A movie filmed extensively in St. Louis is lighting up the box office. Soul on Fire tells the true story of John O’Leary, a St. Louis native who survived burns over 100% of his body and went on to inspire millions.
Stacey Nation, originally from Wellsville — a small town in Montgomery County in east-central Missouri — worked as a 2nd Unit Script Supervisor on the film.
She told Missourinet that the energy on set was tremendous.
“You know, I’ve worked on projects for high level studios, and you know, sometimes the energy is not great,” said Nation. “But a project like this when you’re working for a story for someone like John O’Leary and he comes on the set and he’s, you know, elbow bumping people and smiling and it’s just an awesome, awesome experience.”
Brant Hadfield, who grew up in St. Louis and served as the 2nd Unit Director of Photography, told Missourinet that the film doesn’t just showcase the city — it makes St. Louis feel like one of the characters.
“St. Louis is a big, small town or a small, big town; however, you want to say it,” said Hadfield. “That attitude and that feeling in St. Louis where people really bonded together to help save this boy’s life. It’s just interwoven into the whole attitude of the movie. And it’s why you feel really good after you watch it.”
Nation said some of the scenes were filmed in Jefferson City.
“We traveled and shot at the old prison there,” said Nation. “We had no electricity. We had to bring in all of our lights. There was no heating when we were working that day. So those were some, I would say, more logistical challenges.”
Nation told Missourinet that the motion media tax credit helped bring the movie to St. Louis and is mission critical for future projects.
“I moved away, you know, to LA because I wanted to make movies,” said Nation. “And having a tax credit in Missouri, it means I can come and work at home. You know, I feel like I’ve followed my full hero’s journey to a movie. You’ve got the character who has to leave home and go out and learn and face challenges, but then they get to bring what they’ve learned home. And so, I’ve been able to do that because of the tax credit.”
Soul on Fire has been a box office success with $7.4 million, and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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