Starting June 8, a film production will begin filming on The Hill, marking the first of three movies to be shot in St. Louis over the next two months.
Love on the Hill is the smallest of the three productions, with a budget that producer Kit Sundararaman characterizes as between “low budget” and “ultra low budget” according to the Screen Actors’ Guild scale, which places it below $2 million. Sundararaman is partnering with filmmaker and marketer Lori Dowd and Jason Henderson, a principal at Edward Jones (and occasional actor, according to Sundararaman). The film is described as a romantic comedy that celebrates the Italian-American community while telling the tale of a social media influencer and a minor league baseball player. Filming will take place at Cunetto’s, various locations throughout The Hill (currently being scouted), and at the Gateway Grizzlies’ stadium in Sauget, Illinois, just across the river.
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“The community has been incredibly supportive and enthusiastic about this project,” she explains. “It has been wonderful to collaborate with them.”
Sundararaman expects to reveal several notable cast members in the coming weeks. The production is anticipated to last three to four weeks.
This timeline will likely coincide with two additional “major” productions arriving in St. Louis. Film commissioner Kelley Hiatt is unable to disclose specific details about these productions, though she indicates a busy summer ahead. The two productions combined will have a budget of $17 million and will film from mid-June through August.
Hiatt, a former location scout in Los Angeles who relocated to St. Louis in 2023, views these two major productions as evidence of growing momentum in the region. Last year, Chasing Summer brought Megan Mullally and Lola Tung here before its Sundance debut. Jacob Beats Up Nate, featuring Lamorne Morris and Justin Long who filmed here in October, is currently in post-production.
“The industry knows we offer excellent tax incentives and excellent filming conditions,” Hiatt explains.
Missouri’s reinstatement of tax credits in 2023 after years without them is driving Hollywood’s interest. Filmmakers behind Soul on Fire, which held a high-profile premiere at Powell Hall last year and became a commercial success, helped push for their return. The film earned an estimated $7.4 million to date. These tax credits provide up to $8 million for both film and episodic television. All three productions launching this summer are utilizing these incentives, according to Hiatt.
The credits have become so sought-after that they’re nearly exhausted, with only $143,000 remaining for episodic television and $1.2 million for film remaining, despite the year being less than half complete. This scarcity motivated the St. Louis Film Office to advocate for combining the two separate pools into one unified fund. Currently, even if no additional films pursue credits, television productions cannot access funds—a situation that a single $16 million pool could resolve. Unfortunately, this proposal did not pass during the recent legislative session (Hiatt indicates supporters will attempt again next year).
St. Louis offers advantages beyond tax credits, Hiatt emphasizes. The region’s distinctive capacity to serve as a filming location for numerous different settings within a compact area represents a significant advantage that she actively promotes to filmmakers. In Chasing Summer, local settings were transformed to depict suburban Texas. Both major-budget productions filming here will similarly use St. Louis to represent other locations, although Hiatt confirms a few scenes will be explicitly set in the actual city.
“In filmmaking, the conventional wisdom is to minimize equipment relocations because they consume budget,” she notes. “Having a single base location where substantial filming can occur is highly desirable.”
Love on the Hill stands apart because it’s both filmed and set in St. Louis. Sundararaman aims for the film to generate not only the economic benefits of bringing a film crew to the area, but also to promote St. Louis as an attractive destination and community.
According to Sundararaman, “While the economic impact of bringing crews and visitors who spend money is certainly valuable, the promotional benefit of showcasing St. Louis as a fantastic place to experience and a wonderful community is comparably significant, if not more crucial, for this community’s future.”
Those interested in participating as extras can join the Gateway Grizzlies on June 9 for “Be in a Movie Night at the Ballpark,” where they are seeking people to fill the stadium stands. Visit gatewaygrizzlies.com for ticket information and additional details.
