Springfield indie film 'Odd Fellows' explores female friendship, self-discovery

In a world devoid of frivolity, best friends Lucia and Rae are hungry for a new type of challenge, an adventure. Residents at Odd Fellows Academy, a boarding school that emphasizes the highest quality education over self-discovery, Lucia and Rae are eager to break free from the confines they've always known.

This is the plot of "Odd Fellows," a new feature-length film from Springfield native Paige Jones, who is the film's writer, director, producer, cinematographer, sound designer, editor and gaffer. The film, with a tentative runtime of about one hour and 20 minutes, is in post-production. Jones expects it to be released this summer.

The Odd Fellows Academy adheres to "Pillars of Excellence," which are removed from literature, music, art, theater, dance and writing. Creation is so non-existent that the students have no idea what it even is. But one day, Lucia and Rae discover a secret on the edge of the academy's property that introduces them to items from the past.

Twenty-three-year-old Jones, whose full-time job is as a wedding videographer, began brainstorming the script of "Odd Fellows" during a car ride to Kansas City, where she was visiting a friend.

"This idea popped up into my head, which was the plotline for 'Odd Fellows' and I was like, 'Oh yeah, that's a cool idea. I'll keep thinking about it,'" Jones said. "As I pulled up to Kansas City, my friend was like, 'We should go check out this cool location.' When we walked up to the location that she had decided to show me, it was this beautiful winery that looked exactly how I imagined the boarding school in my vision of the film to be."

The winery was Belvoir Winery and Inn in Liberty, which formerly served as the Odd Fellows Home, a statewide home for orphans and senior members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Jones said the building's history, without a doubt, inspired the film's name.

Jones began writing the film's script in summer 2023 and by September, the film was in production. Initially, the film was going to be about 20 minutes, but Jones said as she continued writing the script, it quickly grew in length.

Scenes set on the exterior of Odd Fellows Academy were filmed at the Belvoir Winery Inn and The Mansion at Elfindale in Springfield. Classroom scenes were filmed at the College of the Ozarks, Jones' alma mater, from which she graduated with a video production degree in Dec. 2021. And a few other scenes, where Lucia and Rae are seen running through woods and open fields, were filmed at Springfield public parks.

While Jones wears many hats for the project, she attributes its success to her friends. Verve Reposar, who plays Rae, and Hannah Herzog, who plays Lucia, are the film's co-producers. Jones and Herzog have worked on several film projects together, including Citrus Studios' first two shorts, "Peeled Lemon" (created during SATO48) and "Magpie." Both shorts have received accolades at local and national film festivals.

Reposar and Herzog share the screen with four supporting actors and about 40 extras, who play the academy's students, Jones said.

A story that runs parallel to her own

For Jones, the story of "Odd Fellows" is a personal one.

"I wanted the story to revolve around girlhood and representing female friendship in a way that I've experienced it, which was very natural and very messy and very grounded," Jones said. "I feel like I haven't seen a lot of films portray female friendship in the way that I've experienced, so I wanted to be that person for myself."

Additionally, Jones attended a private school growing up. While her institution may not have been as strict as the Odd Fellows Academy portrayed in the film, Jones recalls school uniforms and guidelines that may have been stricter than those at public schools.

Limited equipment, production design was a "blessing"

As a local filmmaker, Jones is used to working small. Although the budget for "Odd Fellows" may have limited the equipment Jones used or how much production design could be implemented in each scene, Jones described this as a "blessing."

"You can make a film on any budget. That's kind of my motto — you can do it with whatever you have," Jones said. "I think each person can rise to the challenge working on a small budget. It helped us get really creative."

To help alleviate the remaining costs of post-production, Citrus Studios has launched a GoFundMe campaign with a $2,500 goal. As of Wednesday, the campaign had raised $2,260.

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: 'Odd Fellows' indie film explores power of female friendships