In the span of six weeks during the early summer, some Kansas City actors said they were in multiple commercials, a production schedule unlike anything they’ve seen before.
"All of the sudden it felt like things were exponentially coming in for stuff, and big stuff," said actor Chad Crenshaw. "That’s a big change. Normally, it's a thing here and a thing there. Then all of the sudden, it's three or four big jobs all shooting at the same time, which is pretty incredible."
Local restaurants, high schools and hair salons all played host to Super Bowl champions Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, with appearances by Andy Reid.
"The pressure on [Mahomes] is everybody is watching him, you know, wanting to see what he is going to do," Crenshaw said. "I mean anytime he was in the room."
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Mahomes is no stranger to the TV screens of millions of Americans. The MVP has appeared in countless commercials and starred in the Netflix documentary "Quarterback," which was released earlier this year.
"He held his own," actress LaToya Ebony said. "He’s super professional, very kind, chill, laid back. I was very impressed by his ability to tackle the work."
"The impact of it is, I think, there is a lot of people that have come and seen what Kansas City has to offer," Crenshaw said. "Where before, people would say, 'Let’s get them to LA or bring them to Chicago where we can do more.'"
Previous productions stretched outside the Kansas City limits. Pretty Co. Salon in Bonner Springs was the scene of the shoot as Mahomes played hairdresser with Eileen Rivera sitting pretty in a chair for hours.
"I think that the city has shown it can support those kind of larger budget productions, so I’m hoping that it expands," Ebony said.
With an end to the writers' and actors' strikes in sight, coupled with recently passed tax incentives in Missouri, actors are hopeful they will see another off-season full of commercials and even larger productions across the Show Me State.
This story was originally published by Abby Dodge at Scripps News Kansas City.
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