St. Joseph residents meet film crew for '25 Miles to Normal'

Jul. 6—Hollywood's visit to St. Joseph has left some residents starstruck and others in a state of shock.

Joshua Brandon, director of the movie "25 Miles to Normal," decided St. Joseph was the perfect spot to film this movie. When Brandon visited News-Press NOW, he explained why he loved this town.

"The people," Brandon said. "Everybody was just so warm and welcoming and we are not a big studio picture, we don't have a lot of money so it was about finding the best locations, the best people to work with and we had people coming out of the wood works say, 'Hey come make your movie here.'"

The film crew recently made their first rounds across town and one of the homes they stopped by was owned by St. Joseph resident Todd Joe.

Joe said the crew filmed from 2 p.m. until 3 a.m. the following day and he had a great experience with them.

"They were all very nice and accommodating with respect to our home," Joe said. "Very nice to work with."

Meeting actors Bruce Davison and Lucas Bryant was not on the 2024 bingo card for Joe, but there were no complaints.

"It was total shock when they called me and wanted to come to the house," Joe said. "They called and said they were going to be here the next week ... and they did everything in one day."

The film crew spent some time in Pivotal Point Thrift Shoppe for scenes but shopped there as well.

A volunteer at Pivotal Point was a big fan of Bruce Davison and had the opportunity to speak with him.

"I had that wonderful moment when Bruce Davison recreated a scene from 'I Claudius' word for word including the famous I Claudius stutter," Ann Davies said. "That was quite the gift for me, they were laughing at me afterwards because they said I was quite giddy."

Davies went on to say the crew was shopping and left with some clothes from the store.

"The most charming and down to earth people," Davies said. "With so many good things to say about St. Joseph."

Another film spot the crew went to for a day was Paul and Kathy Shanks' lake. The Shanks's had the opportunity to have the crew at their home but also be extras for them.

"I was an employee and Paul was a shopper," Kathy said. "I think the best part was working with the stars."

For Paul it was a surreal moment to have the crew show up at 5 a.m. and get right to work.

"It's odd to see movie stars sitting in your living room or family room and eating," Paul said. "We went upstairs and the actors names were on the bedroom doors ... It was like, 'Wow that is going on right here.' It was very exciting."

It wasn't just filming locations in St. Joseph that were help for the crew, but local coffee shops as well. Hazels Coffee Bar in St. Joseph has fed the crew each morning they film, even with the chaotic schedule.

"The first morning my husband and I came in at two in the morning and prepared breakfast for delivery at 4 a.m.," said Heather Mitchell, owner of Hazel's. "Then the other morning's breakfast order came in at 6:30 a.m. for 1:30 in the afternoon delivery."

Even while the crew films in Kansas City, Hazels continues to help them.

"We also got called upon when they moved down to Kansas City," Mitchell said. "They couldn't find anybody to be as flexible as breakfast delivery so we were awarded with that opportunity as well."