Peoria may not have the glitz and glamour of the Southern California movie business and all the buzz around awards season.
But it does claim its own active and collaborative community of filmmakers with a passion for telling stories.
William Jacobs, the founder of Mourning Dove Films, says his passion for making films began at age 7, when he got a Lego movie-making set.
“My parents were very generous. They allowed me to set up a little station in the basement,” Jacobs said. “I had a table with a Lego city, and the kit came with its own web camera that you could use the software – they made it very easy for young people to create stop-motion animation films. So that was my introduction.”
Jacobs’ interest in the art of cinema blossomed over the years as he became acquainted with the works of directors like Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson and Andrei Tarkovsky.
“Their films showed me that there was an alternative to Hollywood, that cinema could be more than just entertainment,” Jacobs said. “So I had founded the company as an effort to create films in the Midwest that weren't your typical American blockbuster cinema.”
As he ventured into pursuing his passion, Jacobs says he was advised by someone who once worked on a movie studio blockbuster to consider a project he could pursue in his backyard.
“I expanded that a little bit – that is, my ‘backyard’ – to all of Central Illinois, and decided to create a project that would allow me to work with people whom I love, whom I have a rapport with,” Jacobs said. “I didn't want to work with industry professionals; I didn't want to bring in talent from entertainment capitals. I wanted to solely create a community project in Peoria.”
Jacobs is among the members of the Peoria Area Filmmakers group on Facebook. So is Connor Parkhurst, who launched Hoop House Creative before selling the company not long ago.
“Really, Peoria is a mini-Hollywood,” Parkhurst said. “You can make it work wherever you are. So you don't have to go to Austin (Texas) to make a film, you don't have to go to Hollywood, you don't have to go to New York. If you get the equipment and, again, if you have the story, you can just do it right in your own backyard. That's been my philosophy from the beginning.”
Parker describes himself as a self-taught filmmaker who, like Jacobs, got started in his backyard at a young age. He has made two feature length documentaries, including “Hearts of Gold: The Ray Fauber Story,” and is currently working on a 25-episode documentary series on classic cars.
“Besides those, I like to do short films. I'm writing a few now and finishing them up,” Parkhurst said. “I've got a funny kind of dark comedy coming up soon, hopefully, and then I have a whole horror film that I'm writing to at the same time. So, you’ve got to have a piece of every pie.”
Through Mourning Dove, Jacobs has been developing a feature called “Poet In A Modern World.” Hesitantly identifying the piece as an art film, Jacobs says production started in late 2022 and now is about 50% complete.
“It's a project entirely shot in 16 millimeter film, solely using local talent and resources. This film has been in development since I'd graduated high school; I'm 27, so it's been several years in the making,” said Jacobs, who released an excerpt of the film in 2021 as a short film called “A Moment Is Enough.”
Jacobs says he believes it’s difficult to make films with “sincerity and purity” in the major movie-making cities because the studio system inhibits creativity and artistic expression.
“Peoria is a quaint, quiet town where most of the people want to help you if you set out to make a project,” Jacobs said. “You have a diversity of landscapes here: You have the historic downtown, you have the farmland, the countryside, which is very beautiful. You have suburbia. So there's a variety of different locations to draw from.”
Independent filmmaker Wes Brooks made a feature-length sci-fi adventure called Space Prairie: Act I, with Act II still in the editing process.
Brooks, who has worked in collaboration with Jacobs, says he chooses to make movies in the Peoria area because he believes it enhances the creative process.
“I appreciate the gentle spirit that we have here in central Illinois. It's great to just enjoy the simple life and as opposed to the hustle and bustle of some of the larger places,” said Brooks, adding he’s always had an interest in filmmaking.
“One of the things that drew me to it was how it encompasses so many of the arts: the power of music, and the breadth of story. So many of the things that make up a film are incredibly moving to me, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
But making independent films in Peoria presents a host of challenges, from working on shoestring budgets to assembling a cast and crew, to finding an audience for the finished product.
“Of course, you're working with minimal resources. It's not like Hollywood, where you have an arsenal of materials, soundstages, lights, camera equipment at your disposal,” Jacobs said. “When you're working as an independent filmmaker, you have Ace Hardware; you have Home Depot, Lowe's. That's where you find your materials.”
Parkhurst says often it takes some creativity to drum up people to see these films.
“Social media is a free tool; word of mouth,” said Parkhurst, noting that a screening of “Hearts of Gold” is scheduled for April 7 at Five Points in Washington. “I think Peoria, it's a definitely an underrated, supportive, artistic community, really. So it’s having a lot of friends and family, other friends in the industry, supporting their work, and always uplifting them.”
Parkhurst says Peoria’s independent filmmakers form a cooperative and collaborative group.
“What I have found is that the people I really, really like working with, I like to take them along to the next project,” he said. “Huge directors like Christopher Nolan or (Quentin) Tarantino, they have done the same model. They take the same editor for all these movies because they trust them; they know the workflow. So, you look at your inspirations and you can borrow from them, even on a small, Peoria ‘backyard’ scale.”
Similarly, Brooks described Peoria’s filmmaking community as like-minded and tight-knit.
“What makes us unique is there's a lot of resourcefulness and scrappiness that goes into the smaller budget productions that we've all tended to do, and the freedom to make something that you really care about and to be in a community that cares about it right along with you,” he said.
“The projects that I've been a part of, they've been about: ‘what can we do that's right here? What can we do with what's available to us and to make the most of that?’”
It’s a sentiment Jacobs echoes.
“I would say the qualities that Peoria filmmakers have are, they're very resourceful; they're open to collaboration,” he said. “They're community-oriented, which is very important in my opinion. And they're made with heart, they're made with heart and purity. Because the aim isn't to create something, quote-unquote, ‘successful’ or ‘commercially viable.’ The aim is to create something, to create a project that brings the community together, to create a project that is fun to create.”
Parkhurst encourages anyone interested in independent filmmaking in Peoria to give it a try.
“If you want to get involved, you don't have to look very far,” Parkhurst said. “If you are just starting, I think it's easy to find other people who are just like you, take them along with you and get to filmmaking in Peoria; it's great. That's how I started in this area, and I know others can follow in the same steps.
“The best way you can get into filmmaking is to dive in headfirst. Make something, even if it's bad; shoot it on your iPhone. There's almost no excuse now.”
