Movies in Iowa

Here is a list of movies that had been shot in Iowa that is from September 18, 2009. There have been some feature films shot here since then, and this list definitely needs to be updated and filled in, and probably annotated but it is an informative one.

The movies made before "Cold Turkey" in 1968 were mostly made under the old studio system. I don't have the information for most of them but I do know that on one of them B-roll footage was shot here with the bulk of the picture shot back in California on sound stages. B-roll footage would be that which wouldn't involve any actors - things like building exteriors and landscape shots. This is probably true for the rest. These movies had a very minimal impact on Iowa's economy and next to none for anything we might consider a "film industry". An item of special note is just how far apart these productions are. There are 2 in the 1930's, 1 in the 1940's and it isn't until the mid 1960's where we see another camera rolling in Iowa.

This changes a bit after "Cold Turkey", the first major studio film to be shot entirely in Iowa, is shot in 1968. Some of it is due to the religious film companies Mark IV and Heartland productions making a series of feature films for the fundamentalist christian church market which the destination of most being church basements. It is still not a lot of films and certainly nothing to build an industry on.

It is with the introduction of the Iowa Film Office that activity picks up for secular entertainment-based features in the state. The gap between studio based productions decreased to approximately 2 to 3 years between films. It was still not enough to base a living on and not often enough to gain any deep experience but it was a definite improvement.

The introduction of the film tax credits in approximately 2007 (will need to research to nail down the date) turned this trickle into a deluge. It didn't last long but at one point, in Des Moines alone, there were 3 feature films shooting simultaneously. Then the bottom dropped off when then governor Chet Culver froze the program without any clear end date because of the discovery of abuse of it. Since then there have been no studio bound feature films shot in Iowa. It has been now two years and any feature films that have been made have been volunteer based efforts.

Our current governor, Terry Branstad, has announced his intention to re-open the Iowa Film Office, possibly housing it within the Department of Cultural Affairs, but has set no date to do this. I've heard that communication from our film community to him has been rather quiet so he has not made this a priority yet. This is a very good cue to you to start communicating.

There are some other things to be learned from this list: One of those things is that for there to be the well-known films that put Iowa on the cultural map (films like "Field of Dreams" and "Bridges of Madison County") there has to be a sufficient quantity of total films being made to allow for the luck that it takes for such films to show up.

Another thing of note is that a significant quantity of the films listed are independent films in the category of "never heard from again." The main reason these films have this status (and this does not just apply to Iowa made films) is that all of the financial resources were poured into the making of the film and little to none into the marketing and selling of the film. Hats off to you if you have managed to make a feature but you aren't going to get very far if you've not thought past your final cut. Most independent filmmakers take their features to film festivals in the hopes of finding a film distributor who they hope will save them. These filmmakers have often put all their financial resources into the one film and aren't in the position to make another one. If they do have the luck to find a distributor to carry their film the deals are often very one sided in favor of the distributor and the producer is lucky to see any profit at all. Not to try to push a book, but as a public service to independent producers, I suggest you read this book: The Big Picture: Money and Power in Hollywood by Edward Jay Epstein. It will tell you a great many things about how the business actually works and many will be eye openers.

I will eventually have this list of movies up to date. Don't give up. All is not lost as far as the movie business in Iowa. Be sure to lobby the governor hard for a new Iowa Film Office. He created the original one so you can be sure he is not against the idea. He just needs to know that you really want it bad. Otherwise he'll set it aside and not deal with it.

Films Made (or at least partially made) in Iowa:
1935 – Penitentiary, Anamosa
1938 – Union Pacific, Council Bluffs
1945 – Keep Your Powder Dry, Des Moines
1966 – The Hostage, Des Moines
1968 – Cold Turkey, Winterset
1968 – Fever Heat, Stuart
1968 – The Warden, Fort Madison
1969 – Gaily Gaily, Dubuque.
1970 – Thief in the Night, Des Moines and Carlisle
1973 – Singin’ Happy, various locations
1974 – Blood on the Mountain, Des Moines
1974 – Survival, Des Moines
1975 – All the King’s Horses, Ivy and Des Moines
1975 – Huckleberry Finn, along Mississippi River
1976 – A Distant Thunder, Des Moines
1976 – A Stranger in the Forest, Des Moines
1976 – Happiness Is … , Des Moines
1977 – F.I.S.T., Dubuque
1977 – Ride the Wind, Des Moines
1977 – Sammy, Des Moines
1978 – Nite Song, Des Moines
1978 – Scoring, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids
1979 – Paradise Trail, Des Moines
1980 – Heaven’s Heroes, Des Moines
1980 – Image of the Beast, Des Moines
1980 – Take This Job and Shove It, Dubuque
1980 – Whitcomb’s War, Des Moines and Jefferson
1981 – Home Safe, Des Moines
1981 – Pennies from Heaven, Dubuque
1982 – Face in the Mirror, Des Moines
1983 – Children of the Corn, Sioux City and Whiting
1983 – Country, Waterloo and Dunkerton
1983 – Prodigal Planet, Des Moines
1984 – Starman, Cedar Rapids
1984 – The Healing, Des Moines
1984 – The Shepherd, Des Moines
1985 – Echoes of War, Des Moines
1985 – Miracle Man, Des Moines
1985 – Rites of Passage, Des Moines and Adel
1986 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, northeast Iowa
1986 – Together, various locations
1987 – Miles from Home, Cedar Rapids
1987 – The Geek, Davenport
1988 – Field of Dreams, Dyersville
1988 – Zadar, Cow from Hell, Iowa City
1990 – Bix, Davenport
1990 – Indian Runner, Council Bluffs
1990 – Luther the Geek, various locations
1990 – Where the Night Begins, Davenport
1991 – Brother and Sisters, Davenport
1991 – In the Best Interest of the Children, Cedar Rapids
1991 – Noises Off, Des Moines
1992 – Shimmer, Toledo and Marshalltown
1992 – Whispers in the Dark, Des Moines
1993 – A Childhood Friend, Davenport
1993 – The Program, Iowa City
1993 – The Room Next Door, Davenport
1994 – Omaha, Council Bluffs
1994 – The Bridges of Madison County, Winterset and Adel
1994 – The Puppet Masters, Des Moines
1994 – An American Love, Davenport
1995 – Mommy, Muscatine
1995 – Twister, Eldora
1996 – Citizen Ruth, Council Bluffs
1996 – Michael, Council Bluffs
1996 – Touch, Council Bluffs
1997 – Drive-by Johnny, Bernard
1997 – Love from Ground Zero, Council Bluffs
1997 – The Unspoken, Grand Junction
1997 – The Yoofo Club, Des Moines
1997 – Trekkies, Riverside
1998 – Finest Hours, Fairfield
1998 – The Straight Story, Laurens and Clermont
1998 – Whiteboyz, Davenport
1999 – Cutter, Des Moines
2000 – Rain, State Center and Marshalltown
2000 – Silverwings, Des Moines
2002 – Haunting Villisca, Villisca and Des Moines and Warren County
2002 – Mommy 2, Muscatine
2002 – The Formula, Cedar Rapids
2002 – Yearbook, Bettendorf and Davenport
2003 – Iowa, Centerville
2003 – Magic Moment, Cedar Rapids area
2003 – Vamoose, Des Moines
2004 – Again and Again, Spring Hill and Warren County
2004 – Beneath the Mississippi, Burlington
2004 – Boone Style, Des Moines
2004 – Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life, Des Moines
2004 – Her Summer, Davenport
2004 – Lights, Camera … Kill!, Ottumwa
2004 – University Heights, Iowa City
2005 – 30, Cedar Rapids and Highway 30
2005 – Bad Kids Volume III, Des Moines
2005 – Dog Jack, Mount Pleasant
2005 – Indelible, Des Moines
2006 – Something Blue, Des Moines
2006 – The Curse, Marshalltown
2006 – The Hideout, Davenport area
2006 – The Final Season, Norway and Cedar Rapids
2007 – Sugar, Davenport, Burlington
2007 – 16 to Life (originally Duck Farm No. 13), McGregor
2008 – Children of the Corn, Lost Nation, Davenport
2008 – South Dakota, Earlham, central Iowa
2008 – Peacock, Odebolt, Greenfield, Lorimor
2008 – 16 to Life, McGregor
2009 – Ticket Out, Des Moines, central Iowa
2009 – The Crazies, Lenox, south western Iowa
2009 – The Offering, Washington, eastern Iowa
2009 – Splatter: Honor, Love, and Paintball, Burlington, south eastern Iowa
2009 – Twelve Thirty, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City
2009 – Sam Steele and the Junior Detective Agency, Des Moines
2009 – The Scientist, Council Bluffs
2009 – Megafault, Davenport
2009 – Ash, Des Moines
2009 – The Experiment, Des Moines
2009 – Janie Jones, Des Moines
2009 – Smitty, Des Moines
2009 – Dylan’s Wake, Des Moines
2009 – Lucky, Council Bluffs
2009 – Fertile Ground, Madrid