Perryville promotes itself as film-friendly with new website

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Officials in Perryville, Missouri, are hitching their economic development wagon to film production, with one film already scheduled for next year.

Thomas Smugala, writer and director of "The Spring," which will be filmed in the region in the summer of 2023, and members of the City of Perryville helped make the Film-friendly Perryville website -- www.filmfriendlyperryville.com -- to encourage other low-budget producers to film in the town.

"With its rich German farming heritage and many wonderful places to shoot, Perryville can help you make your $500,000 budget look like a $5,000,000 budget -- a producer's dream come true," the website state. "Caves, forests, lakes, rivers, industrial parks, historic buildings, town square, farms and barns, parks and residentials, bars, restaurants, and shops, and filming resources ... make Perryville a great place to shoot."

Smugala has directed other films, such as "The Apocalypse and the Beauty Queen" and "Interviewing Monsters and Bigfoot," both filmed in the area, including in Cape Girardeau.

"The Spring" is a supernatural thriller set in 1870 and modern time Missouri, and it touches on topics such as race, vanity and slavery. Smugala said he is excited to begin filming.

"There have been a couple scripts that have been sold back in 2008, and I've been sitting on this one, waiting," Smugala said. "This is the one I have always wanted to make, and now we are in a really good position because of the support of all the local towns, a good supporting crew and actors. I want everybody to know that we're unlike other groups and we're totally open to everybody, and anybody who wants to get involved, just shoot us an email and we try to find everyone a place in the effort."

Film-friendly Perryville hosts open casting calls on the weekends and may be contacted on its website or its Facebook page.

Trish Erzfeld, director of Perry County Tourism, said filming both low- and high-budget films in the area would improve the city.

"The money that film crews would spend during their stay in Perryville will provide more jobs, boost the economy, and, most importantly, make Perryville a richer, more interesting place to visit and live," Erzfeld said.

Perryville also hosts the 573 International Film Festival, which will take place Oct. 12 through 14 this year. Admission is free, and the festival features more than 60 films from around the world. The film festival is sponsored by the City of Perryville, Film-friendly Perryville and 573 Magazine.