Blockbuster from Iowa?

By Deanna Truman-Cook / IOWA CITY PRESS-CITIZEN / January 28, 2007

Scott Beck's dream always has been to make films in Iowa.

Beck is a University of Iowa senior who already has snagged a film deal with MTV. He operates Bluebox Limited Films with fellow student Bryan Woods.

But to make his dream come true, Beck said much depends on the state of Iowa.

"We would really like to see Iowa pass film incentives," said Beck, 22. "We want to continue writing, producing and directing in Iowa."

Rep. Mark Davitt, D-Indianola, plans to file a film incentive bill this week. He said he thinks it has a good chance of passing.

"I am very optimistic," Davitt said. "There are a lot more people really listening this year and paying attention to the discussion."

Beck, like many Eastern Iowa filmmakers, is keeping his fingers crossed it will.

Convincing producers to shoot in the state ultimately comes down to money.

If neighboring states have incentive packages offering multiple tax breaks for filmmakers and Iowa does not, it is a no-brainer which state will get the film, Beck said.

Beck and Woods won an MTV student filmmaking contest in December 2005, which included a movie deal.

Though still negotiating with MTV on the specifics, Beck said it is looking to be, at the very least, a million dollar project and one he would like to have filmed in his home state.

"If it got to that stage when they were putting the film in production, a tax incentive in Iowa would make a good argument to bring the film here," he said. "But if there is not an incentive in Iowa, it is pretty impossible to negotiate with a major studio to shoot in Iowa."

A film incentive bill is not new. In fact, Davitt has been championing for one for the past three years.

He feels that bipartisan support has been growing for the film each year.

So does Tom Wheeler, manager of the Iowa Film Office.

As word spreads on how film incentives can help bring in more money to the state, support goes up, Wheeler said.

People are realizing that Iowa cannot compete against other states that have the incentives, he said.

"It comes down to a choice in the Midwest, not simply Iowa," Wheeler said. "Producers are shopping in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.

"If we don't have incentives, they are just going to skip right over us because the dollar can go further in the other places. It is just a simple business decision."

One of the last Midwest states to pass film incentives was Wisconsin, whose bill goes into effect July 1.

There has been little opposition to the incentives, Wheeler said.

One of the last larger films to be shot in the state is "The Final Season," shot in Norway and Cedar Rapids in summer 2006.

Producer Steve Schott estimates that for the film they spent about $1.5 million in the state for goods and services alone. He estimates that the crew spent another half a million dollars on food.

More than 3,000 hotel nights were booked and more than 30 cars rented.

But more importantly than the money, valuable film training was provided to dozens of Iowans, Schott said.

Schott, a Des Moines resident, said the decision to film in Iowa was not easy to make.

The big reason the decision was made was because the film was based on the true story of the 1991 Norway High School baseball team.

Schott estimates that he and his partners missed out on about $400,000 in tax rebates by choosing to shoot in Iowa.

"It was a very hard decision to stay here, but ultimately we decided to do that because we thought it was best for the story," he said.

To Schott, film incentives are a "win-win situation."

"We feel like filmmakers bring a lot of positive exposure to the state of Iowa, and it will really continue to take the message of Iowa being about good valued people off to the rest of the world and help bring people to Iowa," he said.

In the last few years, the number of film inquiries coming into the Iowa Film Office has been decreasing, mainly because Iowa does not have film incentives, he said.

The legislation that Davitt and others are working on would have a $100,000 threshold to entice independent films to come to the state.

Bruce Heppner-Elgin, founder of the Iowa Digital Filmmakers Guild and a Washington resident, knows of dozens of filmmakers across the state who will be lobbying for the bill to pass.

"The film incentives are very important in that they first off give a level playing field so we can compete with states around us," Heppner-Elgin said. "There is money out there that Iowa is missing."