Cold Open

SPEAKER_03 0:00

We have Kyle Sbradley, uh very cool outdoor photographer and filmmaker. Uh, we have Thomas Malkowitz, who explores St. Louis' relationship with the Mississippi River. Uh, we have Ry Ryan Hanlon, who explores uh how uh reforestation is going on in the uh Midwest. And uh that's a pretty uh pretty cool movie as well. And then Kate Grumpke and her husband, uh Kyle Pyatt, uh did a film called Intervention that explores uh the pollination process.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

If

Theme Song

SPEAKER_00 0:38

you wanna hear about Saint Louis, tune into the Bucketless show weekly. Hear what Marissa and Luke say. It drops every Wednesday, got a dope new guest every single week. Buckle up for the ride. Who's it gonna be? Who's on the show today? They rep Saint Louis. What to do in the loo on a late night? I maybe what to do on a date night. Yeah. Bucket list has you covered, they know what's going on. What's going on? They'll give you. Hey, eighteen different things to do on 19 if you need one more to choose. Yeah. This city, city, city is a place

Royal Banks of Missouri

SPEAKER_00 1:13

we call home. A place we call home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

The STL Bucketlist show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor and the official banking partner of STL Bucket List, Royal Banks of Missouri. Royal Banks is a full-service, independent community bank, locally owned, locally run, and proudly investing in St. Louis since 1964. That's more than 60 years of taking care of the people and businesses who make this city special. From checking and savings to mortgages, business banking, and wealth management, you get real personalized service from neighbors who actually know your name. With 16 locations across St. Louis, St. Charles, Illinois, and Northeast Missouri, there's a branch right around the corner. Royal Banks of Missouri, proudly investing in our communities. St. Louis,

What Is Mound City?

SPEAKER_01 1:52

welcome back to another episode of the STL Bucketless Show, highlighting the people, places, and events that make St. Louis special. We have somebody in the studio today that makes St. Louis special with an event that comes through every single year called Mound City Film Festival. We have Charles Witt, co-founder of Mound City Film Festival, along with the partners that make this event possible. For those that have never heard about Mound City, in your own words, tell us what that event means to you.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

Well, I think Mound City Film Festival is really turning into an event that celebrates St. Louis and the Midwest. And it does that through a combination of things. It does it through film, food, music, and art. We are uh really focused on highlighting uh uh local talent and have really developed it this year to uh shine a light on those who are really uh doing great work in uh environmental films, local music, uh innovating around food. And uh I think it's gonna be a uh great uh combination of uh things that people can enjoy on one day on Saturday, November 7th.

How It Started

SPEAKER_01 2:58

What inspired you to create this? Were you in film and and and music before that, or was this something that you were just passionate about?

SPEAKER_03 3:04

Well, uh, you know, I'm involved uh with several environmental uh organizations in the uh region. And uh Open Space STL, which is the oldest uh environmental organization in the uh region, celebrated 60 years last year. And we were looking for a way to celebrate it. So I worked very closely with uh Chris Trunk at uh Forehands Brewery on uh developing a film series last year that we called Mound City. Uh we held it once a month uh at uh Forehands downtown in really highlighted films from a uh partner out of Colorado called Mountain Film Festival that uh highlights things going on within the environment, but it also celebrates what people do uh outdoors. So hiking, biking, mountain climbing. And uh it was a great way to celebrate uh Open Space STL and all the work that they've done in the region uh over the last six decades.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

And it's important to, you know, that you created this festival that really celebrates what's happening in St. Louis and then all across the Midwest, because you mentioned those three aspects that that feel so Missouri to us, you know, is the hiking, growing up, biking on the Katy Trail, outdoors, all these hike, all these beautiful parks that we have in St. Louis, and then also this creative community that we're surrounded by. I mean, even us here, we're in our studio here creating something that we're gonna put out to the world. And that's why we're so excited to be a partner of the festival this year as well. And um, is that kind of what makes it exciting for you to create something like this? Like you mentioned the connection of film, art, music, food, and adventure and how bringing all those together for one day event. It's really hard to capture all of that into one day.

Art, Music & Food Lineup

SPEAKER_03 4:44

Right. And uh it is, it's gonna be a full day. It's gonna go from 11 a.m. to about 9 p.m. Uh, we're gonna start out with uh an art show uh curated by Third Degree Glass Factory. I don't know if uh you've been there, but it's an amazing group. Uh, we're gonna have about five to six different artists doing live demonstrations, and it's all artists that either are inspired by the environment or use elements of the environment in their artwork. So we'll have flame artists, we'll have artists doing paintings live. Uh, we'll have uh Ope Outdoors will be there doing a live silk screening of our uh festival t-shirts. So it'll be very interactive and very cool. And then we'll have a panel with those artists so you can listen and determine, you know, see how they have their creative process and how they develop their art. I think it'll be uh pretty amazing. And then throughout the day, we'll have music uh interwoven into the day. So we'll have three local bands. Uh the headliner is Atomic Junction, they'll be playing in the evening. But uh, we just uh signed up Low Stone. Uh she'll be uh in the afternoon, and we'll have uh also Neil Luke, another local uh musician. So celebrating that type of talent. Uh and then throughout the day, uh Atomic, well, the event is at Atomic by Jammu, and they just introduce food. Uh so we're working with Chef Eric and his team to develop some unique offerings that day, and we'll be pairing those with the beers and spirits from Forehands Brewery. Yep. Uh so you can enjoy food throughout the day. And then, of course, we'll have the film uh showings uh in the uh garage room of uh Atomic by Jammo uh throughout the day. You can come out, reserve a seat, and uh that's the other great thing about this event. It's free. Yeah. Um so uh you can come out and enjoy this all. And uh it's all uh supported by our sponsors like Suede Cannabis, Four Hands Brewery, Excel Bottling, uh, you know, St. Louis Bucket List, Sauce Magazine, and and many, many more.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Uh so it's so great to have it as a free event because there is so much to do in St. Louis, and the accessibility to this type of con this type of concept is amazing because you go to these things in other cities, you're buying, not only you're flying in, you're staying in a hotel, you're spending thousands of dollars just to go experience something that you guys are putting on together in one day.

SSM Health

SPEAKER_01 7:09

For over 150 years, SSM Health has been providing hope, healing, and opportunities to the St. Louis community. With over 40,000 employees across four states, they're not only delivering exceptional care, they're one of the region's largest employers, shaping the future of healthcare. We're proud to present SSM Health as the official healthcare partner of the STL bucket list show. If you've dreamed of a career where you're truly making a difference every day, SSM Health can help you take that to the next step. Learn more at their website in the link in the show notes. And the access to the films, though, I think that, you know, I really want to dive into that because you've already announced several

Meet the Local Filmmakers

SPEAKER_01 7:43

regional filmmakers. Um, who are some of the ones that you're excited about? Who are some of the ones that you we might get to meet and also get to see those stories as well?

SPEAKER_03 7:52

Yeah, we'll have at least uh four, four to five local filmmakers there, and they'll be doing a panel discussion with Kate Grumpke from St. Louis Public Radio as well. So we have Kyle Spradley, uh very cool outdoor photographer and filmmaker. His uh film is uh focused on a uh a gold star mother and her outdoor journey on kind of recovering from a tragic loss of her son. So very emotional, very powerful piece. Uh, we have Thomas Malkowitz, who explores St. Louis's relationship with the Mississippi River and how we're kind of over modern times become a little disconnected with that, yeah, and how we can re-establish that link because the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are very vital to our region and we should uh embrace them more. Uh, we have Ryo Ryan Hanlon who explores uh how uh reforestation is going on in the uh Midwest, and uh that's a pretty uh pretty cool movie as well. And then Kate Grumpke and her husband, uh Kyle Pyatt, uh did a film called Intervention that explores uh the pollination process and uh exploring how uh native plants are very important to the Missouri ecosystem and talking about even hand pollinating those plants and how difficult of a process that is.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

So uh, but we'll have a lot of many more as well.

Screening 42 Films

SPEAKER_01 9:19

That's amazing. So you guys have to go your team, so your I guess your board just watches through these films. How many videos of or how many movies have you watched this this summer so far?

SPEAKER_03 9:29

Uh well, uh with our partner mountain film, uh we had 42 films to watch through. Okay. And uh we're almost through that. And uh we'll be announcing the list that uh will headline that portion of the event. Yeah. And then on the regional side, we've had even more come in recently. Uh we've had four or five other films that were considered. People will self-submit and so uh um so we're trying to work through that. So we'll have more additions to the lineup uh before we get to November that we'll be able to announce. But uh yeah, one of the things that we'd like to do next year is do a call out uh to talent and uh have people submit so we could uh uh you know have even more uh options uh to highlight in the region.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

So out of those 42, you know, you guys are all reviewing them and then talking about them, and you're like, oh, this would be a really good fit. And then you're kind of trying to build that set list of when they're gonna be showed, where they're gonna be showed, exactly, you know, stuff like that. So it's it's really

Why the Environment

SPEAKER_01 10:27

cool. And were you always in was it more the environmental pull that made you start this, or was it was it also the film and creative side of it, or is it just trying to blend two things together? Because it seemed like, are you a huge movie guy, or is it more just the actual the impact stuff that you're looking for and how you can blend that together to reach the average person? You know?

SPEAKER_03 10:47

I would say it leans more on the environmental side, and also I love to be outdoors. I love to run. I'm training for the New York Marathon right now. Yeah, uh, I like to hike, kayak, and bike. So uh in Missouri has an abundance of options with our state and local parks. So I love to take advantage of all that. And I'm involved in all these environmental efforts as well. So it definitely spurred from there. But uh, you know, if you spoke to any of my uh family or friends, you they would say that uh I'm a movie lover, uh, love to quote movies, uh, but I'm I'm not uh a filmmaker myself, but I uh acknowledge and appreciate the work that goes into it. Uh so it is a combination, but it it definitely leans to the environmental side.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Yeah. No, and then you know, being able to blend all of that together, you know, from the film, the art, the music, the food, the drink, Atomics venue is unbelievable. I'm super excited to see the indoor-outdoor element that they create there. Um, love that patio.

Climbing With Climb So iLL

SPEAKER_01 11:48

I used to go there back when it was Atomic Cowboy, which is the old venue. They've always, I've always thought they had one of the best, one of the best patios in St. Louis. So I'm excited to see what they do there. But I want to talk about the adventure part of it because you're actually incorporating some outdoor adventures at the event. Um, we hadn't mentioned Climb So Ill yet, so they're gonna be there as well. Is there gonna be some type sort of rock walk element there? Or what is that? What is that gonna look like?

SPEAKER_03 12:10

They're going to be more focused on showing you all the different ways that you can get involved with climbing. So there'll be strength tests, there'll be uh uh rope tying uh uh demonstrations, uh the harness, uh, how to properly harness. So prepping you for the uh climbing experience. And then obviously, you could always go to their uh options uh around town. They'll be also be giving away uh some memberships uh to their locations that day and also leading up to the event. So a lot of different ways to get involved with them. But uh you'll definitely learn a lot from them that uh that afternoon.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

And that that connection ties back to some of the films that you might be showing with Mountain Film too. When I'm thinking about Colorado, I'm thinking about climbing and all these outdoor films that you're gonna be showing too. The STL

Swade Dispensary

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Bucketlist show is proudly sponsored by Suede Dispensary with 11 Missouri area locations. Suede does so much for the St. Louis community. We've been working with this team for a couple years back since Medical was here, and we're excited to support their new product launches, events, and community initiatives. We couldn't be happier to work with this premier cannabis brand, and we're excited for them to sponsor the show. Enjoy the rest of the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Yeah, the great thing about Mountain Film is they uh

Mountainfilm & the Big Takeaway

SPEAKER_03 13:27

have a global footprint and they show uh all the different uh outdoor activities that you can be involved in. Um and the quality is there, they they feed into the Oscars every year, so it's wonderful, uh wonderful content.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Yeah, that's really great that you guys get to work with them and and getting to see those 40, getting access to those 42 films. And these are films that had been submitted through them that haven't that nobody's seen yet either. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

Yeah, the they have their big event over Memorial Day weekend, and then they create out of that uh lineup a uh film tour, and we're the St. Louis tour stop for them.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Oh, that's awesome. So the bigger vision, you know, when somebody comes on a on November 7th, you know, what do they hope? What do you hope that they're talking about on their way home?

SPEAKER_03 14:11

I hope they are uh inspired by the incredible stories that are being told about St. Louis and the Midwest, about the creativity that is going on uh regionally uh for music, art and food and film, and that uh you know, Mound City tied it together for them. Uh, and that they had a great time uh and they had a full-day experience and that combined all those elements, all in one place, uh, the atomic by Jammu and the Grove. And uh hopefully they'll be inspired also to get uh activated, either uh, you know, through embracing the outdoors and and doing some new activity, or become uh, you know, more environmentally aware.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Yeah, that's great. Yeah. And what do you think St. Louis has to say to the rest of the country and perhaps even the world through the stories that are being told at the event? Um, because if you've been able to see some of them, you're excited, you're like, man, I hope people can actually get get this message.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

I think it's a uh returning to uh a more natural state, uh, you know, with inter uh intervention, the film by Kate Grumpke and Kyle Pyot, uh, you know, around native plants and uh embracing what you could do even in your own backyard uh with uh you know, not just having a grassyard, but weaving in these native plants and pollinator options. Uh uh and you know, what can we do with our rivers? How do we uh embrace them, clean them up, uh, make them as integral to our region as as they have been in the past? Uh so some of those themes I think would be great to take away from the event.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Mm-hmm. Yeah, 100%. So I guess, you know, where do you see Mound City going

A Neighborhood Festival

SPEAKER_01 15:53

in the future? Is this is this the beginning of something much bigger? I mean, what what are some of the plans that you guys have for the for the organization?

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Yeah, you know, luckily we have uh great sponsors and and they see a long-term version for it. So, you know, what I would love to see is I I just had some great conversations with the Truefalse Film Festival in Columbia. And they they make it more of a neighborhood event. Uh so seeing something like that either in the Grove or the Del Mar District, where people can go to multiple venues and kind of create a walking uh uh path to different films, I'd love to see that neighborhood effect take place. Yeah, and like I mentioned a little earlier, that call out to the film community and having more regional and local content. We'd like to make sure that we embrace that and celebrate that more in the coming

Planning Your Day

SPEAKER_03 16:43

years.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

If someone's listening right now and thinking, man, that's my kind of Saturday, what is something? You know, it's there's no barriers, it's a free event. You know, they can show up. Is there certain times they have to show up? Like walk me through. I mean, they can just come and see one film. You'll you guys are gonna have your whole schedule out at that point. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 16:59

We'll have our whole schedule out. We we will be listing all the films on Eventbrite where people can reserve their seat, but it's still free. Yeah. Uh, but uh with the uh seating uh at the Tomic, you know, there's limited seating in their different rooms. So we'll we'll want people to at least take that next step. But it's free. You know, the art demonstrations are free, they'll start in the morning. The panels, uh, you know, so you can just come and flow in and flow out uh, you know, based on your day or stay the whole day because it's it's gonna be pretty jam-packed.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Yeah, no, that's super cool. And then food, um Atomic's New Kitchen is gonna be serving food and stuff like that. And then Excel bottling, what are they gonna be doing on site? Is that just more for you know a local tie-in with some of the best soda too?

SPEAKER_03 17:45

Well, they're they're uh on site at Atomic by Jammo as well. So they'll be with their booth and all their different different sodas. And then the great thing about uh, you know, Atomic Eats is they're gonna actually create some new offerings that day and then pair it with Four Hands Beer and some of their uh whiskey and seltzers, and so there'll be some cool St. Louis uh inspired pairings that and then pairing it hopefully maybe with some films too, exactly as well.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

That'll be that'll be really cool to to see because now it's kind of pulling it all together, you know. Cause I know last year you guys did it at at the brewery downtown, and it's like now it's like more a different venue, and then it's like eventually it becomes a neighborhood, and that's where it's like, what does that next year look like? And I'm sure you're already thinking about that. The STL Bucketlist show is fueled by Upshot Coffee. My friends at Upshot

Upshot Coffee

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Coffee have some of the best beans in town. I got some of their new packaging here. Look at this bag. Look how big this is. Um, they have four St. Louis locations, their flagship in Coddleville, the break shop over by Lindenwood in St. Charles, their Clayton location called Hi-Fi, um, and then Flyby over in Tower Grove, their newest location. Um, and they also sell their coffee online everywhere. If you guys haven't added Upshot Coffee to your STL bucket list, it's time to try it. Some of the my favorite people in the industry and some of the best coffee in the game.

STL Is an Art City

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Obviously, you want to get through November 7th, but literally November 8th, it's like, okay, now we need to book the venue, or probably hopefully book the venue now and just keep moving. But you know, I think that one of the things that I'm so excited about for you guys, and then for us to just be a part of it, is you see this stuff happen in other cities across the country, and you're like, man, why can't St. Louis be featured in something like this? And I was talking to uh the lady that was here right before you, she's actually the executive director of Made Makerspace, which is right across the street from Third Degree Glass Factory, and that's part of Doug and their team's development right there across the street where it's makers. And it's like St. Louis, people are like, is it sports town? It's like, yes, but we're also an art city, we're a creative city, music, all these different things that happen in St. Louis and all these different people that have made an impact on the country. But like also these films, we live in a world where content's all over our phone. You know, I'm watching 30-second videos over and over and over and over again, but it's like to sit down and actually watch a film, it's a lot harder nowadays to put these things out into the world than it was at one point. A lot of these films that you're working with, I'm sure budgets were very limited on a lot of these films. I don't know if Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Some of these films uh that mountain film highlights are very grassroots, some have pretty strong

Short Films, Big Themes

SPEAKER_03 20:15

funding.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

Uh some of them are really short, three to four minutes. Some go to about a half hour. So that'll be the mix in the evening. Yeah, I didn't know if yours were full length or no, no, they're uh a variety. Uh so the two-hour block that's focused on mountain film will have some very short ones and some half-hour sh type of films. Uh, but we're going to try to build a theme around uh, you know, the the environment and also with River City outdoors being one of my main sponsors, we want to high highlight those outdoor activities as well. So it's gonna be a mix, but uh in working with mountain film, we're looking at how thematically they did it in May and trying to build off of that.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Yeah. And I think it's so cool because you're like, you're you're thinking outdoors, but then you're also like, hey, come inside and watch this film, but then hey, also go outside and do this. And it's like that balance of like, hey, drink this beer, but also go climb this mountain. And it's like, hey, smoke this joint, but also go do this. And it's like it's the balance of what you're creating. But I love that you're partners because even in cannabis, when you mentioned Suede, Suede is so invested in people getting out and exploring. And it's like, you know, cannabis sometimes helps with that, and sometimes it's a part of hiking or a part of some of those things that you do. It sets the vibe, it sets the vibe, and it's like, you know, Four Hands Brewing Company has been a part of skateboarding, and uh, they've sponsored X Games events where people have been riding bikes and then you crack your forehands after the event, and it's like a beer is celebratory, and you know, food is around every experience. So it's like you have all these different things, and I love that you added the art element as well. And I I was talking to I saw Juno and I saw the print he made. The the logo looks awesome. That's gonna be a really sweet shirt.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

Yeah, he's he's talented. And uh, you know, the other great thing uh is uh pairing with uh routed you do a pair of line with hats too. So uh, you know, we're gonna have

Where to Find Info

SPEAKER_03 22:03

some cool stuff, we're gonna have cool food, uh lots of great drinks. Uh it's gonna be uh a really it's it's laid back, informative, uh, and fun, I think uh will be the the uh the theme of the day.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

So people that are looking to learn more about the film festival, there's some information on openspacestl.org. There's some information on your Instagram, there's information that, like you've mentioned, you're gonna be bringing back, um, you're gonna be bringing back uh Eventbrite so that you're gonna have um so different things there. STLPR is posting about it, we're posting about it, River City Outdoors is posting about it, suede, forehands, you guys have a strong team of people that are gonna be advertising the event. But we're almost, you know, by the time this episode comes out, you know, we're gonna be, you know, a month and a half out. So it's like that's how it's like, how can we continue to push that narrative and continue to educate people on what they can experience? So um, I'm super excited. But where's the best place for them to get all the information at right now?

SPEAKER_03 22:59

So uh we have Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages. But by the time this episode airs, we'll also have mountcityfilm.com uh live and up and running. So that that will be the best spot to go. But if you want to look and follow the uh social media channels as well uh for the next uh you know month and a half, we'll start to uh really ramp that up uh with uh announcements and updates.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

And then before we wrap here, is there anything that we missed that we didn't cover that you would want to educate our audience about? Our listeners are local to St. Louis.

Mark Your Calendar

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Everybody here, you know, can be at that event. We have hundreds of thousands of people that follow us. We want to get people out to that event. Is there anything that we missed today that you want to help encourage people to block off that day on their calendar?

SPEAKER_03 23:46

You know, I think it's gonna be a full day and it's gonna, you know, it's the St. Louis connection. We're partnering with St. Louis filmmakers, St. Louis musicians, St. Louis artists, St. Louis chefs and food, St. Louis businesses, and we're telling St. Louis stories. So if you want to come and enjoy something like that, a full day event, then uh mark off Saturday, November 7th, and be at Atomic by Jammo.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, Charles, I appreciate your time and thank you for coming in. And we can't wait to be there and we can't wait to invite you guys out there as well. So, St. Louis, we'll see you November 7th at Mount City Film Festival.