Professor Works to Attract Filmmakers to Area

By Parlin, Geri

Anne Drecktrah doesn’t want to see one more movie where the closing credits reveal it was shot in Canada. Losing movie scripts to Los Angeles is bad enough, Drecktrah said, but losing movies to Canada is intolerable. And the time to do something about it is now.

Drecktrah, who teaches theater at Viterbo University and has directed local theater productions, worked for more than 20 years in Los Angeles as a casting agent, production agent and in other aspects of the film-making business. She knows what we need here, she said, and she knows we have what it takes or can build it.

She also thinks the Coulee Region has something unique to offer moviemakers.

“We don’t look like any other part of the state.”

Speaking before, the La Crosse Arts Steering Committee on Monday, Drecktah said La Crosse should not sit on the sidelines while those in the eastern part of the state capitalize on the new film tax credit incentive that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2008.

Even if the area is not yet set up to attract a big-name studio, there are documentarians, videographers and commercial groups looking for places to shoot. Makers of video games can work just about anywhere, she said, because all they need is an empty building and computer access.

“I just don’t want to see the money go elsewhere,” she said. “It would be nice to get a jump on it.”

The committee agreed to meet next month to start working on a plan to attract production companies to La Crosse.

Copyright La Crosse Tribune Aug 21, 2007

(c) 2007 La Crosse Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.