The latest Girls season finale saw Hannah Horvath holding her Iowa Writers’ Workshop acceptance letter, but it looks like we won’t be seeing her hanging on the real University of Iowa campus next year. According to Variety, the university has denied HBO’s request to film Hannah’s storyline there for the fourth season.
“While we are pleased that the Iowa Writers’ Workshop is receiving national attention and that our graduate is doing well in her career, our general practice is to not allow filming, due to potential disruption to campus,†UI spokesman Tom Moore said in a statement (Girls writer Sarah Heyward is a graduate of the writing program). Variety also spoke with the Iowa Writers’ Workshop director Samantha Chang about the Girls storyline, and she had this to say: “I think that Hannah is a young woman of great imagination and talent and it’s very possible that she could have gotten in.†Still, if Lena Dunham and crew want to explore Horvath’s time as a UI writing student, it sounds like they’ll have to do it somewhere that’s not UI.
UPDATE: Apparently this denial is due to more than just potential campus disruption. THR reports that the university’s vice president Joe Brennan got a chance to read the script and felt that the proposed storyline would portray UI in too negative a light, telling the Iowa City Press Citizen:
“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. I won’t share details as I don’t think it fair to reveal the plot in advance. I understand this is a popular show, but it’s my job to safeguard the reputation of the university.â€