ST CHARLES, Mo. — Right now, the city of St. Charles is getting its chance in the limelight.
Over the last year, the Motion Media Production Tax Credit passed in the Missouri legislature has helped recruit more movie and TV crews to the Show Me State.
5 On Your Side's Annie Krall was on the set of the coming-of-age film "Greg's Going to Rehab" through the lens of teenage turmoil and 80's heavy metal culture. The production aims in part to move the Missouri movie-making dial while putting a spotlight on St. Charles.
Especially when Dot-Marie Jones who has been applauded for years as Coach Shannon Beiste on "Glee" moves into town for a few days to shoot the film.
When looking back on her multiple-season run with the TV show based out of a fictional high school in Ohio that ran from 2009-2015, "for my character, going from domestic abuse to four seasons later becoming a trans man, it was a ride," Jones said. "It was an emotional ride."
"I don't think I've ever cried as much as working those five years on Glee," Jones said.
The movie will be filming for three weeks instead of five years with Jones being set to leave St. Charles on Sunday after completing all her scenes. Jones said she's excited to tackle heavy yet crucial topics in the Mercury Films coming-of-age story that hits on drug abuse, recovery, and bullying.
Mercury Films' synopsis of the movie reads:
"In the film, Greg Walker is a sixteen-year-old metalhead on a mission to see the concert of a lifetime - Ozzy/Metallica. But his failing grades, disappointed parents, excessive partying, and an angry senior could derail that plan. The solution? A quick stint in rehab so he can dodge the senior, get his parents off his back and get out in time for the show."
It's a movie that draws on St. Louis director Chris Lawing's decades-long journey with alcohol and sobriety. The film is being shot almost entirely at Lindenwood University and St. Charles High School.
"I always think it's super dope to be filming on location in real high schools," one of the leads Saylor Bell Curda said on-set. "Mainly because I never went to high school so every time I'm walking around like are these real, lockers, that's so cool."
Lead by Connecticut native Cameron Mann who is an incoming University of Michigan freshman, Mann had never been to Missouri before filming started this week.
"I like when I go somewhere and a lot of the people are locals because I get to talk to them about what it's like to live here," Mann said. "[Especially] where to go, what to see and it's always a very fun time."
In 2013, "Gone Girl" was shot in Cape Girardeau which was the last big-budget film using Missouri's former film incentive. It made the city $7 million richer according to the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
While "Up in the Air" (2009) and "Fever Pitch" (2005) both used St. Louis as a backdrop.
"Greg's" story won't be getting the new MO tax credit because of the shooting schedule and application timeline not coinciding, but it has brightened Missouri's cinematic spotlight for the spring of 2024.
Pulling star power from Bell Curda who played the iconic role of Maddox in "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series."
When asked about what Bell Curda hopes the audience will take away from her latest big-screen installment, the actress noted that not every character will grow and change completely. However, that makes it all the more realistic.
"Obviously, not everyone will go to rehab but I'm sure there are a lot of messages that can come out of that experience," Krall said Friday.
"I think one of the most important parts of this film is just the healing process that each character goes through," Bell Curda said. "... I'm sure all of these experiences that we're showing throughout the film have actually happened in these high schools."
Mercury Films is working with the local non-profit Continuity to help with staffing more diverse crews, especially as production assistants.
Today was only the third day of filming as the shoot is expected to wrap on June 30.
A release date has yet to be set, though, filmmakers want to get the eventual screening word out around St. Louis as well as potentially looking at film festivals across the globe.