Build It With Tax Incentives, and Hollywood Will Come

All summer long, this sober Midwest city rubbed shoulders with actors such as Forest Whitaker, Adrien Brody and Elisabeth Shue. No fewer than four Hollywood productions were shooting in town.

"It was very surreal," says Michael Braun, a 25-year-old bartender at the Continental, a restaurant near the state capitol. He recalls watching Nick Stahl in the HBO series "Carnivale" one day before work and then serving the actor dinner at the bar that night. "You don’t expect that in Iowa," Mr. Braun says.

Now, Des Moines, population 200,000, is dealing with a nasty hangover. A lavish tax-incentive program that brought Hollywood to its doorstep has come to a halt amid allegations of faulty oversight, poor record-keeping and potentially criminal abuse.

One director bought himself a $61,000 Range Rover and a feather bed, as well as an iPod for his 15-year-old son. Another picked up a new Mercedes-Benz for $67,000. All the purchases were made with the help of a 50% tax credit, courtesy of the good people of Iowa.

By JOE BARRETT

Full Story: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125590995233693277.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories

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