The Spring - Locally Produced Feature Film: Missouri Indie Screens at St. Charles Film Festival May 30
- Thomas Smugala
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
The road to making The Spring, a locally filmed feature film, was supposed to be smooth, cinematic, and inspiring. Instead, it looked more like three producers fussing over coffee, losing sleep, and slowly watching hairlines retreat into the Missouri sunset. But against all odds — and possibly a million "don’t do it" later — The Spring is officially completed with all deliverables and now holding an advance screening at the St. Charles Film Festival at the St. Charles Opera House on May 30 at 7 p.m.
What started as an ambitious dream somehow became a high-production-value feature film that nearly broke me and the people who helped make it. Friendships were tested. Group texts became ugly at times. At least one producer turned on us like a rattler. One producer went into politics. One producer moved to the desert to find herself. As can be expected when you work on a project for nearly five years. Things change! Yet through sheer stubbornness, caffeine, and the incredible support of FilmFriendlyPerryville.com, the people of Perryville (Carisa Stark), and the 573, the film was completed under budget.
First-time actor Jack Buerck played a very hungry Confederate soldier with a conscience.
Filming a movie set in 1870 has its own set of problems. From wardrobe to props to animals, and the big one of all: LOCATIONS. Without FilmFriendlyPerryville.com and the help of City Administrator Brent Buerck and tourism director Trich Erzfeld securing locations and castings, this thing would never have finished.
90% of the movie's characters are played by local actors—most of them first-time acting.
We filmed in and around Perryville and Perry County at numerous historic sites like the Saxon Village, A small village consisting of original log homes and buildings from that era that have been preserved and are used as an historical living demonstration museum, and at the Faherty House, which was built in 1825—a super cool high production value location.
We filmed in Ste. Genevieve at the historic Old Academy perched atop the highest hill overlooking the Mississippi. The Old Academy dates back to 1808. Few structures from the early 1800s compare to the Academy in size and quality of construction. It’s one of Ste. Genevieve’s most famous buildings—now owned by our good friend Frank Roth. It was the first public institution of higher education in America west of the Mississippi and the site of the first hanging in Missouri west of the Mississippi.
We filmed at a few other locations, like the 12-Mile Creek at Fredrock Glampgrounds and a 19th-century hotel, now the home of our good friend Denny Ward in Marquand. The Spring was 100% a Missouri film!
Watch THE SPRING trailer.
Local actor Elijah Tallent plays the complex post-Civil War provost Marshal, Major Gould at the Saxon Village musuem location.
We turned a million “don't do it” and a gazillion “you can't do that here” into a super cool community project.
Mary Michelle, our lead character did a wonderful job as Phidora Buel, the madam of the Buel's Gentlemen Club.
Making a commercial movie in the 573 requires a little creativity, a lot of patience, and the willingness to carry lighting equipment through places no lighting equipment should ever go. Your cast and crew have to survive long nights, unpredictable weather, questionable catering decisions, and enough stress to qualify as an endurance sport—trust me, it is a hard-ask as a producer.
The Faherty House in Perryville made for a high-production-value location, perfect for a 19th-century kitchen scene.
The Old Academy, a turnkey location supplied by Frank Roth, made the 19th-century dining room as authentic as possible.
Still, The Spring stands as proof that independent filmmaking can thrive right here in southeast Missouri. The film’s ambitious, emotional, visually stunning, and occasionally powered by pure panic—what film people call an atmospheric (slow-burn) horror thriller, not rated, but think PG-13-ish.
Seasoned actor Scott Dunn did a great job as Jonas Buel and was incredibly gracious in helping new actors to elevate their performances.
First-time actor Catherine Foster played the woman who possessed the time-travel ring.
Seasoned performer Bruce Schultz did a wonderful job as the evil master of the house.
The producers may have lost friends, free-time, and a noticeable amount of hair, but we gained a film we are proud to share with the community that helped make it possible. So if you are curious, come out, support local filmmaking, and represent the 573 at
the St. Charles Film Festival this Saturday evening. Bring your friends, bring your family, and maybe bring a stress-relief candle for the producers.
THE SPRING, a locally produced supernatural thriller, will screen at the St. Charles Film Festival inside the beautiful St. Charles Opera House on Saturday, May 30th at 7 PM.
Get Out There! Act in a movie. Grab your camera. Go for a hike. Sing at a spring. Do something. Do anything. Get out there, that sunken sofa won't miss you—time's a-wasting!
—Pics and words by Supreme Leader Smugala
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