Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2022…..KANSAS CITY!
Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2022
19. Kansas City
Boy Mom, directed by Collin Schiffli, filmed in Kansas City, one of our best places to live and work as a moviemaker.
This Missouri metropolis, close to the border of Kansas, jump-started its moviemaking business last May after a COVID shutdown with innovative safety protocols that other film offices in the country utilized to shape their own. Steph Shannon, the director of the Kansas City Film Office tells MovieMaker that film, television, and commercial productions the office assisted with generated about $11 million in 2021, and she expects business to keep rolling in.
“The supportive culture in Kansas City encourages creatives to work together in collaboration to see any size project through,” she says. “Our professional crews always impress out-of-town producers and directors. Kansas City has six talent agencies, several of which are SAG/AFTRA franchised agencies. Our civic leadership is highly supportive of the industry with a city-wide filming incentive, no permits to film, and meetings upon request.” Writer-director Sandra Martin grew up in the Kansas City area, and makes family-oriented movies (How to Train Your Husband, Finding Love in San Antonio, Renovation of the Heart) with her cinematographer husband Isaac Alongi to remain close to their deep Missouri roots. “Yes, we’ve been busy, in 2020 we shot three movies in Kansas City and in 2021 we shot one here,” Martin tells MovieMaker. “We have found it a great place to make movies, since we have a network of great crew, access to wonderful locations and of course it’s a plus being able to sleep in your own bed.”
“Kansas City offers a lot of different looks,” she adds. “We’ve shot Kansas City for Chicago, San Antonio, even Italy!”
Anyone considering making a move or a movie locally can check out those looks by watching Netflix’s Queer Eye, which set up shop downtown to shoot its third and fourth seasons. The hit reality show serves as a showcase of everything the area has to offer, including the friendly population. Producer Rob Eric loved his time in the area so much that after production wrapped, he told the KC Film Office: “I may move here and live here forever.”
