State officials hope the words of a movie star may sway film producers to choose Iowa as the site for more movies. Kevin Costner was in Dyersville last month to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the “Field of Dreams” movie and he recorded a video for “Produce Iowa” — the State Office of Media Production.
“If your film requires the many looks that actually Iowa does have, you’re going to have a good experience here because the people like it that you’re here,” Costner said. “They try to help you. It’s about as American as you can get.”
Costner stood on the porch of the iconic white farmhouse used in the “Field of Dreams” movie to record his testimonial. According to Costner, the landscape is the main reason the film’s producers chose Iowa.
“I had a picture of what Iowa was like in my head, but after the thousandth farm that I flew over and the fields I really had a good idea,” Costner saod. “It’s certainly not the only thing that Iowa’s about, but we were coming and we were coming for the corn.”
Not only were scenes in the “Field of Dreams” filmed on the farm ground near Dyersville, but the inside of an elementary school in Farley was staged as the backdrop for a PTA meeting in the movie. A bit of filming was done at the University of Dubuque and “Field of Dreams” directors even landscaped a few city blocks in Dubuque to look like a neighborhood in Boston.