.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:340px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:370px; margin-left:10px; clear:left;} tr.d0 td { background-color: #ccccff; color: black; }
On a brisk spring Saturday, people slowly trickled into downtown’s Fourth Street Theatre around noon to sign in for various roles in the making of the film “South Dakota.” Some with headsets wandered between this “base camp,” Larry’s Catering Service (a food vendor parked along the street) and the old train depot to the south of Court Avenue, which was being transformed into a Pennsylvania bus station. A bus drove around the city, with the production team shooting interior scenes, while other crews set up for filming at the station later that day.

Film crews taking over buildings and street blocks may become a common sight in Central Iowa as new tax incentives attract more film productions. But a proliferation of movie projects also is exposing a problem in Iowa: a lack of infrastructure – especially the worker base – from which these productions can draw. Most of the “South Dakota” crew members came from California, Florida, New York and other states that have a much stronger film industry work force.

“We can handle one smaller feature at a time, like “South Dakota,’ bearing in mind producers always bring in key crew personnel,” said Tom Wheeler, manager of the Iowa Film Office with the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED). “If we could get closer to one and a half to two crews, I think we would be in a very good position.”

California resident Steven Brown, producer of the $3 million “South Dakota,” believes Iowa can provide only a quarter of the crew needed for a film that size right now, and most workers have little experience in movies. Only a couple of Iowans hold key roles, such as Kent Newman, president of the Iowa Motion Picture Association (IMPA), who is the location manager.

“This is the first time I’ve been to a state where it was this undeveloped in the film community,” Brown said.

This could be a huge opportunity, given that about 70 percent of a film’s budget goes to labor costs.

Though paying for hotel rooms, rental cars and other accommodations for out-of-town workers add to the film’s total in-state budget, which can increase the amount of tax credits it qualifies for, that option is not always as cost-effective as using in-state services.

The reality

Since the Iowa Film Promotion Act was signed into law on May 17, 2007, more than $590,000 in expenditure and investor credits have been given to three films, and many more films have applied. The legislation gives producers and investors a 25 percent transferable tax credit on qualified expenses they incur while filming in Iowa if expenditures exceed $100,000.

Larger film projects (usually in the $3 million to $5 million range) that have come to Iowa in the past year are “The Final Season,” “The Hideout,” “Sugar,” “Duck Farm No. 13,” and currently “South Dakota” and “Peacock.”

Interest in the tax credits is strong, Wheeler said, especially as other people see how the tax credits work. “The single most important part of the program is that there are buyers for these certificates,” he said, “and in fact we’ve found out that there are many eager buyers.”

But Wheeler also has become somewhat of a “default producer” for these films, because production companies are unfamiliar with resources in Iowa. The Greater Des Moines Visitors and Convention Bureau also started a film commission, which helps Wheeler.

However, the resources are limited.

Brown compares the infrastructure for supporting film projects to New Mexico when it first passed its tax incentives about five years ago. At first, that state had a very small crew base, but now it can handle five or six films at a time.

“It takes a couple of movies for someone to get experience enough to have basic knowledge, and then they can work pretty consistently,” Brown said.

Only a few Iowans have seen full-time opportunities to work in the film industry so far.

“We have upwards of 100 people in our crew base as it is,” Wheeler said, “but considering we’re primarily a television commercial market … those people are employed regularly.” The ideal situation would be to have about 150 people who are available, skilled and can work at any given time, he said.

Convincing workers to see the film industry as a career could become more difficult if actors strike. If the actors affiliated with the Screen Actors Guild don’t have a revised contact for new media, specifically related to DVD sales and online royalties, by July 1, they plan to walk off the sets.

“We probably would have two more projects lined up following “Peacock,'” Wheeler said, “so they would be consecutive and that would keep folks busy through the entire shooting season,” but people are not willing to commit to projects until the issue is resolved.

On the scene

The makers of “South Dakota” opened their offices in Iowa in early March, with about 20 key personnel to work on pre-production.

Staff includes the producer, director (who is also the writer in this case), production manager, production coordinator, two location managers, an art department (which includes a production designer and a set designer), costume designer and assistant, prop master and assistant, a transportation department and a grip and electric department.

When shooting, around 75 people can be on the set, many of whom are grips (stagehands who help set up lighting or electrical equipment or move scenery).

For a couple of scenes in Earlham involving a football game and town dance, as many as 600 people will be on the set, most of whom will be volunteer extras, who are there for free food, raffle prizes and the chance to be in a movie.

Many grips in Iowa are theater stagehands affiliated with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) union and primarily work on Broadway shows at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. Grips receive around $15 to $25 per hour depending on the size of the production, which includes overtime pay when shooting runs beyond eight hours in a day – a common occurrence on film sets.

Many IATSE members went through an intensive weekend training course to learn how to work in film. The IMPA received a $50,000 grant from the IDED to conduct five “Grip 101” programs in conjunction with Iowa’s community colleges. All five programs were sold out, training 125 people. The courses focused on equipment terminology and how to use the equipment on the set.

“If I send these guys after a piece of equipment, they need to know what it is, because if you have 80 people on payroll, five minutes is a lot of money,” said Steve Faust, who taught the course.

Faust has been in the business 24 years as a producer, gaffer and key grip through his own company, Light-Wise Productions. For “South Dakota,” he is serving as the dolly grip, setting up the systems for the cameras to roll on during action shots. Whereas before he traveled around the United States for work, he is looking to stay more in the Midwest after seeing the boost in activity here.

“Just getting your foot in the door is the main thing, then after that it’s a lot of self-promotion,” he said.

Joel Andrade went through the training program in March after being laid off from Winnebago Industries Inc., and is now on the “South Dakota” set. He is considering working as a grip full time if there are enough jobs, or picking up a second job in his hometown of Clear Lake if needed. “It all depends,” he said. “If I see opportunity to do it full time, I would consider doing it.”

Other opportunities

The IMPA’s Newman is serving as location manager for “South Dakota” as a way to learn more about how to work with local communities and production companies.

His company, Fullspectrum Productions, also is providing camera equipment for the film, with the goal to provide more services to out-of-state productions in the future. He sees this as a major opportunity for other film businesses as well, given that Iowa-based companies or individuals are exempt from paying income tax on purchases for projects registered for the film incentives.

Newman also sees opportunities for caterers, truck drivers and other professionals. The production company hired Larry’s Catering Service from California to provide all the food on the set, but that’s something a local caterer could evolve to handle.

The three-man catering crew has two chefs and another person who assembles the tables and chairs. The team works around 16 hours a day, serving three gourmet entrees, such as filet mignon, chicken cordon bleu and mussels marinara, with a full salad bar and fruit tray, for dinner. The goal is to keep people on the set so that production can continue on schedule.

“It’s a mobile restaurant,” said West Humphries, who has worked on the sets of the TV shows “The Biggest Loser,” “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars.” “We seat 100 people, we feed 100 people, and then we break down and leave and go to the next location.”

Students coming out of college with degrees in communications, theater or film studies also could find a strong job market, but many are graduating without real-world experience, Wheeler said, given that it’s expensive for schools to put on a production. Some film productions may take on an intern, but most are focused on filming quickly to keep costs down.

“As we bring these productions here,” Newman said, “and they’re coming here to take advantage of the tax credits, it provides a huge opportunity for both individuals and companies to provide the labor and services these productions need.”