The Iowa Film Industry Part Deux

A few days, more than a few changes for the Iowa Film Office and the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

The head of the Iowa Motion Picture Association, Tom Wheeler, is now out of a job after being put on paid administrative leave.

The Governor's office issued this release a few minutes ago.

GOVERNOR CULVER ANNOUNCES DISMISSAL OF FILM OFFICE MANAGER, RESIGNATION OF DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

DES MOINES – Governor Chet Culver announced today the departure of two officials from the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED).

The manager of the Iowa Film Office, Thomas Wheeler, has been dismissed from his position effective this afternoon. The Iowa Film Office is a division of IDED. Amy Johnson will serve as the interim manager of the Iowa Film Office.

In addition, the resignation of Vince Lintz as deputy director of IDED has been accepted.

IDED is currently reporting to Richard Oshlo, director of the Department of Management, while new leadership for the department is being considered.

Earlier today, Governor Culver asked the Attorney General, State Auditor and Department of Revenue to assist in a review of the Film, Television and Video Project Promotion Program. On Friday, Governor Culver accepted the resignation of IDED Director Mike Tramontina and asked the Economic Development Board to not approve further film tax credit certificates until questions about the administration of the program are answered.

This news comes on the same day members of the board of the Iowa Motion Picture Association held a press conference in Des Moines. Pictured above are Bruce Heppner Elgin, VP of the IMPA Board of Directors and president of StoryBench, Ann Wilkinson, IMPA board member and owner of PMS Casting, and Kent Newman, president of the IMPA Board of Directors and Full Spectrum Productions.

Many media outlets attended, lots of questions and lots of coverage has already happened this weekend.

Several members of the IMPA were in attendance as were those who are in the film industry of Iowa. It almost felt like a pep rally at one point and a wake at another.

Also got a comment about a movie StoryBench is starting next week in the West Branch and Williamsburg area.

The movie is called "Collapse," the last movie to receive tax credits before this mess. Its the third movie the Coralville-based Storybench has done and all of them have been all-Iowa productions.

Thanks to Criss Roberts for the comments.

The story continues...

Take Out the Trash Day?

NBC's political drama The West Wing gave light to the subject of taking out the trash. A story that was piled in with others that most journalists didn't care about. Sometimes, real stories, usually buried deep, were all thrown out together.

Some newsrooms empty on Friday or are focused on sports. When I worked weekends in Davenport, I was in on Friday to get a feel for what's happening and what would be a story the next couple of days. That helped to not come into a weekend cold and void of all current events.

Sometimes, when news breaks late in a day, its hard to get anything official. That can be a problem, but that sometimes leads to better stories of people reacting, not officials reacting. Sometimes that strategy works, but people are noticing when you dump a story on the weekend.

It appears that maybe that's happened Friday with the State of Iowa, Governor Chet Culver's office and the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

Governor Culver's press office normally issues schedules of the Governor, Lt. Gov and First Lady on Friday afternoons.
But this release has a bit more bite.

GOVERNOR CULVER ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF MIKE TRAMONTINA AS DIRECTOR OF IOWA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Press Release from Iowa Governor's Office
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 4:49 PM

GOVERNOR CULVER ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF MIKE TRAMONTINA AS DIRECTOR OF IOWA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

DES MOINES – The Director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Mike Tramontina, has tendered his resignation, effective immediately, to Governor Chet Culver.

The Governor has accepted Tramontina’s resignation.

The Department of Economic Development will report to Richard Oshlo, the interim director of the Department of Management, while new leadership at IDED is being considered.

Department heads will resign from time to time during the middle of an administration.
But the news comes at the time of stories floating and in print that the head of the Iowa film office was out of a job. That story was posted on line earlier today.

Here's the most current story from the Register.
The Iowa Film Office issued a statement Friday afternoon.

Good afternoon,

You may have heard false rumors that Tom Wheeler, Manager of the Iowa Film Office, was no longer with the IDED. The IDED has shared with IMPA that Tom is still with the IDED, but currently is not in the office and, according to IDED policy, does not disclose information on personnel matters.

The main thing to know is that the Iowa Film Office is open and operating. In the interim, Amy Johnson is the main contact for the Iowa Film office, which is continuing to accept and process tax incentive applications.

The IMPA is currently finalizing our formal comments regarding the IDED administrative rules for the Film Tax Incentives. Our comments will focus on the need to maintain stability and continuity in the program; as well as continuing support for workforce training and business/infrastructure development.

Thank you,

Tammy Shutters
Program Director
Iowa Motion Picture Association

More to come on this story, that's for sure.
We've had Tramontina on the Iowa Journal a few times. We've also talked about the Iowa Film Tax Credit. In fact, it was the show's second episode back in 2007.

Then we revisited the issue in the spring.

This story brings up several questions. Have we seen the end of the film boom in Iowa?
Will Iowa's Film Office be put back together?
Is the Governor responding to pressure from critics of the tax credit?

We'll see how this story develops.