Homegrown film snags tax credit to create 118 jobs (and a red carpet premiere in KC)

Audiences at Tuesday’s red carpet premiere of “Rise and Shine” — the first film production in Kansas City to use Missouri’s Motion Media Tax Credit — might recognize iconic sights on the big screen like the transformed halls of a former Midtown coworking space and one of the city’s most popular chocolatiers.

Actress Ana Sharp, center, leads a group of teens through the hallways of the former Westport Middle School in Kansas City during a scene from “Rise and Shine”; image courtesy of Just Like You Films

“Kansas City can be the Hollywood of the Heartland,” said Jen Greenstreet, founder and CEO of Just Like You Films, the Kansas City nonprofit behind the project alongside Voyage Media and Low Road Films. “This film is proof of what our city has to offer.”

“Rise and Shine” is set to premiere 6 p.m. Tuesday at AMC Prairie Fire in Overland Park.

The movie stars Tony Award winner Rachel Bay Jones, of “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Young Sheldon” fame, alongside Ana Sharp, an actress with cerebral palsy, in her feature debut. The duo play mother and daughter in a film about navigating high school and young adulthood as an outsider.

Watch a trailer for the movie below, then keep reading.

“Rise and Shine” provided opportunities for local talent throughout filming, working inside the former Offices at Park 39 — the redeveloped former Westport Middle School that once bustled with startup activity during its tenure as Plexpod Westport Commons and as host of Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City, civic events, and an array of private functions.

Actress Ana Sharp, left, prepares for action during filming for “Rise and Shine” in the former Plexpod Westport Commons space, which previously was the gym for Westport Middle School; photo courtesy of Just Like You Films and Bryce Kuegler

The production team also partnered with Stage Right Performing Arts, a Kansas City-area show choir company, and filmed at the historic St. Teresa’s Academy. Additional scenes were shot throughout Kansas City residential neighborhoods and even at local favorite Andre’s Chocolates.

By deploying Missouri’s Motion Media Tax Credit, filmmakers noted they were able to create 118 jobs — 94 of them for Missouri residents — without any additional state or federal incentive programs, they said.

“When Rise and Shine kicked off filming in KC in 2024, none of us knew exactly what the return of Missouri’s film incentive was going to mean for our local industry,” said Rachel Kephart, director of the KC Film Office, “but two and a half years later, we can see the ripple effect.”

From the archives: Film tax incentives give Kansas City more screen time than ever

A production team from Just Like You Films shoots a scene for “Rise and Shine” in the gym of the former Plexpod Westport Commons coworking space; photo courtesy of Just Like You Films and Bryce Kuegler

“One independent film has become several, and many of the local crew members who got to work on that production have gone on to work on project after project here at home,” she continued. “That consistency is how you build an industry, and Kansas City’s has seen exponential growth in the last few years.”

The Mid-America Emmy Award-winning production company behind “Rise and Shine — Just Like You Films — is a Kansas City-based, women-run documentary and narrative film team dedicated to advancing disability awareness and inclusion through storytelling.

Having a homegrown project be the first to capitalize on Missouri’s Motion Media Tax Credit provides a special moment for Kansas City’s emerging film scene, Kephart told Startland News.

“We talk a lot about incentives as a tool for bringing productions here from Los Angeles, New York or other major markets, and they absolutely do that, but ‘Rise and Shine’ was early proof that this program could be just as important for Missouri filmmakers who were already here,” she said. “It gave local creatives another tool to make their projects at home, hire their neighbors and build careers in the community where they live. My family loves the phrase ‘Bloom where you’re planted,’ and the state film incentive made that possible for local and aspiring filmmakers.”

Actors Ana Sharp and Rachel Bay Jones on set during the filming of “Rise and Shine” in Kansas City; photo courtesy of Just Like You Films and Bryce Kuegler

Based on the true story and memoir “Remembering Terri” by Janice Steele — and directed by Laura Somers — “Rise and Shine” also set a new standard for authentic storytelling, the filmmakers said.

Just Like You Films’ Greenstreet noted the production team brought in leaders and experts from the cerebral palsy, autism, and Down syndrome communities to consult on every scene involving a character with a disability, ensuring the film’s portrayals honored real, lived experience.

“We’re proud to have brought jobs and production dollars into our own backyard,” she explained, “and just as proud that we did it while providing opportunities for local talent and celebrating the neighborhoods that make this city what it is.”

The film goes nationwide in AMC Theatres Oct. 2, followed by a streaming release on Angel Studios.