The Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, with the help of the Iowa Film Office, is guiding the creation of a communitywide film commission it hopes will generate more interest from film industry professionals and, in turn, reap economic benefits for Greater Des Moines.

“Within the destination-marketing organizations, a lot of people are looking at (the film industry) as a viable economic generator for their area,” said Becky Gruening, the CVB’s tourism and film commission director. “So out there in the film industry, producers and filmmakers are realizing they can contact a city and get much more help than what they’d be able to get on their own.”

Since September, the CVB has been assembling an 11-member volunteer film commission, now known as the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau Film Commission, with representatives from the Iowa Motion Picture Association and various sectors – transportation, hotels, catering, restaurants, law enforcement and real estate, for example – that can provide support services to film industry professionals working in the area. The CVB and Iowa Film Office routinely receive requests from the movie companies for these services, and commission leaders believe the organization will provide a better organized, more detailed response to those requests.

“The direct result is the attraction of more projects,” said Tom Wheeler, manager of the Iowa Film Office. “Word gets out in their office that ‘Hey, those Iowa folks, they get it. And what they don’t get, they hang in there and try to get the job done. And having a dedicated commission solidifies that willingness to help.”

CVB Executive Director Greg Edwards said the film commission started as an exploratory project, but has turned into a tool that provides as an economic boost to the community. He does not believe the area has missed out on filming opportunities in the past, “but I just felt we could do a better job of trying to lure in this kind of stuff.” He pointed to the economic benefits that would be created by some larger projects. A full-length feature film, for instance, would bring 100 people or more to the area for 30 to 60 days. Such a project, he said, would likely inject millions of dollars into the local economy.

The commission, which is still in the development stages, will meet this week to vote on its mission statement and choose a logo, which Gruening said will allow it to begin to actively pursue leads in the coming months. The commission has already begun work on nearly a half-dozen projects, one of which could potentially require 1,800 hotel room-nights.

“We’re great fans of the Home & Garden channel and we’re just starting to get more of the Discover Channel projects,” she said. “Those are nice. They’re in and out in a week to 10 days and they need very little. But it does get our city out there.”

The long-term goal of the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau Film Commission is to increase the economic benefits brought to the community by filming projects and to keep a better handle on what projects are coming to the area, Gruening said.

“I would love to see us have a major motion picture again,” she said. “Having another ‘Bridges of Madison County,’ something that would have a long-term impact with international and domestic visitors, that’s what I would love to see.”

She also hopes the commission will create new film-related events and expand existing events, such as the Wild Rose Film Festival, hosted annually by members of the local film industry. Expanding that event, she said, would generate more economic activity and bring more visitors to the area. The commission will also work with the Greater Des Moines Partnership ahead of the 2008 Iowa caucuses to determine the best filming locations in the city for film and television crews.

Wheeler is encouraged by the development of the film commission in Greater Des Moines as well as similar commissions in other Iowa communities, such as the Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids and Sioux City. Eventually, he hopes all of Iowa’s mid-size cities will establish some form of a film commission.

But those involved with the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau Film Commission said the long-term success of these commissions and their ability to produce measurable outcomes is contingent upon the passage of an incentive package in the Iowa Legislature. The commission has established an advocacy committee that will work throughout the summer to push for the passage of incentives proposed during the 2006 legislative session.

“Without an incentive program, it’s very, very difficult (to bring film projects to the state),” Gruening said.

It becomes even more difficult for Iowa to attract film projects when surrounding states can dangle enticing incentives in front of filmmakers. Wheeler said legislatures in 37 states, including many in the Midwest, have approved incentives for the film industry. And with Illinois continuing to beef up its incentives, Iowa is finding it even more difficult to compete in an already competitive arena.

“We’re one of the few around here that doesn’t (have an incentive package for filmmakers),” Wheeler said. “We’re getting a little overflow from Illinois because of the overflow of projects there, but that’s hardly a way to support your industry.”

The state’s film commissions joined with Rep. Mark Davitt to draft two incentive proposals during the 2006 session. The first proposes a sales and use tax waiver on the services, equipment and materials used during production.

“It’s an effort to bring the film and video production industry in line with manufacturing and specifically in line with publishers, who do not have to pay sales and use taxes on goods consumed in the production process,” Wheeler said.

A second, more extensive proposal includes a sales and use tax waiver as well as income tax rebates and waivers on municipal expenses and motor vehicle registration fees.

Wheeler said the potential benefit of film industry incentives is visible in the pre-production of “The Final Season,” which will be shot this summer in Eastern Iowa. Wheeler believes a lack of incentives has kept the film from moving forward as originally scheduled.

“If we had incentives, it would have been a done deal a long time ago,” Wheeler said.