Joe Brennan, University of Iowa's Vice President of Strategic Communication, has rejected HBO cable network's proposal to film an episode of "Girls", the super hit drama series, on campus.
Brennan felt that the show's storyline would negatively publicize the university.
"After reviewing the script, I felt the storyline placed the city and university in an unfavorable light, and considering the potential for disruption, I made the decision to deny the request," Brennan said, USA Today reports.
Brennan added that the refusal won't really affect the show's plot in any way, "As we all know in the world of TV and movies...you can use one location and it can fictionally stand in for another."
Brennan turned down the offer March 28. The decision didn't just disappoint Iowa fans but also members of the community, who believed that the area could benefit financially through the filming.
Filming in Iowa campus is important for the show as the main character "Hannah Horvath" played by Lena Dunham, gets accepted into the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the university in the season three finale.
Jesse Peretz, Girls director, said that despite the university's stand, the episode will be filmed elsewhere in Iowa City.
"Even if we can't shoot on campus, we will shoot around campus. Most of the scenes don't even take place on campus. So we'll probably cheat (with) some other campus for the campus. Some of it will be Iowa. A little more than a smidge," Peretz said.
Tobe Becker, HBO's vice president of media relations, said that the crew will be in Iowa City "at some point" to shoot for the show.
"Scripts are still being written and the pre-production efforts of our staff are in full force. The only thing I can say is that we hope to be in Iowa at some point; I have no details as to when or where. Nothing has been set or determined," Becker said.
Girls and UI are not only linked through Horvath's character, but also through one of the show's writers, Sarah Heyward, who attended the workshop, MFA in English program, before becoming a screenwriter.
The program is popular for producing Pulitzer Prize winners, U.S. Poets Laureate, and National Book Award winners among others.
