My short film, COVID Dystopia, is an official selection at the Iowa Independent Film Festival in Mason City, Iowa. When looking up the city on Google, the first image I saw was of a grain silo. How cool would it be to project COVID Dystopia on the side of a grain silo? That dream might not happen since Mason City does have a Community Theater. The city even have an airport but I have to figure out if an airline from Orlando flies there.The airport might only be for crop dusters.
The Film Festival ruins from September 5-7, 2024. I have to figure out what day my film is screening. This film festival has been running for 17 years so they must know what they are doing. Now you might be saying to yourself that Mason City in Iowa is in the middle of nowhere. If by nowhere, you mean America then you are absolutely correct. The primary reason I submitted to the Iowa International Film Festival is that Chris P. Chicken is one of their board members. I had a chuckle when I saw his pointy beaked expression and knew I needed to show my film there.
The meandering Winnebago River winds right through Mason City, which is the River City referred to in The Music Man, the hit 1957 by Meredith Wilson.
The Music Man Square is right next door to the Community Theater and has an indoor recreation of the 1912 main street featured in the musical. It has an ice cream parlor and a gift shop. The gift shop even had a Trouble themed face mask. It is cloth rather than an N-95 so I will pass on picking one up. But clearly the folks of Mason have a sense of humor. I plan to take a sketch selfie at the entrance to the River City High School! A large Victorian home on the property is the boyhood home of Meredith Wilson who wrote the book, music and lyrics for the Music Man. The home is gorgeous and another great sketch opportunity.
I envision COVID Dystopia sweeping into River City just like Henry Hill and trying to save the quite hamlet from the denial, indifference and gas lighting that has caused them to press the reality of the past 4 years into the back of their minds, about a virus that has caused, and continues to cause, a whole lotta trouble, trouble, trouble. All those innocent boys and girls who got their flutes, trumpets and trombones in 1912 would come to face a whole lot more trouble when WWI rolled around, along with the Spanish Flu epidemic which would kill more Americans than the battle front. There was far more denial in those days about the death toll since a country at war does not want to appear weak. A politicians only way to look strong in the face of a pandemic is to peel off their mask and insist you do the same.