.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: 10px; 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: 10px; } .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: 10px; } .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:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Since the Iowa Film Promotion Act was signed into law on May 17 last year, one film has already been approved for tax credits and about eight projects have applied, said Tom Wheeler, manager of the Iowa Film Office. The legislation gives producers and investors a 25 percent tax credit on qualified expenses they incur while filming in Iowa if expenditures exceed $100,000.

“Sugar,” a movie about a fictional Dominican baseball player named Miguel “Sugar” Santos, which was primarily shot in Davenport, received and was able to sell its tax credits. The film will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival. “They were monitoring the legislation while we were crafting it to see whether or not it was going to come here,” Wheeler said.

“Duck Farm Number 13,” which was shot in McGregor this fall, has also applied.

Wheeler expects activity to pick up this summer, as many productions are finalized over winter. So far, most of the interest has been for independent films with budgets between $5 million and $10 million. “Those are the ones we are best suited to serve right now, because of our crew base and infrastructure,” Wheeler said. “As that grows, we’ll be better suited for those larger ones we all really want to land.”

The Iowa Motion Picture Association may help build that infrastructure if it receives two grants. The first, a $50,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Economic Development, would allow the IMPA to host five regional weekend sessions to train people for entry level positions on sets. It also has applied for a networking grant from the innovation and commercialization division of the IDED to host planning sessions in several Iowa regions to analyze the assets and barriers to the film industry.