Why a Local Film Incentive for Kansas City?

While at the at the AFCI Locations Trade Show in Los Angeles representing Kansas City and the state of Missouri, a screenwriter, let’s call him “Steve,” engaged us in a conversation about a romantic comedy script he wrote called “BBQ.” I immediately pitched the virtues of our incredible Kansas City BBQ scene and our strong crew base and he easily became interested in adding Kansas City to the list of cities he would consider. In the next beat he asked, “What are your incentives?” This question is the norm in the industry. In fact we may have been the only booth at the trade show without active incentives.

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Last year the AFCI drew over 3,000 attendees, over 1,000 producers, 684 production associations, 227 directors, 108 film commissions and 83 independent filmmakers. [Source AFCI]

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Kansas City Represents at Sundance and Slamdance

In Park City I almost literally ran into the legendary founder of Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford. Lucky for him and especially for me, a bodyguard type gentleman threw a “mom style arm-as-safety-belt” in front of me and I halted before plowing into Mr. Redford. Running into him could have been a national tragedy, or (and I like this idea better) he would have brushed himself off and so would begin our long-lasting, deep and meaningful friendship. Alas.

The KC Film + Media Office attends Sundance to connect with independent filmmakers, producers and other industry people. We support locally-tied films that play in the festivals. And one of the highlights is the networking party that we co-host with the Missouri Film Office on behalf of Missouri and KC-connected people which is steadily gaining a reputation as a don’t-miss affair.

Kansas City area people I ran into during the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals are only slightly less famous but no less important than the Sundance Kid:

Spotlight on TRUST FUND MOVIE

One of our favorite locations to film at was the “Italian Villa” which was an amazing home located only about 15 minutes south of downtown…we could not have asked for a better place to shoot our Italy scenes. The funny thing was, we filmed the family home in “Chicago” right across the street, that’s how diverse some of the neighborhoods are in Kansas City.

It’s not everyday that an independent film gets a deal with the AMC Independent program. But that’s exactly what Kansas City filmmakers Sandra Martin (SM), writer/director and Isaac Alongi (IA), cinematographer have done. Their film, Trust Fund, opens in KC on January 8 at AMC Theatres.  We invited Martin and Alongi to be the January KC film spotlight to celebrate the release. Congratulations to these incredible KC film talents and to all the cast and crew!

KCFMO: How did you film KC as Chicago and Italy? Tell us about your location selections.

A Tale of Two TV Pilots

Funny People Descend on Kansas City

Kansas City was the location for two comedy television pilots – Comedy Central’s Travel Fun Show with Al Madrigal and Jak Knight (working title) and School of Humans/Tru TV’s Eugene Meets the Mayor starring Eugene Mirman and Wyatt Cenac. Eugene Mirman played the recurring character ‘Eugene’ on the  acclaimed HBO show Flight of the Concords and is the voice of Gene in the award-winning animated series Bob’s Burgers. Wyatt Cenac was a regular correspondent and writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Al Madrigal was also a regular correspondent on The Daily Show, is the co-founder of All Things Comedy podcast network and was a co-star on NBC’s series About A Boy. Jack Knight is a young stand-up comic and actor.

Why is Kansas City the spot for these two pilots who are hoping to be given life as serial TV shows?

Spotlight: 7 Questions with Patrick Rea

Patrick Rea is a local Kansas City filmmaker and Co-founder of SenoReality Pictures. Since 2002 Rea has written, directed, and produced numerous films, including two feature DVD releases in 2007 with “The Empty Acre” and “Heartland Horrors”, as well as winning two regional Emmy’s for the short films “Woman’s Institution” and “Get off my Porch”.  Working primarily within the horror genre, Rea has received many honors and awards for his work, with his films being  featured in film festivals around the world.

In honor of Halloween we thought we ought to talk to someone who knows just as much about horror as he does about filmmaking. Rea answered some of our burning questions about filmmaking, Kansas City, and of course horror.

KCFMO:   As a filmmaker who works within the horror genre, what would you say are the pros and cons of making a horror film?

Booth Experiences: Maker Faire KC “Script-to-Screen”

Booth Experiences  Stop by and interact with representatives of the KC Film Production community!

 

Film Offices – “What Does a Film Office Do?”
The KC Film + Media Office, Missouri Film Office and Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission will be at the Film Offices booth at the entrance to Level B’s Script-to-Screen area to welcome you to our show-and-tell! 

Storyboarding – “Visualizing a Film”
Vince Medellin will share character  development boards, environment boards and storyboards  from his own work as a visual developer/art director as  well as storyboards from the films of local director, Patrick  Rae. You will see how a production is ‘seen’ well before any  camera roll. Plus you’ll have a chance to give storyboarding  a try yourself!

Casting  – “Audition to Land the Part”
Heather Laird of Wright/Laird Casting in Kansas City will be will be at Script-to-Screen Saturday, June 27th in the Casting Booth area. Heather has worked on 65+ films including THE GOOD LIE, PETE’S DRAGON, WINTERS BONE, ALL ROADS LEAD HOME (screening at Maker Faire) and more than 1,000 commercial and print projects such as Google, McDonalds, Walmart, MetLife, Microsoft, United Way, Time Warner Cable, Wendy’s, Sprint, Gillette, MasterCard and many more.  The W/L booth will provide the opportunity to observe the audition process and for the fearless, a chance to try it yourself!!

Talent Agency Booth – “Have Your People Call My People”
Several area talent agencies will be in the Talent Agency Booth – I&I Agency, Exposure Inc and Moxie Talent Agency. You may be surprised at all of the amazing talent Kansas City has – from actors, to models, to voice over artists. Stop by the booth and they can teach you about the world of booking a job from headshots to auditions – they may even send you to one!