How a Missouri town transformed a wasteland into a natural wonder.
Check out our one-and-a-half minute trailer below.
You’re Invited!
Upcoming Cardinal Valley Screenings
Boonville, MO — Monday, July 27th
Where: BTC Bank
6:30 PM - Doors open
7:00 PM - Music by Jeff Ariggo
7:30 PM - Film Screening of Cardinal Valley: A Restoration Story
8:00 PM - Discussion and Refreshments
Admission is FREE
Joplin, MO coming in August
Columbia, MO coming in September
Something beautiful is happening in Webb City, Missouri
Land that was once destroyed by lead and zinc mining is now being restored through a municipal compost program. We’re telling the story in a half-hour documentary that will spread this good news like a fine layer of compost: nature is healing in Cardinal Valley.
Meet the Team
Meredith Ludwig, Producing Director
Meredith saw her first musical at age eight and from then on embraced the act of telling stories in any media that she came in contact with. An early participant in Mid-West Radio Theatre Workshop at KOPN in Columbia, Missouri, she became a regular on the station with The Compost Pile, a series of audio essays. Her most enjoyable undertaking thus far was creating and producing, Gumbo Bottoms, a Big Muddy Musical, with Cathy Barton. She enjoyed turning oral history into theatre until the pandemic inspired the leap to film, creating content for the tribes in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. She continues to toil in the field.
Aaron Phillips, Director of Photography
Aaron is a former Civil Engineer turned photographer and filmmaker. His love of light, shadow and the technical aspects of filmmaking fuel his passion for the decisive moment. Aaron splits his time between Missouri and Mississippi, as DP, editor, and producer for documentaries, music videos, commercials, narrative short films, and community-based story gathering projects. Aaron has worked on dozens of documentaries, often exploring themes of community, place, and sustainability. He was Director of Photography and field producer for Fertile Ground, a documentary examining food insecurity in central Mississippi, which aired on PBS in 2020 and went on to win an Emmy the following year.
Kira Gresoski, Publicist
Kira is the author of Bodies of Water & Women, a poetry collection that explores the impacts of radioactive waste on her hometown of North County St. Louis. After moving to mid Missouri, she founded The Birth Verse, where she combines her skills as a storyteller and a doula to support families through birth and postpartum. She graduated with her MFA in Writing from Pacific University in 2023.
Matt Schacht, Associate Producer
Matt is the Owner and Operator of Peace Frame Productions, a commercial film production company in downtown Columbia, Missouri. He is the Studio Manager and Co-Founder of Vidwest Studios, a community media center with the mission of making digital media accessible to everyone. He graduated from the University of Missouri Law School in 2015.
Thank you to everyone who helps make this work possible
We’re grateful to MCE, one of our fiscal sponsors, for accepting tax-deductible donations for us, on behalf of this project.
To send your funds directly to us, write “Cardinal Valley Documentary” where it says Make this donation in honor or in memory of someone.
CHERT GLADES CHAPTER
Vidwest Studios, one of our fiscal sponsors, has been a wonderful support through this project.