Letter to the Editor: Public trust matters in Missouri’s growing film sector

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Dear editor,

In May 2024, as executive director of the Ozarks Film Foundry, I proposed to the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments that it be endorsed as a regional film commission and join the Association of Film Commissioners International – the global standard for film office recognition by studios, streamers and networks. With Missouri’s production incentive reinstated and major 2026 tourism events ahead, the timing was ideal. 

In June 2024, SAG-AFTRA Missouri Valley President Shelley Waggener urged SMCOG to vote no, according to a copy of the email sent to members of the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments. She labeled the Foundry board “only fans of film” and claimed a speculative $20 million investment she was negotiating would be jeopardized if the effort moved forward. She invoked the name of the Missouri Film Office and its director, Andrea Sporcic, in asking for time to find a more “professional” team. Her claims about my credentials were later contradicted by my former supervisors at National Geographic Film & TV and Discovery Communications. Still, the letter chilled support and led to the collapse of the initiative. 

On July 1, 2024, I was removed as executive director of the Foundry. The board said my work was excellent but that unnamed stakeholders felt the effort was moving “too fast” and should be led by “the right people.” They admitted financial support was being withheld until I was gone. I did not resign. 

Shortly after, the Foundry launched an unaccredited DBA – the Southwest Missouri Film Office. In a memo to the Missouri Film Office, they stated they would operate as “a noncertified film office” and only pursue AFCI membership “once the need becomes apparent.” Despite lacking accredited status or studio qualifications, they received local institutional support. 

By March 2025, Alicia Hutsell and I founded Ozarks Film Cooperative – the region’s first and only accredited AFCI-member commission, and the 362nd globally. The Missouri Ozarks was now visible to producers worldwide. That same month, SMCOG challenged our jurisdiction, which resulted in Forsyth pausing its membership in our network of film-friendly cities. We prevailed and gained endorsements from Rockaway Beach, Sparta and Mansfield, with more cities considering us. 

Meanwhile, the Foundry quietly reversed course and began pursuing the very AFCI membership it had blocked, according to a newsletter sent in July to Foundry supporters. Though still unaccredited and lacking government endorsement, it received grants from the Hatch Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. 

On May 13, SMCOG’s Jason Ray asked his executive committee, according to board meeting minutes sent to members of the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments: “Do we want to leave it for John Farmer de la Torre to possibly expand, or do we back this organization [the Foundry]?” Their strongest advocate was Stephen Childers, whose brother Ken sits on the Foundry board and is being positioned to train as a film commissioner.

In a March 27 meeting I requested, Sporcic and Missouri Tourism Director Stephen Foutes confirmed her office and herself had been “name dropped” inappropriately. Sporcic admitted she chose not to correct the record to protect Waggener’s rumored investment and the Foundry’s support – even though the investment claim had not been verified. 

The result was a stalled economic initiative, harm to our nonprofits and a divided regional industry. 

The Foundry is now under investigation by the Missouri attorney general. An arts watchdog says more revelations may follow. 

Ozarks Film and our nonprofit partner, the Ozarks Film Coop, remain the only AFCI film commission in the region. Our 2024 vision remains valid in 2025. We’re growing with professionalism and public service in mind. 

We ask Missouri’s institutions to do the same. 

—John Farmer de la Torre, certified film commissioner and president of Ozarks Film and Ozarks Film Coop