed our Iowa statehouse visits today.  For the past four years our aim was to do our best to keep the Iowa film office alive and to urge sufficient budgeting for that office.  It was a struggle, a battle full of ups and downs with plenty of uncertainties.  But in the end the film office survived, albeit under another name, Produce Iowa, led by a new state employee, Liz Gilman, who works within the office of cultural affairs which is led by director Mary Cownie.

Produce Iowa has a budget of $400,000, but Jay and I are not sure if all of that money is being used by the new film office.  We are sure that Liz has an almost impossible task of attracting film producers to Iowa without tax incentives.  Sometimes an HBO production will roll through, even a national television ad shoot, but feature film producers were scared away possibly for good when our film office scandal broke and some producers were caught abusing the film tax credits program and put on trial.

Jay and I very rarely get calls for auditions.  He's rehearsing now for a play which will open at the newly relocated Des Moines Social Club, and the last thing I did was shot last summer, my role as a sketch artist for an episode of "The Dead Files", on The Travel Channel.

Today when the two of us entered the Iowa Senate conference room to grab some coffee, we found Senator Bill Dotzler working on a bill with an associate.  He immediately got up from his chair and gave both of us a wonderful welcome back hug.  The senator has been the best friend of Iowa film and was always there for us during each and every of the past four years of our capitol campaign visits.

We also met with Senator Joe Seng, a veterinarian from Davenport, and discussed the film office budget.   Senators Seng and Dotzler are key senate leaders who spoke in support of we actors and crew in Iowa consistently.  Another supportive senator, Brad Zaun, also spoke with us today.

Director of the Office of Management and Budget, David Roederer, spent about forty-five minutes with us in his office today.  He is another important friend on the hill who is in a top staff position in Governor Branstad's office. David told Jay and me that we are the main reason the film office was not killed.  He said our persistence was widely appreciated at the capitol and today we felt that appreciation with Senator's Dotzler's hugs and many warm handshakes and conversations.

Article On Quad Cities Film Status

Local leaders are taking a fresh look at film production around the Quad Cities. That’s as Iowa rebounds from scandal to start from scratch.
Doug Miller has an eye for the big screen.
“It depends on the script or the movie,” he said.
The longtime media executive is scouting film locations in the Village of East Davenport. This historic setting offers plenty of potential.
“If they’re looking for old buildings of a certain period, this location’s been used,” he said.
Nearly 20 feature films were shot in Iowa from 2007-09. The East Village doubled as Vail, Colorado, in TV’s “Megafault.” The compelling baseball movie, “Sugar,” showcased Davenport locations, too.
But after fraudulent scandal brought down the Iowa Film Office four years ago, production nearly went dark in the Hawkeye state along with any tax incentives.
“The unfortunate experience of the last five years really hurt what was a booming business,” Miller said.
Iowa wants to recapture film production these days. The state is getting a fresh start with Produce Iowa. The office is trying to attract film and media projects.
That’s why Miller is a man on the move these days. He’s helping to launch Produce Quad Cities and create a photo database to attract production.
“The more film projects we can get coming in our direction, the more positive economic impact that we have in our community,” said Joe Taylor, president and CEO of the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Iowa discovered with films like “Field of Dreams” that the movie industry brings in big bucks.
“$25 million in hard cash into the community over the years just doing feature films,” Miller concluded.
One location at a time, they’re planning a production revival.
To learn more about participating in the photo database, check out http://www.produceiowa.com

We Meet Liz Gilman, Executive Director of Produce Iowa

Today I, along with friends Dave Thrasher and Jay Villwock, met with the Executive Producer of Produce Iowa, Liz Gilman.  I learned that Liz didn't apply for the job but was offered it instead.  It appears her office has $400,000 in the budget, which will come in handy as all desks and files and everything was lost when the Iowa Film Office fell.  Liz wants to build a database to attract crew and establish locations for prospective filmmakers to search.  She will use a software many film offices now utilize, Real Scout.  She said she met with members of the Association of Film Commissioners of the World during her trip in recent weeks to Los Angeles, which included leaders of film offices in other U. S. states.  She has toured the state to promote the new film office and meet creative Iowans.  Liz said she would make information available to filmmakers and cast and crew soon via the internet, so stay tuned to this report site.  Pictured are yours truly Gene L. Hamilton, Liz Gilman, Jay Villwock, and David Thrasher.

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen

A few months ago, the Branstad administration reactivated the Iowa Film Office. Only, they don’t call it the Iowa Film Office anymore. It’s now Produce Iowa.
And the office is no longer housed in the Iowa Department of Economic Development (or even in the Iowa Economic Development Authority, as that former department is now called). Instead, it’s under the umbrella of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.
Changing the name makes perfect sense, of course. After all, if you type “Iowa Film Office” into Google, the word “scandal” is still offered as the most popular search options. And it hasn’t even been a year since the last of the trials ended for the state employees and filmmakers accused of grossly abusing Iowa’s film tax program.
Given how much the scandal made Iowans look more like easy marks than future movie moguls, it’s little wonder that Republican Gov. Terry Branstad decided to leave the office dark when he began his fourth term in 2011.
But in the two decades before the scandal, the Iowa Film Office did provided some benefit to Iowa and to the state’s fledgling film industry. It served as a clearinghouse for information about filmmaking in Iowa and helped bring about the filming of such classics as “Field of Dreams” and “The Bridges of Madison County.”
It was only after lawmakers got greedy — and state economic development employees got criminally sloppy — that the office became focused exclusively on aggressively going after films with bigger and bigger budgets.
With the dust from the scandal finally settling, it makes sense to tap the state’s Department of Cultural Affairs offer to set up some kind of front door for filmmakers and other media producers who might be considering a shoot in Iowa and who need advice on where to find equipment and qualified technicians.
Produce Iowa, after only three months in existence, is little more than a desk in the Iowa State Historical Building, a placeholder website (www.produceiowa.com) and a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ProduceIowa). But the new office’s executive producer, Liz Gilman, has been traveling the state and talking with producers, festival directors, tourism officials and other entrepreneurs to see how the office could best be of service to their efforts.
Gilman — as the owner of Gilman Media Inc. in West Des Moines — already has significant experience coordinating media production for a variety of companies that range from the local (Maytag Dairy Farms and Ruan Transportation) to the national (Comcast, Mediacom and HBO). And she understands that — when given enough opportunities — local technicians, cameramen, editors, managers and directors can make a living off of non-entertainment productions more so than waiting for the occasional movie shoot.
After being stung so painfully by the film scandal, we’ve been editorializing for the past few years about the need to dial back the state’s cinematic vision. But we also think Gilman is developing a more a realistic approach to how to grow Iowa’s film, TV and digital media-production community in a sustainable way.
The administration is being understandably cautious, but we look forward to see what Produce Iowa comes up with for how to support the development of this industry as well as how to work to improve the way Iowa gets portrayed on the silver, small and hand-held screens.

Landlocked Film Festival begins today

Iowans may no longer have stars in their eyes when dreaming about the state’s filmmaking future, but there are still a good number of film-makers and film-lovers active in the state.
The Seventh Annual Landlocked Film Festival, for example, kicks off today in downtown Iowa City. Although this year’s festival does not include as many workshops and discussion groups as in the past, there are still more than three dozen films to view over the weekend.
For a schedule, visit www.landlockedfilmfestival.org.

I loved James as "Tony" in "The Sopranos"!!!

By MICHAEL S. JAMES and LESLEY MESSER (@lesleymesser)

June 19, 2013

James Gandolfini, the actor who most famously portrayed Tony Soprano on the series "The Sopranos," has died in Italy at age 51, according to his managers and HBO, which broadcast "The Sopranos."
"It is with immense sorrow that we report our client James Gandolfini passed away today while on holiday in Rome, Italy," said his managers, Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders. "Our hearts are shattered and we will miss him deeply. He and his family were part of our family for many years and we are all grieving."
HBO said in a prepared statement, "We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family. He was special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone no matter their title or position with equal respect. He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us."

Very Good Film Related Article

Q-C visit a start in rebuilding Iowa multimedia industry

Originally Posted Online: June 08, 2013, 8:12 pm
Last Updated: June 08, 2013, 11:43 pm

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By Jonathan Turner, jturner@qconline.com

Nearly four years after the former head of the old Iowa Film Office was fired in a tax-incentive scandal, the new chief of a revamped multimedia production office is in place and will visit the Quad-Cities on Tuesday.

The Quad Cities Film Coalition is hosting a public reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at The Lodge Hotel, Bettendorf, for Liz Gilman, executive producer of Produce Iowa, Office of Media Production, which is part of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. She will tour the area and learn about the local production community, meeting the people who work in front of and behind the camera, as well as those interested in media production of all kinds, said film coalition co-founder Doug Miller, Davenport.

"The big focus is really going to be getting the infrastructure of the office up and running, and that's going to take a long time," he said, noting Ms. Gilman is getting to know people around the state. As far as state tax incentives for the industry, "that's not in the immediate future," Mr. Miller said.

"The difficulty is the first thing you're going to get asked (by interested producers) is what incentives are you going to have? That makes things a little more difficult," he said. Compared to the coasts, though, "the cost of doing business here is a great deal less, like the cost for anything is a lot less here than other parts of the country," said Mr. Miller.

The QC Film Coalition, first formed under the old Quad City Development Group, is a loosely organized group of professionals and businesses interested in filmed entertainment. It is repositioning itself as a local version of Produce Iowa, representing all ways media is produced, Mr. Miller said.

Produce Iowa aims to promote the film, TV, and digital media-production community within the state, as well to those outside Iowa who are interested in using skills of these professionals.

"We are eager to move forward with Produce Iowa and to encompass all media production as we renew our efforts to promote and attract the industry to Iowa," said Mary Cownie, director of the Department of Cultural Affairs. "With Liz Gilman, I believe we have found an experienced leader who understands the media-production world and will lead us into the future as Iowa's storyteller, with new ideas and a fresh perspective."

"This first year will be a building year," Ms. Gilman said. "I am looking forward to the tremendous potential of generating media-production opportunities in Iowa while celebrating and promoting our state to this highly creative industry."

The Hawkeye State's effort to compete in the cutthroat world of film financing landed it in hot water in September 2009, when Thomas Wheeler, former head of the Iowa Film Office, was fired. Two years later, he was convicted of falsifying public records, but acquitted of other fraud and misconduct charges in connection with 22 approved film projects that received more than $25 million in improper tax credits through the state film office.

The state legislature has suspended offers of tax credits, and Ms. Gilman said in a recent interview she's happy to be starting over.

"I want to see what's out there, what people are wanting the office to be. It's been vacant for four years," she said. "A lot has happened since then -- so many new technologies, many apps, gaming." That's one reason why the word "film" is not part of the name of the new office; it's meant to encompass all media, Ms. Gilman said.

"The greatest thing is we have a fresh start. We can create from the ground up what we want to be," she said. "I think it's a great opportunity, with new technologies and trends, to create something fresh and different.

"It all comes down to relationships and people. There are great people in our state, well-educated," Ms. Gilman said. "We have that Iowa nice -- people want to work with us. We want to handle quality productions, build relationships."

For more than 20 years, Ms. Gilman, an Iowa native, successfully has run her own businesses, including Gilman Media Inc., of West Des Moines. Clients have included national firms Comcast, Mediacom and HBO, as well as numerous Iowa companies, including Maytag Dairy Farms, Ruan Transportation and Des Moines Performing Arts.

Her has produced national TV programs throughout the U.S., in locations ranging from Walt Disney World in Orlando to MGM Grand in Las Vegas to Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, Calif.

"I understand what the established companies are up against, employing people for the long term," Ms. Gilman said. "I understand what locations you need to provide, what crewing you need. I think one reason they were interested in me, I've been a troop in the field. I understand the industry."

She is going to Los Angeles at the end of June to meet other film commissioners from around the world. "I really just need to meet people and see what's going on. I want to see what other states are doing, see what the industry trends are," she said.

The Iowa Office of Media Production also will identify new trends in media production and advancements that are being made in the state.

During her visit here, Ms. Gilman will brief the QC Film Coalition on the planned state program and exhibit "Hollywood in the Heartland," to be developed in the coming year and unveiled at the State Historical Museum of Iowa next June. Mr. Miller wants to make sure the Q-C area is represented accurately and fairly in the exhibit.

"Our heritage, on stage and on screen, goes back over 100 years. There's a wealth of information out there," he said.

The exhibit objectives are to bring attention to actors from Iowa, movies shot in the state over the years, and the many historic motion-picture exhibition experiences that can be had throughout the state.


Iowa and Illinois film facts

Iowa:

The motion picture and television industry is responsible for 3,664 direct jobs and $82.1 million in wages in Iowa, including both production- and distribution-related jobs. More than 450 of the jobs are production-related.

In 2010 and 2011, just two movies were filmed in the state -- "At Any Price" and "Scribble." There is no significant tax incentive for production in Iowa.

Illinois:

The movie and TV industry is responsible for 20,946 direct jobs and $969.2 million in wages in Illinois, including both production- and distribution-related jobs. More than 6,100 of the jobs are production-related.

In 2011, nine movies and 10 TV series were filmed in the state. Movies included "Man of Steel," "Lincoln," "A Fonder Heart," "Just Like a Woman," "Valley of the Sun," and "A Green Story." TV series include "The Rosie Show," "The Playboy Club," "Boss," "The Chicago Code," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Judge Jeanine Pirro" and "Cold Case Files."

In 2010, 25 films and nine TV series filmed in the state. Movies included "Source Code," "LOL," "The Vow," "The Dilemma," "Contagion," and "Bad Teacher." TV series include "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Chicago Code," "Cold Case Files," "Judge Mathis," "Giuliana & Bill," "Future Food" and "At the Movies."

The Illinois Film Production Tax Credit took effect on Jan. 1, 2009. The tax credit has no sunset and consists of 30 percent of the Illinois production spending for the taxable year, and 30 percent credit on Illinois salaries up to $100,000 per worker.

Source: Motion Picture Association of America (mpaa.org)