QC area film pros network in Rock Island
By Isabella Wilson
A wide variety of people passionate about bringing film and TV production to the Quad Cities gathered Thursday, Aug. 17 to network and discuss their goals and dreams.
The event at dphilms (a full-service video production & photography creative boutique in downtown Rock Island) was organized by dphilms director Phil Dingeldein and QC-based filmmaker Liz Toal.
They invited several friends, including Illinois Film Office director Peter Hawley, Muscatine-based writer and filmmaker Max Allan Collins, and Davenport film and media consultant Doug Miller. Miller has been working since July 2022 under contract with the city of Rock Island to start a new QC Regional Film Office.
Toal used to be on the dphilms staff and has been a camera and lighting freelancer for several years, doing projects for Disney, Apple TV, John Deere, LEGO, Ford Motor and “American Pickers.”
“I travel a lot for work, and being a mother as well, if I travel for a movie, that’s one to three months at a time,” Toal (mother of a 3- and 6-year-old) said Thursday. “Hearing of the possibility of feature films coming back to the Quad Cities, and the surrounding area, was something I’m very deeply passionate about. I have been for most of my life.”
The film industry follows state and local financial incentives, which have been big in Michigan, New Orleans, and the Atlanta area, as well popular Canada locations like Toronto and Vancouver, she noted.
“Filming used to be all in studio, in L.A., but now you really have to be a gypsy in this business,” Toal said. “This blood flows through me and I absolutely love it.”
“We’re the Midwest – we’re the heart and soul of America,” she said. “A lot of people do want to come here and film here.”
Illinois incentives are very attractive and the QC area has to do more to attract productions, Toal said.
“Look at the Quad Cities, we have five downtowns and they’re all different,” she said. “There’s old, there’s now, there’s historic, there’s modern, and there’s farmland, of course. It’s always exciting; there’s always something new and it would be great for the Quad Cities to actually get on board. It’s not just beneficial for the filmmakers, but beneficial for the city and the community as well.
“That’s why it’s really good to have Peter come down here and talk to people,” Toal said. “It’s not just filmmakers, it’s the city and state officials.”
The Illinois film tax credits include:
- 30% of qualified Illinois production spending.
- 30% credit on Illinois salaries up to $500,000 per worker.
- 30% of non-resident labor up to $500,000 per worker for up to nine non-resident employee.
- An additional 15% tax credit for salaries of people (making at least $1,000 in total wages) who live in economically disadvantaged areas whose unemployment rate is at least 150% of the state’s annual average.
The state of Illinois saw a record-breaking $691 million spending in 2022 film and TV production — a $131-million increase from the pre-pandemic record in 2019.
This record-breaking achievement came on the heels of the expansion of the Film Production Tax Credit in 2022, extending the credit through 2033, and launching the Film & TV Workforce Training Program.
Hawley isn’t sure when the current Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes will get resolved. With WGA, the writers and studios have talked recently, after not talking since May.
“I think the acters are a long way off; there are two strikes to get fixed,” he said Thursday. “They’re different issues, so it’s not like we can get one done, and it’s the same can roll over in the same contract. It’s completely different.”
The QC film office needs to get infrastructure in place to have resources ready when film/TV production resumes, Hawley said.
“Based on our COVID experience, when we were shut down, when work comes back, everyone needs to be ready to go to work,” he said. “The longer it goes, the faster it’s gonna come back, oddly. Look what happened during COVID.”
Everything has to be in place and ready to go, so companies and filmmakers have what they need to know to make film in the area.
Hawley discussed documentary and independent films (which usually don’t use union workers) as a way to keep production going. It’s really hard to get SAG members to get waivers from the union to do projects, he said.
“There’s a waiting list to get waivers,” Hawley said. “Casting directors aren’t working on productions unless they know they can get the SAG waiver. You can’t really cast a show unless they show the casting director they have a waiver.”
The QC needs a new small project to be completed here as evidence there is success, the Film Office head said. The streaming series “The Now” was shot in the area in 2019 for mainly exterior scenes, the last major production here.
“Even if it’s a production based out of Chicago that comes here for a week, they need something like that,” Hawley said. “It’s been four years since that happened. That will happen.”
“It would be nice if we can grow it indigenously, locally, and you can point to it – look, film was made here,” he said. “That’s all you need.”
“The community is very film-friendly, and that’s huge,” Hawley said of the QC. “With permits or police, people will literally roll out the red carpet. They’re not jaded – they’re excited when a film comes to town. It’s like the circus is coming to town. That’s all good.”
Rock Island Ald. Dylan Parker is a strong supporter of the film office, to boost the future of the city.
“Everything I’ve done on the City Council is to help nudge us toward developing a modern, 21st-century economy,” he said. “The asset that Rock Island has lends itself to that. It’s diversity, density, really lends themselves to more creative endeavors.”
The film office helps diversify the economy, and it’s hard to accomplish, “to birth a new industry in the Quad Cities, but we have to try,” Parker said, noting the Quad Cities Chamber has not made film a priority industry to promote.
“We have to chew gum and walk at the same time,” he said. “We’re trying our best to use the resources we have, in partnership with the state. Senator Halpin has been so helpful – very patient, very understanding.”
Last Monday, the City Council renewed Miller’s contract through Dec. 31, 2023 and approved plans to issue an RFP in coming weeks seeking a second consultant to complete the work of establishing the film office.
The second consultant to be hired will help put that database in place more quickly – from people working in hair and makeup, to sets, costumers, builders, electricians, computer/IT and camera operators.
“This isn’t rocket science,” Parker said. “We need that backbone team to create the pitch deck, if you will.”
To see the QC film office website, click HERE.
