New Manager of the Iowa Film Office Revealed (now known as Produce Iowa)

Looks like the lonnnnnnnnnnnng wait for the Iowa film office to come back to life may be over.  Apparently, Liz Gilman will be the new manager of that office.  I believe that Liz runs Gilman Media Inc., which is a  Video Production & Taping Service located in West Des Moines, Iowa. The Iowa film office will be called Produce Iowa.

BULLETIN

BULLETIN: unnamed sources say the new manager of the Iowa film office will be announced today and that it is a female who will lead it.  Stay tuned.

The Best Kept Secret At The Iowa Capitol

*The Best Kept Secret At The Iowa Capitol
(*phrase credited to Jay)

Today Jay Villwock and I were joined by Dave Thrasher on our trip to the Iowa Capitol.  The first thing we did was engage in a casual conversation with the governor's office manager, Leo Hough, who said there are four pay grades for the job of manager of the Iowa film office and that this would be the basis for possible salary negotiations.  He said the job is an "at-will" job, not a contract arrangement.

A source within the Iowa legislature said he "heard" that the new IFO manager is a woman but had no other details to share.

We know from speaking with Senator Bill Dotzler and Rep. Dave Deyoe that the budget for the IFO is still alive and in a joint house/senate conference discussion.

What remains a mystery is the identity of the new Iowa film office manager.  The head of Iowa Cultural Affairs, Mary Cownie, revealed in recent weeks that she has made her selection, yet we are all still in the dark because not a peep has been made concerning who Mary has chosen.

Because the Iowa film office has been stagnant for four years, not dead, but in hibernation on some forgotten state of Iowa shelf, I sense that despite the best efforts of Senator Dotzler, the film industry is what a legislator called it when it was shut down, "Iowa's whipping boy", who has been comatose for far too long.  If the identity of the manager of the film office is not made public and if the film office continues to remain helplessly lifeless until the end of the current fiscal year, the funds allotted to the film office may likely be blown by being infused into various Iowa Cultural Affairs projects.  This would mean another year of going through this sluggish political process of ensuring proper funding and putting a film office manager to work.

Now you should better understand what Jay meant when he coined that little phrase.

We Know NOTHING!

I know there are many out there who want to know who is going to be the next manager of the Iowa Film Office and what the film office will do to improve their creative lives.  Jay Villwock and I went to the Iowa State House today and succeeded in discovering NOTHING.  We have contacted Iowa Cultural Affairs and a spokesman there didn't even claim to know anything.  We do know that the appropriations bill is now in a joint house/senate conference committee and that the money allotted for the IFO will likely be ample.  We know that our two top choices to head the IFO were rejected and that the future of film-making in Iowa will likely be limited to commercial work and independent tiny-budget films, if any.  The idea that Hollywood film-makers would come back to Iowa and bring jobs to actors and crew now seems like only a hopeful dream that has all but disappeared.  Tax incentives certainly will not come back into play for many years, and without them producers will go to states where there still are movie tax incentive programs in force.  (Photo shows how political craziness has taken a toll on Jay).

New Film Office Manager Is Known Now

I was all set to file yet another report about how the Iowa film office is likely to finally get an ample amount of money allocated for its budget (which is true), and that Jay and I talked to several legislators again today and with the governor's director of the office of management and budget (also true), but now I'm just going to say that the name of the new IFO manager will very likely be announced as early as tomorrow and that the names of our two top choices will not be uttered in that announcement. 

Today we were told by someone in very high authority that the film office will most likely focus on local projects, rather than bigger movie making activity.  Speaking for Jay and myself, we hope that whoever is named to head the IFO will work towards the  resumption of movie work for creative Iowans, even though such work will most likely be industrial films and commercials.

Thank you to Senator Bill Dotzler and Rep. David Deyoe.  You two have done so much to get funding for the film office and you were always there to speak with us and support us and the film industry here.

You Want Answers? You Want Answers?

Q: You Want Answers?
A: I think I'm entitled to them.
Q: You Want Answers?
A: I want the TRUTH!!!

Well, Jay and I aren't getting any answers and sometimes even the truth eludes us.  We went to the Iowa State House today.  Spoke with a few legislators and a governor staff member, but learned nothing.  We know that the bill concerning funding for the Iowa film office is in the Iowa House though.  We also know that applicants for that job were assured that they'd hear back by last week and have not heard a peep.

It's like trying to run in waist-high water, or having a dream where everything's in s-l-o-wwwwwww motion.

April Rains, Capitol Hopes

 

Normally when Jay and I get to the Iowa State House we immediately find a legislator and begin a discussion concerning the Iowa film office.  Today things were very quiet and unpopulated legislator-wise until we had wandered for one or two hours, but our wait paid off.  Our first encounter was with the Iowa senator from Waterloo, Bill Dotzler.

Senator Dotzler has spoken up for our film office cause from day one and now he is in his fourth year of doing his utmost to help us. It's been the same length of time for Jay and me, four long years of digging for answers and seeking support.  The senator said the appropriations bill which covers funding for the Iowa Film Office is now in the Iowa House and will go back to the senate and eventually to a joint conference where the appropriations bill will be approved.  Following this, the film office will be set to re-open, with just shy of what the governor recommended in his budget proposal, $400,000 to fund the film office.  The office will not open however, until a manager is announced, which is a long and crazy story in itself.

The amount for funding the IFO will not be less than $385,000, according to Rep. Dave Deyoe, who is the appropriations committee leader on the house side.  Presently the IFO has $185,000, and this would be carried over and added to the $200,000-$300,000 allocated to the film office, bringing the total to as little as $385,000 and as much as $485,000 if I understand this complicated situation correctly.

We heard from the governor's office manager, Leo Hough, that the governor would prefer to not interfere or micro-manage the cultural affairs office, which means the selection of the new IFO manager will be strictly in the hands of that department's director, Mary Cownie.

It's gray outside.  It's gray symbolically. Sunshine is welcomed so fresh things can grow again.