Roll the credits: Show MO Act renews filmmaking push in Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The movie industry is growing beyond Hollywood. States like Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma bring in big productions every year. Now, Missouri will the list and, hopefully, some of the movie-making magic will center in Kansas City.

“There’s been a lot of movies, television shows recently that have been set in Missouri,” said film producer Chris Knitter. “But none of those things were shot in Missouri.”

It is about to change. Soon the Show-Me State will become the feature presentation.

“It’s getting a little hectic around here, to say the least,” said Knitter.

Knitter and his partner Jordan Rioux are behind the lens at Method KC, where business is changing rapidly.

“Now we have two projects in front of us with $1.7 million budgets,” said Knitter.

It is all thanks to the Show MO Act, a newly reinstated tax incentive signed by Governor Mike Parson in July for production companies to film projects in Missouri. With a $16 million cap, the incentive is split: $8 million for film, $8 million for episodic or series shows.

“I see us becoming a hub for production,” former Kansas City Film Office director Steph Shannon said.

A similar law sunset in 2013, Shannon’s been fighting to bring it back.

“Kansas City has gotten ed by and the number one reason is because we haven’t had a state incentive in Missouri. That is the number one reason,” said Shannon.

Now with the film credit reinstated, Shannon said her office is back in action.

“My phone is ringing off the hook. I am now getting emailed daily,” said Shannon. “Where we actually will now have a seat at the table, where we’ve been ed over so many times before.”

At that table, Kansas City has a special seat.

“The cherry on top is that KC has its own film incentive, and you can use them at the same time,” said Shannon.

It’s 10 percent on top of the 40 percent from Missouri, meaning production companies can get a tax credit of up to 50 percent.

“We have exactly what other markets have and then some,” said Shannon. “Every single person I reached out to was eager to hear about the new MO Film incentive.”

“Sometimes we have to travel to California or Georgia,” said Michelle Davidson, Actress.

Davidson calls Kansas City home, but work is always elsewhere.

“Now I can say, I can bring my stories home, my Missouri set stories produce them here and I can hire my friends, which is fantastic.”

Davidson has also been pushing for years to reinstate the film credit.

“I mean this is millions of dollars we are talking about that we missed out on – on a Missouri set story,” said Davidson.

The list is long of movies set in Missouri but, shot in other states.

Kansas City King, which you may know better as Tulsa King.

In the Guardian of the Galaxy movies when the character Quill talks about his hometown of St. Charles, Missouri. The scenes were filmed in Georgia.

Shows like HBO’s Sharp Objects, The Last of Us and the popular Netflix series “Ozark.”

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“Hallmark is based in Missouri and they’re filming 90 plus movies a year in other states,” said Davidson. “So now we can say hey, we are open business, and we can bring those movies here to Missouri.”

The first major movie post-film credit is already in pre-production from Method KC. As Knitter and Rioux will tell you “There’s no place like Kansas City.”

“Kansas City can look like any other city, it can look like New York, it can look like Chicago, it can look like LA,” said Rioux.

The flexibility is already paying off.

“We have some major roles in some of these, these films coming to Kansas City,” said Knitter. “We are putting them up in fancy hotels in and around the plaza. We are spending a lot of money in and around town.”

The Show Mo Act might just be Missouri’s and Kansas City’s new box office smash.

“It’s definitely opening some eyes,” said Knitter.

Method KC is set to begin actual filming around March.

A scene Kansas Citians should get used to because, the KC Film Office said on top of Knitter’s application, at least four others have come in with projects lining up fast.

“People want to come here. It is good at attracting those projects, then it really could become the Hollywood of the Midwest,” said Rioux.

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