By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Hollywood is coming to the St. Joseph.
Filming on a movie described by director Joshua Brandon as a family dramedy called '25 Miles to Normal' is taking place in St. Joseph and Kansas City.
St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau spokesman Christian Mengel says if it wasn't for Missouri's film tax credit, Missouri wouldn't have even been considered.
"Just because it's such a competitive industry and there's so much money in film, I mean it's probably the most expensive artform out there, it's a multibillion dollar industry," Mengel tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "So, anywhere that they can save money at all matters a great deal."
The movie, both written and directed by Brandon, focuses on a doctor and his estranged father who reluctantly agrees to reunite at a family reunion.
Mengel says the impact the film will have on tourism is two-fold, starting in pre-production
Just before everything goes on, leading up to when they are filming, they will spend a ton of money researching and looking for the right places, throwing themselves into the community, Mengel explains.
And on the back end of production, Mengel says the filmmakers will share in their own circle the experience they had filming here
"We want that to obviously be a super positive experience, we want people to know its a film friendly community, so that's what we're going to try to leave them with," Mengel says.
Mengel says films and TV shows also carry a powerful weight in influencing places where people want to travel to see unique locations where it's filmed.
The newly reinstated tax credit for movie production was vital in bringing the production team for '25 Miles to Normal' to St. Joseph and Kansas City.
Mengel says just as important was the community support shown during visits from producers.
" I saw all of them interact with locals here, and locals who had no idea that they were searching for their next film location," Mengel points out. "And they were just hit with awesome hospitality, and they were super welcoming, and they were instantly excited to tell them about their own building, their own place, or their own history they knew about something."
Filming for the movie is underway and will run through July. For more information on the film, you can visit click HERE.