By Ben McCarthy
What was all that commotion happening on Thursday evening behind Children International world headquarters off Red Bridge and Blue River roads?
Well, the Telegraph got word that a film production was taking place, so we went to take a look.
Sure enough a rather secretive film production was under way, described by a producer on site as an “independent film project,” and other members of the crew as belonging to the horror genre.
A half dozen production trailers were camped in the parking lot, and other trucks lined the area behind the building. Signs around the property guided cast and crew behind the building and into the area near the pond and woods. The definition of what makes for an “independent” film greatly varies these days, and the scale and organization of the production indicated there was significant money and planning that went into this effort.
According to figures on set, the shoot at this location only continued through Friday, and moves on to Excelsior Springs next week (as well as other local spots for continued filming).
The producer, who would only identify himself as David, said they would rather not disclose any other information beyond that. Even a representative from Children International, Angie, was reluctant to divulge anything happening in their backyard. Furthermore, she made passing mention of an “NDA” (non-disclosure agreement) being involved.
Despite the veiled secrecy on site, what could be ascertained was a sequence being filmed near the pond involving multiple makeshift tents. No, there was no sign of a madman terrorizing young people with a Texas-made chainsaw, nor was anyone meeting a grisly end in the pond (and one could hardly describe the steady traffic nearby as a Nightmare on Red Bridge). Could this be more of a psychological torture trip, a la The Blair Witch Project (a small, independent horror film made for less than $1 million that collected almost $250 million at the box office, twenty-five years ago)?
So why film in South KC, and were the unseasonably high temperatures for early October (just over 90 degrees) disrupting what was scripted to shoot? David would only say this was a great spot to film, and promised to reveal more after the movie was completed.
Big-time film and television productions have been a rarity around town in the past 25 years. Last year’s hit HBO show, “The Last of Us,” used Kansas City as a backdrop for its vision of a post-apocalyptic America. What viewers actually saw was characters traversing parts of downtown Calgary (Alberta, Canada).
Perhaps a big name movie star was in town that they didn’t want bothered while filming continued (Tom Cruise? Brad Pitt? Mr. T?) Whatever the case, countless walkie talkies on the property began chirping about our presence, so we decided it was time to depart before anyone might decide to start Scream-ing.