Kansas City landmarks help tell 'Ted Lasso' origin story in new season premiere

Support for KCUR's up-to-date podcast comes from Arvest Bank, believing that financial confidence should be within reach for everyone. Whether you're just getting started, planning for your future, or starting a new chapter, Arvest is here to help you plan and meet your goals every step of the way. Details at ourvest.com or 20 locations throughout Kansas City. The iconic bomb pop was invented in Kansas City in 1955. But how exactly did it achieve deep freeze dessert dominance? Join KCUR for People's History of Kansas City live. Monday, August 31st at the ship in the West Scott Bottoms. Tickets are at kCUR.org slash bomb pop. From KCOR, this is up to date with Steve Kraski. I'm intern Nora Crutcher McGowan. Kansas City fans of Ted Lasso got a real treat last week as the show's latest season started out in lead actor Jason Sudakis hometown of Kansas City, taking viewers on a tour of iconic spots such as Bill Gates Barbecue, the plaza, and CPKC Stadium. The episode was filmed on site at these locations last summer and received production help from Kansas City's film office. It also featured a few actors who live here. Steve spoke with Michelle Davidson and Nedra Dixon, who played brief roles in the show. And Rachel Kephart, who is the director of the Kansas City Film Office. Listen in. Welcome, everybody. So good to have you here. Good morning. Thanks for having us. Good morning. Rachel, let's start with you. You're the commissioner for the Kansas City Film Office. What exactly does this office do? Yeah, that's a good question. Lots of people don't know. So my office is meant to be the sort of liaison between the production world and the city's resources. So we are typically the first call that productions make. In this case, we spoke with the Ted Lasso team in February of 2025, so many, many months before they actually. hit the streets of the plaza. And we help with a lot of things, connecting projects to locations, helping them hire crew, permitting, housing. So kind of anything that a production might not know how to do on their own in a city, we try to help them navigate that. So what's it like? One day the phone rings and you pick it up and it's Ted Lasso's folks saying, hey, we want to come film in Kansas City. Well, it's Apple and it's Warner Brothers, so it's much more cloaking daggers than that. It's a phone call in February. about a project they can't talk about, and they won't tell me what it is, but they are insistent that it must film in Kansas. And, you know, we're from Kansas City, so we know when someone says something wants to film in Kansas. We're assuming they probably actually mean Missouri and don't know it. But they were very insistent that it had to film in Kansas. And so I sort of mentioned in this first call, like, well, that's absolutely fine. Like, we can help you film anywhere you want, absolutely in Kansas, but you should know that Missouri and Kansas. Kansas City, Missouri have pretty impressive incentive programs. So you might consider that as you're thinking about your filming. And two days later, they called back and said, we want to find Kansas in Missouri. And so they wound up not filming a single frame on the Kansas side. And we kicked off helping them find everything they needed on the Missouri side. So why is this such a big, dark secret when you first get a phone call? Why is it wrapped in secrecy? What's the point of that? You know, I think part of it is that...

They're sort of in the preliminary stages of scoping out a location. You know, as much as I think Jason really wanted to have film in Kansas City and they did such an excellent job. And it truly was a love letter to the city. You know, the Warner Brothers, it really was beautiful. I watched it last night. And I was like, wow, he's really saying something about our town. A friend of mine who isn't as like involved in the film world was like, it's borderline Kansas City propaganda. And I love it. So that's how it felt. But, you know, I think for the. Apples and the Warner Brothers of the world, they have to be a little more pragmatic. Can this actually happen in Kansas City? And so, you know, before... anybody starts going around saying Ted Lasso is coming. They need to make sure that it's feasible for Ted Lasso to come and film here. And so the beginning stages are us just kind of proving that we have the resources and the infrastructure and the crew to make it happen here. Well, Rachel, tax incentives were playing an important role in attracting these projects to Kansas City. Tell us why production opportunities have grown in the past few years. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, in 2023, Missouri finally. brought back its tax credit program. The reality is it had lapsed. It had lapsed, exactly. It had sunset. So nobody disliked it. In fact, you know, winter's bone and up in the air and Gone Girl had all used it in Missouri. So it was very successful, but it had a natural sunset. And in the 10 years, 2013, when it went away to 2023, there was really limited large scale projects in the state because it's maybe an unfortunate reality of this industry. But the reality is that these production companies expect some sort of tax. credit for for filming here and and they they know that they bring a lot of dollars and economic impact into the community and so they they look for municipalities and regions that that identify that and incentivize that and so when Missouri finally brought back their incentive things really sort of kicked off right away mostly independent film but But certainly bigger projects than saw Kansas City and Missouri at large as a viable option. And so a project like Ted Lassow, they might not have even realized when they first called us that this was possible. And then as soon as they found out just how lucrative our incentives were, that was a lot of the conversation going forward. I don't want to get too far on the weeds here. But when we talk about tax incentives, how much of a break are they getting? What does that look like? Right. So basically, they are only being incentivized on their Missouri spend. So on the state level, they can receive a base 20% tax credit. So it's a credit towards any in-state tax liability. And it starts at 20%. And depending on how much you give back to the state, whether it's through hiring a certain number of locals, apprentices, so forth, they can get an up to 40% tax credit on their Missouri spend, which is really competitive. It's very competitive. And then at the local level, Kansas City... has had a cash rebate for 10 years this year. So when the state didn't have a credit, Kansas City really wanted to show the industry, even if it was in a somewhat symbolic way that we cared about filmmaking. So we have a 12% cash rebate on any spend made within the six council districts of Kansas City, Missouri, and any hiring of Kansas City, Missouri residents. So it sounds like real money. Yes, absolutely. And they do, I will say, these programs are performance based. So they have to prove it.

You know, we don't give them money up front. This is, they won't see it oftentimes for several months or until they're ready to kind of present their receipts and their proof that they spent the money. But it's all performance-based and audited. So we only get, and once they, or they only get when they prove that they've given. Now, let's move to a couple of actors who play small roles in the show and they're here with us now, Nedra and Michelle. You are both actors living here in Kansas City. Nedra, how did you get involved with the show? My agent called me and said there is an audition for the opening. episode of season four of Ted Lassau, and they would like the casting director, Wright and Caird, would like to see you. And I said, oh. I bet you heard Ted Lassau and your ears perked up pretty quickly. Well, of course. I mean, it's only the biggest comedy hit in forever. And I was synthesized, meaning the script, of the role that they were looking at me for. And I went in and did a read. then a very short while later, I got a call from Tracy Turner, who's my agent, and she says, they want to cast you. Okay, good for you. Michelle, how did you find out about it? At the same, same situation. We went to right-layered casting, and it's amazing because we have this local casting director, and you hope that they will cast those, not in L.A., not in Chicago, but using Kansas City Talent and Jason Sadecas. We love him. Very proud of him and very appreciative that he decided to cast about a dozen roles, speaking roles, which means we have one line or more. in this first episode of season four. And so, you know, you go through the traditional process of casting, you go and you audition, you're put on tape, and then you're hoping the powers that be, watch that tape and say, we want them for their role. And so it was very exciting to be able to, in my role was a representative for CPKC. So I went in those scenes where I got to be around hundreds of extras that filled the beautiful stadium and so proudly. talk about what is so special about the current stadium. I was going to say CPKC comes off really good in this episode. And Nedra, you were Bill Gates Barbecue, right? I was. What did you do? Hi, may I help you? There you go. The iconic greeting, right? The iconic signature Bill Gates greeting. Yeah, yeah. You primarily act in theater productions, but it seems like you do a bit of everything, right? I mean, what draws you to acting to begin with? Oh, I've been, it was my dream as a little girl to be on Broadway, and I love musical theater, so I'm an actress singer,

answer and all my studies were focused to building my craft. as a triple threat. And after I graduated college, I luckily was cast in a big national tour out of New York. And after the tour was over, it was on the road for 11 months. And after the tour was over, I moved directly to New York and had a lovely career in New York for many, many, many years. I lived in California, too, for two years and did some stuff out there. And it's been, what, 13? years or so now that I've moved back to Casey and am experiencing the beautiful growth of Kansas City as a city itself and its artistic community, which is vibrant. They're so... much available for. And the city has a wealth of performers here that are richly talented, as well as tech people and directors. I also direct. I do a lot of directing here more so than performing, although I still perform. I was going to say, in the Ted Lasso scene that you're in, it's fairly brief. Did you film other things that wound up getting cut? I did. There was another scene. They're filming the entrance of the Ted Lasso crew coming into the restaurant to have their discussion. And there was a scene, too, that they filmed the exit of them leaving the restaurant. And there was an exchange there. But that ended up on the editing floor, as often happens. As often happens, yeah. And after I didn't watch it until last night, too, and the... The outcome of the other scene not being there is not at all missed. So it's a, the plot runs well. The opening scene introducing Bill Gates is compact, concise, and it hits like it should. So there really didn't need to be. another statement. And not to give much away, but there's a lot to do with Bill Gates and spilling sauce on one's clothing. Which is a running joke. And a running reality for all of us. Yes. We'll be back in just a minute to talk more about Ted Lasso's brief stint in Kansas City and the local folks who made it possible. Stick around.

Making a will has been on your to-do list long enough. And August is national make-a-will month, so it's the perfect time to get it done. KCUR and Giving Docs make it free and simple to create your will in minutes at kCUR.org slash will. We've all been there. You're gardening, having fun, right up till you spot a spider, a snake, a bee, and you panic. It was enough to make me freak out, and honestly, some days not even want to go to the greenhouse. I was conflicted with doing something I love, but having this fear of doing it. Animal fears are common, but there are ways to lessen the anxiety, a story about overcoming critter fears that's on the podcast Up From Dust from KCUR. Michelle, I'm wondering about you. How did you get into acting? So I was a journalist. I went to University of Missouri School of Journalism. I was a news anchor at TV stations across the Midwest. And I had children, and I found it to be very difficult to do that. And so I was like, what do I do with these skills? So I went and I audition to play a reporter in a movie. And I love being a fake reporter. And I was hooked. And from there, kind of like, Nadri, I'm a writer and a director. And so I think in Kansas City, it's really lovely. when you're able to wear lots of different hats because this town is growing, but we have to be able to jump into different roles to make things happen. And actors, we traditionally wait for the phone call to say, hey, your cast. And so a lot of us do create vehicles for ourselves to be on screen. But let me tell you, getting that call that your cast and Ted Lasso was one of the best moments ever. I can't help but wonder, Michelle, in your scene, you're seen with several of the big regular performers. in Ted Lasso. Is that intimidating working with people who are so iconic and you're just in the scene for a little bit? Of course. It is incredibly intimidating, but, you know, they make you feel comfortable. Every single one of those actors knew my name. Hello, Michelle. How are you doing? And I, of course, knew their name. And I was very obsessed with the show, a huge fan myself. So they put you at ease. Juno Temple. She is a magical, sweet person that is Keely in real life. I truly believe that. She is so lovely. And you do kind of get caught up like you're like.

Like, she's been, I'm staring at her while you're in the scene. Like, oh, I've got to focus on my acting as opposed to her impressive acting. And so you do kind of get lost in just kind of the bigness of it and the celebrity of it. And, you know, I understand I'm a very small part of the show, but they did not make me feel that way. They made me feel very special, very welcome. The way that Kansas Indians make others and made this whole crew, you know, made everyone feel so welcome when they came in from all around the world. You know, again, your scene is fairly brief. Did you do it in one take or were there multiple takes or how did that work? Similar to the other actor's story, there was another scene that was cut, but that is okay. I was just happy that all of it wasn't cut. I've been on many productions where I was like, oh, bummer, I didn't make the cut. So that was a walking scene, and it was on one shot, and I was the very first line of the scene. So you really don't want to mess it up because they're not coming in and getting coverage, which means like a wide shot and then close-ups. where they can edit together things. You cannot mess up. It has to be one. One take walking down the hallway. There are all these extras walking, you know, behind us. And most of them had never been on a production like this. So they're just, you were like, we're all trying to work together to get it in one take. And I think, you know, once you heard the director and Jason and the team, they're like, okay, we got it. Moving on. You just like, oh, you take a deep breath. Like, we did this. We were okay. Did you rehearse it ahead of time? Yes, so there, I thought it was really interesting because, you know, you're put in a trailer before you come in. And so it's like all very like you're kind of, you're waiting. And then you go into holding room with the actors. And then. Jason actually kind of changed the lines a little bit. So, you know, and I had, I had my lines down perfectly. I knew what I was supposed to do. I was not going to mess this up. And then Jason's like, right before we're going to go on. He's like, actually, I want you to say this, Michelle. You know, and, in, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, Juno Temple kind of pulled me over. Like, okay, this happens. Like sometimes we just kind of just go with it. I'm like, okay, let's go with it. And so he, I think they're just very flexible and very in the moment, feels very natural. It's a very collaborative process. So yeah, the line changed slightly and I just hoped that I didn't mess it up.

Netter, were you a one-take wonder as well? How did that work for? Hi, May I help you? No, it was not done in one take. There were several, several takes. Actually, it was a very long day for me, and we were only in the Bill Gates location for the whole of the day. I was called at 6 a.m. and I didn't get home until 1130 that night. Oh, boy. So that, you know, for the however three minutes of time that you see in the outcome. It takes a long time. There were several, several takes angles, you know, what they decided to do. Rachel, I can't help but wonder we were talking about what a kiss this was, the Kansas City, the entire episode. How much of a factor was Jason Sudakis in picking the locations that wound up in the show? Oh, you know, it was... Because he's from here, obviously. Absolutely. It's interesting. You know, a lot of times when projects come into town, they are kind of open to... suggestions in terms of, you know, they look to us to be the sort of experts. But Jason is the expert. He knew exactly where he wanted to film. He knew exactly what he wanted included all the way down to featuring the Intercontinental. You know, he has a lot of memories of living in Kansas City as a, as a, you know, teenager and the things that he loved about it. And so he was very specific. So, you know, it was kind of given to us as like we would like to. connect with Bill Gates. We'd like to connect with the plaza and the intercontinental and the current and all of these very specific places. And we're like, great. Absolutely. So, yeah, typically there is sometimes a give and take, but just because the people coming in maybe don't know Kansas City as well. But Jason absolutely knows his city, and he knew exactly what he wanted to feature before he got here. Did he talk to you about why he was picking some of these places, like the Intercontinental? Was there some personal connection in his life with that? The story that I was told was that he remembers going up and down the, you know, the outside viewing elevators and seeing the plaza down below and the. Plaza lights. And so I think that was a memory of his that he really loved. And so, yeah, they were very insistent. They were like, they want. to be on the plaza and they want an exterior of the Intercontinental. I don't know that they filmed inside it. I believe the suite is in the Lowe's hotel that's featured in the show. But he had very specific sort of ideas of how he wanted to capture the city. And also I think, you know, this was meant to be a sort of origin story for this character that he based so much on the people that he interacted with in his youth in the Midwest. And so he wanted to show it off in the best way possible. So he did an excellent job. watched the episode last night and you see how it's portraying Kansas City so beautifully, I imagine that's a great kick in the pants for the future of the Kansas City Film Office because it shows what the power is of what you can do, right? Absolutely. I think it's beneficial to us in so many ways. On the one hand, you know, for the last year, you know, since it became public that the show filmed here, I have been using...

Ted Lasso is a case study to try and sell Kansas City to other large projects. So being able to say to other studios, you know, Ted Lasso filmed here. And that's a big deal. You know, that's a huge plus. But then at the end of it is this product that is unlike, you know, there are a lot of projects that will come to a municipality and be great to be able for a film office to say, oh, hey, this came here. But very rarely is it a... just a glowing recommendation of a city itself, just in its people and its culture. So to be able to have that be an endpoint, and also to be able to say to people, we say this all the time with film offices is that film tourism is... invaluable and it's really hard to quantify what the value of film tourism is but you cannot tell me after watching that show that people will not want to visit Bill Gates when I was going to say people are already visiting Bill Gates and wanting to sit in that same booth right we know about that the star had a story or something exactly so these things are really they might not be tangible and we might not be able to put it into a spreadsheet but they have an impression that they leave an international impression of Kansas City well just really quickly is Is the phone ringing? Yes, absolutely. It's, this has been, especially this week, I think we've had a lot of people that we are friends with out and the coast that have been like, wow, that is very impressive. But, you know, what I find most impressive is that well over half of the crew that were on this project were from Kansas City. I mean, it was, it was Kansas City through and through. That was our host, Steve Kraski, talking with Rachel Kephart, Nedro Dixon, and Michelle Davidson about Ted Lasso production in Kansas City. Up to date is a production of KCR, and this episode was produced by me, Nora Crutcher McGowan. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back again soon.

Tattoos were not always so common. Over a century ago, Maude Wagner turned heads. You can imagine a woman that is tattooed from her neck down in middle America would be something. She's the tattoo lady of Kansas, who broke all kinds of barriers. That's on the podcast, A People's History of Kansas City.