Is Kansas City getting more popular as a location for film crews?
Between "Ted Lasso" shooting on location last month, "Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story" last summer, and plenty of commercials starring sports stars such as Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City metro is attracting more film projects these days.
City leaders attribute the rise to tax credits for film and TV projects. But it's not the first time lots of film crews have made their way to Kansas City.
Heather Laird, a casting director based in Kansas City, remembers the 1990s as a heyday for the film industry here. At that time, "runaway productions," or those filmed outside of Los Angeles, were popular.
Kansas City became the backdrop for a variety of films, many with local ties, including the TV drama "Truman" and Robert Altman's "Kansas City."
"There weren't tax incentives anywhere, not here or in Canada, but productions would leave Los Angeles to find a community that was a little more user friendly, where you didn't have to pay location fees, and you could push the envelope with the union a little bit," Laird told KCUR's Up To Date.
- Heather Laird, casting director
- Daniel Laurine, location scout
