Showing posts with label film tax credits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film tax credits. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Question Time
Pointed questions about the situation surrounding the Iowa film tax credit scandal
The Tom Wheeler trial as well as the other trials that have taken place due to the Film Tax Credit scandal have answered a lot of questions but not all, and have raised many more. There are many pointed questions I can think of that I would like to ask the various people who had a part in creating the problem. (Asking these questions with the aid of a pointed stick would be especially satisfying.)
To Michael Blouin, the first head of the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) that Tom Wheeler served under (during the Vilsack administration) I would like to ask this:
Why did you hire Tom Wheeler in the first place while ignoring the 40 or so other applications for the job of Iowa Film Office manager? You didn't renew the contract of previous Film Office manager, Steve Schott, and instead appointed Tom Wheeler without any review of the many applications. Why?
While there may have been applications in the pile of people that were just as qualified as Wheeler, there likely were people with better experience, yet you skipped over these people. Tom Wheeler's experience in the film business consisted of working as a Production Assistant at Fox Animation in the Editorial Department. Did you even bother to find out what this job entailed?
A Production Assistant (PA) is the lowest rung on the ladder. These are the people who get the coffee and do the filing. Tom Wheeler never was on a motion picture or television set, never worked on locations, never dealt with film budgets, and never did many of the things that he would later be asked questions relating to when he went to work for you. He was having trouble with the job long before the film tax credits entered into things or before you moved on to another position elsewhere.
So, tell me again why you hired him? Was he someone's well-connected relative? Did one of your bosses tell you to hire him and to pay no attention to all the other applicants?
I really want to know. Please tell me.
To the members of the Iowa Legislature:
My question to you is not why did you pass the film tax credit bill? With the competition from other states for film projects and the dollars they brought, passing this bill made perfect sense. No, my question - questions, actually - to you are these: Why did you write a law that concerned taxpayer dollars with such vague language? Why did you not include funding or qualified staffing to adequately administer such a program? And finally, why are you now pretending that you had nothing to do with it?
Both major political parties in both houses passed it with a majority voting for it. Now, rather than showing any true leadership and fixing its flaws, you prefer to pretend that it doesn't exist and hope that it will simply go away.
To Michael Tramontina, the second director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development that Tom Wheeler served under:
Just where were you during this big mess? Sleeping at your desk? Were you really so clueless as to think the Film Office was just some fun little tourism thing and that the film tax credits were just some vague abstract thing that the legislature had talked about once? And why did you panic and resign once the issue of luxury cars came up? (Note to self: If ever visiting Beverly Hills with Mike Tramontina, don't go anywhere near a Rolls-Royce dealership. It could give him a heart attack!)
If Tom Wheeler was unable to handle the film tax credits himself, why did you let him? Why didn't you provide staffing for him? And if you didn't think he was the man for the job, why didn't you replace him? You know, division heads have that power. Why didn't you use it?
To Tom Wheeler, the now former manager of the Iowa Film Office:
While I know you suffered greatly through the ordeal of being fired from your job and through the time of your trial (they don't call them "trials" for nothing!), to say nothing of your time at the Iowa Film Office, there are still questions that need to be asked.
Why did you not seek more help from the film community during your term as manager when it became apparent that you were in over your head? I am not just asking about the time when the film tax credits became part of the job. I'm talking about your whole term as manager. Why did you mostly rely mostly upon the internet for information when you could have called people in the know directly who could have given you much more informed answers? There is a lot of information on the internet, true, but it is by no means complete nor necessarily accurate. Was it a puffed up sense of pride from having your first well paying job and a "I can do it all myself" attitude that made you approach your job this way?
And when the film tax credits came into being and your higher ups not only refused you the money and the proper staffing to administer it - in fact cut your Film Office budget - why didn't you just quit? It certainly would have appeared the honorable thing to do and in truth would have been. You could have possibly used your Film Office credentials to find another job in the film industry. Why did you try to be a hero when you were so obviously unprepared and unarmed for the situation?
To Tom Miller, Iowa Attorney General:
Why didn't you provide any legal assistance to the Iowa Film Office during the time of the film tax credits? Were you somehow expecting Tom Wheeler to know all about this subject or about the law in general? Why did you allow your office to be used as a tool to make Tom Wheeler a scapegoat and deflect attention from the other responsible parties who should have known better? Why did you make it your job to protect the powerful in state government at the expense of Iowa taxpayers?
To Chet Culver, former governor of Iowa:
Did you pay any attention at all to what was happening in the various departments under your care, or were you too busy keeping up with the doings of the Green Bay Packers? Why did you decide to make no effort at all to fix the film tax credit program problems once you awoke from your slumber? To use words you might understand, why did you forfeit the game when it was still only at the beginning of the first quarter after noticing that the score was not in your favor?
You could have frozen the film tax credit program for only a limited period of time - time enough to regroup, fire whoever needed to be fired, hire whoever needed to be hired, do whatever triage necessary to get things moving again, and then work with all the parties involved to fix the problems for good. You can walk and chew gum at the time, can't you? (Don't answer that!)
Instead, you froze everything for essentially forever with no attention given whatsoever to the possible consequences of your actions. Then you had the nerve to try to use it as an issue for your re-election campaign with your tough guy declaration about Iowans not being made into suckers.
Are you surprised you lost the election? I'm not.
To the great silent majority of the Iowa film community:
I'm talking about those who simply sat back while this whole thing was going on without raising a finger to fight back for a chance for a satisfying way to make a living. Why didn't you do anything? What was so important that you couldn't even take 5 minutes to write a legislator or send a "letter to the editor" expressing your thoughts? There were plenty of you around when times were good. You were lining up at the craft service tables, grabbing the pay checks, the glamor of the visiting celebrities, and enjoying the camaraderie of the set. But when all of this was threatened you decided to hang back and let others do the leg work. Why?
The few who did try to do something and did speak up need more than the occasional "Atta boy!" from you. The need more than a "thank you". They need more than an apology from all above. They need their lives and opportunities restored. Who is going to do it for them?
To all of those I've referred to above and to all of those reading this article:
The problem with the film tax credit scandal is that it just didn't affect the Iowa Film Office, it didn't just affect the well being of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, and its effects did not stop at the Culver administration. It affected the whole state of Iowa and in its wake took down several other Film Offices and film incentive programs in other states. It put a black eye on Iowa in the eyes of the rest of not only the country but of the world and not just in the film community.
Film producers no longer trust the State of Iowa for anything. Who can blame them?
In the film community what happened as a result of the film tax credit scandal was the equivalent of the dropping of an atomic bomb. Iowa may as well contain deadly radiation as far as they are concerned. Nobody wants to film in Iowa any longer, at least professionally anyway. The fallout is going to last years, if not decades to come.
The Tom Wheeler trial as well as the other trials that have taken place due to the Film Tax Credit scandal have answered a lot of questions but not all, and have raised many more. There are many pointed questions I can think of that I would like to ask the various people who had a part in creating the problem. (Asking these questions with the aid of a pointed stick would be especially satisfying.)
To Michael Blouin, the first head of the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) that Tom Wheeler served under (during the Vilsack administration) I would like to ask this:
Why did you hire Tom Wheeler in the first place while ignoring the 40 or so other applications for the job of Iowa Film Office manager? You didn't renew the contract of previous Film Office manager, Steve Schott, and instead appointed Tom Wheeler without any review of the many applications. Why?
While there may have been applications in the pile of people that were just as qualified as Wheeler, there likely were people with better experience, yet you skipped over these people. Tom Wheeler's experience in the film business consisted of working as a Production Assistant at Fox Animation in the Editorial Department. Did you even bother to find out what this job entailed?
A Production Assistant (PA) is the lowest rung on the ladder. These are the people who get the coffee and do the filing. Tom Wheeler never was on a motion picture or television set, never worked on locations, never dealt with film budgets, and never did many of the things that he would later be asked questions relating to when he went to work for you. He was having trouble with the job long before the film tax credits entered into things or before you moved on to another position elsewhere.
So, tell me again why you hired him? Was he someone's well-connected relative? Did one of your bosses tell you to hire him and to pay no attention to all the other applicants?
I really want to know. Please tell me.
To the members of the Iowa Legislature:
My question to you is not why did you pass the film tax credit bill? With the competition from other states for film projects and the dollars they brought, passing this bill made perfect sense. No, my question - questions, actually - to you are these: Why did you write a law that concerned taxpayer dollars with such vague language? Why did you not include funding or qualified staffing to adequately administer such a program? And finally, why are you now pretending that you had nothing to do with it?
Both major political parties in both houses passed it with a majority voting for it. Now, rather than showing any true leadership and fixing its flaws, you prefer to pretend that it doesn't exist and hope that it will simply go away.
To Michael Tramontina, the second director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development that Tom Wheeler served under:
Just where were you during this big mess? Sleeping at your desk? Were you really so clueless as to think the Film Office was just some fun little tourism thing and that the film tax credits were just some vague abstract thing that the legislature had talked about once? And why did you panic and resign once the issue of luxury cars came up? (Note to self: If ever visiting Beverly Hills with Mike Tramontina, don't go anywhere near a Rolls-Royce dealership. It could give him a heart attack!)
If Tom Wheeler was unable to handle the film tax credits himself, why did you let him? Why didn't you provide staffing for him? And if you didn't think he was the man for the job, why didn't you replace him? You know, division heads have that power. Why didn't you use it?
To Tom Wheeler, the now former manager of the Iowa Film Office:
While I know you suffered greatly through the ordeal of being fired from your job and through the time of your trial (they don't call them "trials" for nothing!), to say nothing of your time at the Iowa Film Office, there are still questions that need to be asked.
Why did you not seek more help from the film community during your term as manager when it became apparent that you were in over your head? I am not just asking about the time when the film tax credits became part of the job. I'm talking about your whole term as manager. Why did you mostly rely mostly upon the internet for information when you could have called people in the know directly who could have given you much more informed answers? There is a lot of information on the internet, true, but it is by no means complete nor necessarily accurate. Was it a puffed up sense of pride from having your first well paying job and a "I can do it all myself" attitude that made you approach your job this way?
And when the film tax credits came into being and your higher ups not only refused you the money and the proper staffing to administer it - in fact cut your Film Office budget - why didn't you just quit? It certainly would have appeared the honorable thing to do and in truth would have been. You could have possibly used your Film Office credentials to find another job in the film industry. Why did you try to be a hero when you were so obviously unprepared and unarmed for the situation?
To Tom Miller, Iowa Attorney General:
Why didn't you provide any legal assistance to the Iowa Film Office during the time of the film tax credits? Were you somehow expecting Tom Wheeler to know all about this subject or about the law in general? Why did you allow your office to be used as a tool to make Tom Wheeler a scapegoat and deflect attention from the other responsible parties who should have known better? Why did you make it your job to protect the powerful in state government at the expense of Iowa taxpayers?
To Chet Culver, former governor of Iowa:
Did you pay any attention at all to what was happening in the various departments under your care, or were you too busy keeping up with the doings of the Green Bay Packers? Why did you decide to make no effort at all to fix the film tax credit program problems once you awoke from your slumber? To use words you might understand, why did you forfeit the game when it was still only at the beginning of the first quarter after noticing that the score was not in your favor?
You could have frozen the film tax credit program for only a limited period of time - time enough to regroup, fire whoever needed to be fired, hire whoever needed to be hired, do whatever triage necessary to get things moving again, and then work with all the parties involved to fix the problems for good. You can walk and chew gum at the time, can't you? (Don't answer that!)
Instead, you froze everything for essentially forever with no attention given whatsoever to the possible consequences of your actions. Then you had the nerve to try to use it as an issue for your re-election campaign with your tough guy declaration about Iowans not being made into suckers.
Are you surprised you lost the election? I'm not.
To the great silent majority of the Iowa film community:
I'm talking about those who simply sat back while this whole thing was going on without raising a finger to fight back for a chance for a satisfying way to make a living. Why didn't you do anything? What was so important that you couldn't even take 5 minutes to write a legislator or send a "letter to the editor" expressing your thoughts? There were plenty of you around when times were good. You were lining up at the craft service tables, grabbing the pay checks, the glamor of the visiting celebrities, and enjoying the camaraderie of the set. But when all of this was threatened you decided to hang back and let others do the leg work. Why?
The few who did try to do something and did speak up need more than the occasional "Atta boy!" from you. The need more than a "thank you". They need more than an apology from all above. They need their lives and opportunities restored. Who is going to do it for them?
To all of those I've referred to above and to all of those reading this article:
The problem with the film tax credit scandal is that it just didn't affect the Iowa Film Office, it didn't just affect the well being of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, and its effects did not stop at the Culver administration. It affected the whole state of Iowa and in its wake took down several other Film Offices and film incentive programs in other states. It put a black eye on Iowa in the eyes of the rest of not only the country but of the world and not just in the film community.
Film producers no longer trust the State of Iowa for anything. Who can blame them?
In the film community what happened as a result of the film tax credit scandal was the equivalent of the dropping of an atomic bomb. Iowa may as well contain deadly radiation as far as they are concerned. Nobody wants to film in Iowa any longer, at least professionally anyway. The fallout is going to last years, if not decades to come.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Iowa's film program costs near $1.5 million with deal
From the Des Moines Register (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110810/NEWS10/108100311/-1/GALLERY_ARRAY/Iowa-s-film-program-costs-near-1-5-million-deal):
Iowa's film program costs near $1.5 million with deal
by Lee Rood
Iowa's film program costs near $1.5 million with deal
by Lee Rood
Producers of the 2009 movie "Smitty" reached an agreement this month with state prosecutors to receive cash and tax credits, pushing the taxpayer tab of court settlements tied the collapse of Iowa's film program to almost $1.5 million.
Under the agreement, makers of the family feature film starring Peter Fonda, Mira Sorvino and Louis Gossett Jr. will receive more than $265,000 in tax credits and almost $60,000 cash.
Jeff Thompson, a deputy state attorney general, said settlements with the makers of "The Crazies" and "The Experiment," two films whose expenses are being audited by the state, are expected to eventually be the largest reached. A handful of others could still receive tax credits.
Several filmmakers had yet to receive credits when the lucrative film incentive program was suspended in 2009 due to abuse and mismanagement. A state audit released in 2010 found 80 percent of the tax credits awarded before the program collapsed - some $26 million of $32 million - were issued improperly.
The state paid $450,000 this year to Midsummer Films, a film company that was planning to spend millions in Iowa before the program was abandoned. The company planned to make six movies, to be filmed over three years, that were worth an estimated $60 million to $70 million.
Late last year, the state also paid a $434,171 cash settlement to After Dark Films. The amount was on top of $315,828 in tax credits previously awarded to the company, which made the horror movies "Husk" and "Fertile Ground."
Next week, Tom Wheeler, former manager of the state's one-man film office, will face charges of felonious misconduct in office, first-degree fraudulent practices and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty.
Dennis Brouse, 60, of Plattsmouth, Neb., the owner of Changing Horses Productions, is scheduled for trial March 15.
Chad Witter, 38, of Bettendorf, a tax credit broker accused of helping several filmmakers abuse the program, is scheduled to go to trial April 16.
Harel Goldstein - also known as Harel Gold and Kevin Ward - of Calabasas, Calif., has been charged with first-degree fraudulent practices, forgery and conspiracy. Goldstein, 50, is a movie distributor and was producer of the film "Underground." He has yet to appear in court.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Tom Wheeler trial finally underway
After being delayed 4 times at least, the trial of Tom Wheeler looks like it may be finally beginning, according to this article on WHO-TV's website:
http://www.whotv.com/news/who-story-film-head-court-date-20110804,0,6415666.story
There seems to be a feeling from many people that the idea of this trial is to "throw Tom Wheeler under the bus" and leave higher-ups of his from the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) and members of the Culver administration, including former Governor Chet Culver himself, unscathed by the scandal with total blame assigned to Wheeler. We'll have to stay tuned to see how all of this plays out. Besides the Tom Wheeler trial, there are 3 other known trials that have been reported by the press.
http://www.whotv.com/news/who-story-film-head-court-date-20110804,0,6415666.story
There seems to be a feeling from many people that the idea of this trial is to "throw Tom Wheeler under the bus" and leave higher-ups of his from the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) and members of the Culver administration, including former Governor Chet Culver himself, unscathed by the scandal with total blame assigned to Wheeler. We'll have to stay tuned to see how all of this plays out. Besides the Tom Wheeler trial, there are 3 other known trials that have been reported by the press.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
What NOT to do with the Iowa Film Incentives
There's been a flurry of activity lately behind the scenes regarding bringing the Iowa Film Incentives back. With the scandals that caused the current program to be suspended there's a strong effort underway to get things right this time. This would be by replacing the current program with a new and improved one. The hope is to eliminate the omissions and remove loopholes that allowed the program to be abused. Many of the steps to take or not take are obvious. But there are a few things to avoid that look good at first glance but are likely to prove troublesome in practice.
Here are some things to avoid doing:
Shifting most of the film credits to higher budget ($25 million and up) productions.
On this surface this idea looks really good. The bigger the production, the more people hired, right? When you look closer to the wide range effects, some problems emerge. Because so much money is at stake on these higher dollar projects producers will tend to cover their bets by hiring already established industry professionals for the more important and high paying positions. For the most part these people will be those from the major production centers (Hollywood and New York, mostly). Because of their proximity to these locals these people are going to have much longer resumes and deeper experience than the average Iowan can hope to get right now. The result of this is that for most Iowans the most likely areas they will be hired for is for the low end and low paying jobs such as Production Assistant or Extra. This would hardly bring in the influx of income that a film program would be expected to bring in.
Smaller productions, although lower paying and requiring closer supervision, do offer a greater chance of advancement than the big films. This can translate into better jobs on the larger budget shows when these people get hired there. It also improves the quality of Iowa's film talent pool making the state a more attractive place to shoot a motion picture or television production.
Another potential benefit of supporting smaller productions is that some of these can be locally originated. If some of these become successes it is possible that some of these producers may want to put down roots, building infrastructure so they can continue to make films in Iowa. Why? Because we as a state supported them, hardly the situation they would find out in L.A.
Big films can be good and they can be exciting but let's not ignore the big producers of tomorrow.
Giving film incentives for using an Iowa-based pass-thru company
A producer can't find the people or equipment they need in Iowa. So they are allowed film credits if they use an Iowa-based pass-thru company to act as a go-between to procure what they need. Sounds like a way of getting things established, doesn't it? Since Iowa doesn't have a sufficient talent pool built up to staff these film jobs the state can still make itself attractive by offering a way around. And therein lies the problem.
Tell me if I'm wrong but isn't the idea of the film incentives to create film employment for Iowans, in addition to the purchase of goods and services - to build an industry, not just to simply bring films into Iowa?
Pass-thru companies are perceived by the public to be a financial shell game - a cheap accounting trick - because, if you look closely, that's exactly what they are - a way of laundering money paid out so that companies can still receive film credits that they would not otherwise receive. Because they are using an Iowa-based go-between to do their procuring of crew and equipment they are rewarded. Outside of the very few Iowans running these pass-thru companies, no Iowans benefit from these transactions.
Instead of training Iowans for important jobs, pass-thru companies allow producers to be still rewarded for not hiring our citizens. Instead of encouraging Iowa-based film support businesses to develop and grow, these pass-thru companies instead
benefit the established players in other states.
Keeping information about films that are set to shoot a secret
While it might be understandable to keep some information about a film production confidential - contracts, casting decisions, budget information (except perhaps that which which involves film credits) - it is not so understandable that the existence of a film and its contact information should be hidden from the Iowa public. Somehow this issue has never come up, but when the typical Iowan, the kind without personal industry connections, finds out about a production being shot, it is already too late. The crew positions are already filled and the film is already cast. The Iowa Film Incentive Program is supposed to give opportunities to all interested Iowans, not just a few select insiders, right?
If any of the above things are included in a new Film Incentive Program there is sure to be trouble ahead and we might not have a chance to recover again.
Here are some things to avoid doing:
Shifting most of the film credits to higher budget ($25 million and up) productions.
On this surface this idea looks really good. The bigger the production, the more people hired, right? When you look closer to the wide range effects, some problems emerge. Because so much money is at stake on these higher dollar projects producers will tend to cover their bets by hiring already established industry professionals for the more important and high paying positions. For the most part these people will be those from the major production centers (Hollywood and New York, mostly). Because of their proximity to these locals these people are going to have much longer resumes and deeper experience than the average Iowan can hope to get right now. The result of this is that for most Iowans the most likely areas they will be hired for is for the low end and low paying jobs such as Production Assistant or Extra. This would hardly bring in the influx of income that a film program would be expected to bring in.
Smaller productions, although lower paying and requiring closer supervision, do offer a greater chance of advancement than the big films. This can translate into better jobs on the larger budget shows when these people get hired there. It also improves the quality of Iowa's film talent pool making the state a more attractive place to shoot a motion picture or television production.
Another potential benefit of supporting smaller productions is that some of these can be locally originated. If some of these become successes it is possible that some of these producers may want to put down roots, building infrastructure so they can continue to make films in Iowa. Why? Because we as a state supported them, hardly the situation they would find out in L.A.
Big films can be good and they can be exciting but let's not ignore the big producers of tomorrow.
Giving film incentives for using an Iowa-based pass-thru company
A producer can't find the people or equipment they need in Iowa. So they are allowed film credits if they use an Iowa-based pass-thru company to act as a go-between to procure what they need. Sounds like a way of getting things established, doesn't it? Since Iowa doesn't have a sufficient talent pool built up to staff these film jobs the state can still make itself attractive by offering a way around. And therein lies the problem.
Tell me if I'm wrong but isn't the idea of the film incentives to create film employment for Iowans, in addition to the purchase of goods and services - to build an industry, not just to simply bring films into Iowa?
Pass-thru companies are perceived by the public to be a financial shell game - a cheap accounting trick - because, if you look closely, that's exactly what they are - a way of laundering money paid out so that companies can still receive film credits that they would not otherwise receive. Because they are using an Iowa-based go-between to do their procuring of crew and equipment they are rewarded. Outside of the very few Iowans running these pass-thru companies, no Iowans benefit from these transactions.
Instead of training Iowans for important jobs, pass-thru companies allow producers to be still rewarded for not hiring our citizens. Instead of encouraging Iowa-based film support businesses to develop and grow, these pass-thru companies instead
benefit the established players in other states.
Keeping information about films that are set to shoot a secret
While it might be understandable to keep some information about a film production confidential - contracts, casting decisions, budget information (except perhaps that which which involves film credits) - it is not so understandable that the existence of a film and its contact information should be hidden from the Iowa public. Somehow this issue has never come up, but when the typical Iowan, the kind without personal industry connections, finds out about a production being shot, it is already too late. The crew positions are already filled and the film is already cast. The Iowa Film Incentive Program is supposed to give opportunities to all interested Iowans, not just a few select insiders, right?
If any of the above things are included in a new Film Incentive Program there is sure to be trouble ahead and we might not have a chance to recover again.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Film Credits Continue?
Here's a link to a WOI-TV news story about the Iowa Film Tax Credits supposedly continuing for projects already in the pipeline:
http://www.myabc5.com/global/category.asp?c=190187&clipId=5084156&topVideoCatNo=165457&autoStart=true
The big question is, has anyone actually seen any evidence that any production is going to happen? Other than volunteer type productions there hasn't been anything this summer.
http://www.myabc5.com/global/category.asp?c=190187&clipId=5084156&topVideoCatNo=165457&autoStart=true
The big question is, has anyone actually seen any evidence that any production is going to happen? Other than volunteer type productions there hasn't been anything this summer.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Are We Doomed? Part 2
Gene just quoted an article from today's Des Moines Register that inferred that Terry Branstad would probably not be supporting film tax credits. Here is a link to the article so you can read it for yourself:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100818/NEWS09/8180366/Branstad-would-cut-Iowa-Department-of-Economic-Development
Where does that leave us? Talk about us being between a rock and hard place! If the incumbent is re-elected and a new film bill comes up we know we can probably count on him getting out the old veto pen and Culverizing it. If Tweedledee is the choice, he'll probably be grasping at that same writing instrument. Some choice!
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100818/NEWS09/8180366/Branstad-would-cut-Iowa-Department-of-Economic-Development
Where does that leave us? Talk about us being between a rock and hard place! If the incumbent is re-elected and a new film bill comes up we know we can probably count on him getting out the old veto pen and Culverizing it. If Tweedledee is the choice, he'll probably be grasping at that same writing instrument. Some choice!
I'm planning to do a symbolic vote myself and do a write-in for Tom Wheeler. At least we know he is for film and it might send a message to both the winner and the loser of the election that we're here and we mean business.
Friday, August 13, 2010
"Get what you need and then get the hell out"
Just got word that a film production company is going to be shooting "pick-up" shots for the movie "Butter" soon at the Iowa State Fair. Pick-up shots, for those unfamiliar with the term, are quick location shots to insert into the rest of the footage. The rest of the footage for this movie is being shot in Louisiana because of the Iowa film credits evaporating after being Culverized. It was originally planned to shoot it in Iowa.
That now makes two films that logically should have been shot here but weren't: "Butter" which concerns the butter cow at the fair, and "Cedar Rapids" which, although its story location is Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was actually shot in Ann Arbor, Michigan with only "pick-up" shots (quick establishing shots) actually being shot in its namesake city.
That now makes two films that logically should have been shot here but weren't: "Butter" which concerns the butter cow at the fair, and "Cedar Rapids" which, although its story location is Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was actually shot in Ann Arbor, Michigan with only "pick-up" shots (quick establishing shots) actually being shot in its namesake city.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Big Question - Will They Return?
Here is a great Letter to the Editor from the creator of this blog that is in The Des Moines Register:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100810/OPINION04/8100333/1038/Will-moviemakers-return-to-Iowa?
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100810/OPINION04/8100333/1038/Will-moviemakers-return-to-Iowa?
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Fade to black? Cutting film tax break misses the big picture
The following editorial (link below) describes New Jersey's governor considering cutting their film tax credit in order to balance the budget. Too bad we didn't get any advanced warning and we didn't get the opportunity to oppose it. Our governor just decided to unilaterally blast it out of the water - Culverize it! - without asking anybody else whether it was a good idea, other that his yes men. Let's work to get a film incentive back in and to get him out.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/06/fade_to_black_cutting_film_tax.html
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/06/fade_to_black_cutting_film_tax.html
Friday, June 18, 2010
Michigan film tax incentive keeps cameras rolling at Pixofactor
Last time I checked, still no new film businesses of consequence opening in Iowa. Who says film incentives don't do any good.
Mich. film tax incentive keeps cameras rolling at Pixofactor
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100617/BIZ/6170380/1001/Mich.-film-tax-incentive-keeps-cameras-rolling-at-Pixofactor
Mich. film tax incentive keeps cameras rolling at Pixofactor
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100617/BIZ/6170380/1001/Mich.-film-tax-incentive-keeps-cameras-rolling-at-Pixofactor
Atlanta studio opens as filming in Georgia booms
Yet another article about a new film studio in Atlanta, Georgia. To think a version of this could have happened in Iowa.
Atlanta studio opens as filming in Georgia booms
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/06/atlanta-studio-opens-as-filming-in-georgia-booms.html
Atlanta studio opens as filming in Georgia booms
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/06/atlanta-studio-opens-as-filming-in-georgia-booms.html
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
New Mexico Still Going Strong But Threats Lurk
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