Two years ago, the Iowa Film Office was shut down when the state auditor found more than $25 million in tax credits weren't issued properly. Governor Terry Branstad said he plans to re-open the Iowa Film Office, but now that's in question because of new information on a movie that was shot in Des Moines a few years ago.
The movie is called "The Experiment" and boasts some pretty famous Hollywood stars. But the man behind the scenes is what all the fuss is about.
The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi funded the production of the movie. His name is Saadi Gadhafi, he's currently the commander of Libyan special forces, and he's played a big role in the current turmoil there.
Members of the Quad Cities Film Coalition say the movie doesn't make Iowa look good.
"It's blood money," said Quad Cities Film Coalition member Doug Miller.
"You know where Libya is, you know who Mr. Gadhafi is, you know who his son is and so forth."
Just as conflict started heating up in Libya, Saadi Gadhafi was investing millions in a production company called "Natural Selection." And that company got Iowa film tax credits for shooting "The Experiment" in downtown Des Moines.
"I would think people would be outraged. I certainly am," said Miller.
He said this is a blemish in Iowa's film reputation and it boils down to one thing.
"Nobody was paying attention. Proper due diligence wasn't done to investigate the entire production, who is involved with it."
He said it's going to take hard work for the Iowa film industry to come back from this.
"It's going to take a long time to erase these problems, if ever."
