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As much as the hoary, old cliché about St. Louis being a small town disguised as a big city holds true, we’re also a parochial lot. Residents of Grover might never wind up in Dupo, while the citizens of New Melle have to use a map to find Godfrey. We’re a big, old mess of municipalities and neighborhoods, with our knowledge of far-flung parts of town sometimes limited to reputation and occasional news briefs.
Alex Ihnen, in many respects, is as educated as anyone you’d care to find about the civics of the region, on all kinds of levels. But he admits that in his eight years of residence here, he’s never set foot in the North County municipality of Spanish Lake. The irony, in this case, is that he’s behind the Open/Closed conference, now in its second year, sponsored by his website NextSTL.com; and this year’s, four-day conference kicks off with the showing of of clips from Spanish Lake, a projected, feature-length documentary that will break down the varying civic and cultural forces that have shaped the city over the last half-century.
“I saw a mention on Kickstarter about it, the effort to get it funded,” Ihnen remembers. “The subject appealed to me. One thing we’re doing with Open/Closed and Shuttered [Film Festival] is to expand the conversation about vacancy. Last year, we offered tours of Wellston and parts of North City. Those shocked people, opened their eyes to how vast the problems are. But the abandonment and quick changes taking place in our community are not isolated to a small part of North St. Louis. And we’re not wanting to present this as some type of 'bad neighborhood'-type of thing. When I first saw the idea of the film, it fit right in with what we’re trying to do.”
The film Spanish Lake will be played in parts at its Shuttered Film Festival screening on Wednesday, April 18, in advance of completion in May of this year. Filmmakers Phillip Andrew Morton (director, co-producer) and Matt Jordan Smith (executive producer) will be on hand to present the clips and to stir conversation with the audience, which will likely include both residents of Spanish Lake and civics enthusiasts from throughout the region. While Smith’s in some ways new to the region’s issues, Morton’s connection to the story is much more far-reaching, as he grew up in Spanish Lake, before attending Webster University and eventually landing in Los Angeles.
It was his access to the local story that, in many ways, allowed the filmmaking team access to people who might’ve been suspicious of an “out of town” crew working on their story.
“The idea of Spanish Lake came to me in September of ‘07,” Morton remembers. “I was coming back from D.C., where I was working on another documentary, on the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. I wanted to drive up to Spanish Lake, as I hadn’t been up there in six years. Driving around, I noticed that it had changed dramatically. A lot of foreclosed homes, including the old I grew up in. Weeds three feet tall on the lawns. The school I went to was closed down, too; it was a devastating experience. I couldn’t believe it had happened to Spanish Lake. I knew that this had happened in Jennings, Normandy, Pine Lawn, where you had a lot of businesses closing and houses being boarded up. But I was just in disbelief that it’d happened to Spanish Lake. I wanted to make a documentary, if only to educate myself.”
In terms of building the story, Morton says that “we interviewed former residents and also long-term residents. One tricky thing about Spanish Lake is that it differs, dramatically. There are $10,000, two-bedroom houses that get rented Section 8. There are people in apartment complexes and others that live in beautiful houses with manicured lawns. Those people didn’t want it to be categorized as a ghetto, not when they’re living in these high-end houses. Everybody had a consensus that crime had gone up in the area, and that businesses have left. I do think that a lot of people are enraged about the way that Spanish Lake had been portrayed in the media and they were concerned that this was another nail in the coffin. I don’t feel the film is about that. I think it’s fair and balanced. I’m from Spanish Lake. I see the beauty, which is similar to what I knew growing up. Everybody wants a high quality of life, and the residents living there have been given a raw deal by St. Louis County. I hope the film allows some economic resources to come there.”
If Morton’s take on the project was informed by a first-hand knowledge (he lived there from ages one to 18), producer Smith was completely unfamiliar with the turf, despite being immediately interested in the topic. Among those rarest of roses (an Angeleno who grew up in L.A.), he wanted to experience the pros and cons of a community like Spanish Lake, and he accompanied Morton on a fact-finding trip that basically ensured that they’d pursue the idea.
“Phillip and I were friends for several years,” he says. “Working in L.A., it becomes a relatively small working community. He was telling me about his hometown, how interesting it was, and I wanted to come along and see it. I’m born and raised in Los Angeles, where there’s not that same sense of community. It was a completely life-altering experience; seeing what he’d described and seeing it now, listening to the people who’d moved on and away. It moved me. There was something to be told there. That’s how it came to life.”
Smith understands the reaction that can occur when a film crew arrives in town, not wanting to tell just the story of a specific community, but to capture an example of a story taking place all across the country.
“There were definitely people concerned that outsiders were coming in,” he admits. “This is obviously some sensitive subject matter. The problem with never talking about sensitive things is that nothing ever changes. Because Phillip grew up there and lived there, they were less apprehensive. His parents divorced and he wanted to work in the film industry; that’s why he left. But it’s their story and they’re concerned about how they’ll be portrayed. People at the beginning had some harsh words for us. But every time we went back...it was better.”
Both Smith and Morton figure that the film will be done sooner than later. Both want it to hit the festival and film series by summer, with a wider release hoped for by the beginning of fall. Production, to this point, had been slowed primarily by Morton’s working on a major motion picture, the presumed summer blockbuster Battleship. (Yes, based on the game of the same name; Morton, a Webster U. grad, is a visual effects line editor.) Getting it released in time for the fall’s election season seems, in particular, of importance to Smith.
“With the election season coming up, it’s the right time,” Smith says. “The housing market has been in the news, along with the economic troubles that we’ve been going through. This is a current topic. There’s a heightened political awareness in the air this year; it’s already begun. We hope our film serves as a catalyst for these types of discussion about urban policy to begin. We expect the final edit to be done in the middle of May. It’s at Skywalker Ranch for the score and graphics. We’re not rushing anything. We want it perfect. We’re hitting the festival circuit and the traditional national press. But it’s starting in St. Louis; obviously, it’ll be the home base. Of all the things we’re discussing, we expect to have a full release in August, or September, do the festival thing, then release large in the fall.”
Morton says that he’s looking forward to bringing the film back to St. Louis for a full showing, but he’s also interested in the response to the early, clips version that they’ll be bringing to the Tivoli this month.
“I’ve heard that there’s a decent amount of people that know about the project now,” Morton says. “I’m excited to have this conversation, and having a productive conversation. I think this type of film can be groundbreaking from some of these communities. If it’ keep bringing positive change to St. Louis and brings more community sense to Spanish Lake, then it’ll be a privilege. It’s a film that belongs to the community.”
While Spanish Lake is free, RSVPs are requested, which can be sent through the Open/Closed page at this link.
