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We have to admit, we never thought of using Southridge Mall as a movie set.

Carpenters are busily constructing a wooden sailing ship there, to be used in “Blackbeard,” a film being produced by Kip Konwiser. He and David Pritchard, both of California, seem to be interested in doing more than just one project here.

They recently attended a Democratic Party fund-raiser at the home of Des Moines businessman Rich Eychaner, motivated by their interest in an extension of Iowa’s tax credits for movie production in the state.

Several films have been shot here, but then, the same thing is happening all over the United States. Iowa is far from the only state to reach for a piece of the action with tax credits.

So the next step would be to go beyond safeguarding the credits and separate ourselves from the pack. As Eychaner pointed out, if we want to do more than land an occasional project, we need to establish a supply of the services and crafts moviemakers require.

“How do we establish an ongoing industry?” Eychaner said. “We need to spread the credits enough to develop a creative base who can do pieces of films.”

It also would be nice to know just how big a deal movie production is. It sounds good, and people enjoy it, but it’s hard to quantify what we get for our tax credits.

A study of film projects in South Carolina found that seven movies produced in that state in 2006 and 2007 resulted in the purchase of $14 million in goods and services from South Carolina businesses. The South Carolina Film Commission paid $5.2 million in supplier rebates to the film producers.

That’s minuscule compared with the value of Iowa’s annual corn crop, for example – approximately $9.47 billion in 2007. Or even compared with the $123 million value of our turkey production that year.

But a diverse market is generally a good thing. So is finding a new use for an underused place like Southridge.