jdalessio@news-gazette.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nOAKWOOD \u2014 Before heading back to her native Vermilion County this weekend to film scenes for a movie, Crystal Hughes has been keeping especially close tabs on farm field conditions through family and friends.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the kind of information the Los Angeles independent filmmaker needs to know, given the title of the movie she\u2019ll direct, produce and star in: \u201cChildren of the Cornfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s \u201cbasically a horror\/comedy spoof, documentary-style,\u201d the Oakwood product said this week. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole funny thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hughes will be joined by a cinematographer and sound mixer, who\u2019ll be at locations that include the Fischer Theatre and Sport Clips in Danville, friend Gabe and Jennie Shepherd\u2019s farm in Fithian, an abandoned cemetery in Oakwood, an Airbnb at Kickapoo State Park \u2014 and, of course, local cornfields.<\/p>\n
This weekend\u2019s shoot will serve as a standalone short and proof of concept for a full feature, which she plans to return to Vermilion County to shoot in December.<\/p>\n
Hughes said the short will premiere at LA Live Film Fest on Nov. 8 and is being prepped for distribution via Filmhub, with potential placements on Tubi, Mubi and Shudder.<\/p>\n
She envisions a screening of the movie in Danville, too.<\/p>\n
Without giving away too much of the plot, Hughes said it involves her main character, Zella \u2014 named after Hughes\u2019 mother, Zella Fay Hughes \u2014 and her friend, who are in a journalism society. Something happens, and the corn goes away overnight, Hughes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody will learn in the feature what has happened,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why they wanted to film scenes before and after harvest.<\/p>\n
During this trip, she is hoping for an epic shot of kids walking in the corn at sunset. The film crew is going to make that part very \u201cceremonial and awesome,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hughes said her Oakwood childhood home will be in the film, with the script calling for a front-porch scene. They\u2019d shoot cornfields near her home as well, but with those fields alternating every year between corn and beans, 2025 is the beans\u2019 turn.<\/p>\n
So they\u2019ll be filming cornfields elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u2018Good for the community\u2019<\/h3>\n
The Oakwood High alumna has been preparing for this weekend\u2019s trip back with help from her family members still here, including sister Salena Jones, who now lives in Westville.<\/p>\n
Jones said the family is proud of Hughes.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe got awards for a short film, a short science film and she\u2019s been in commercials and (the television show) \u2018American Horror Story\u2019 and been doing things like that,\u201d Jones said. \u201cShe really has done well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones admits she can\u2019t offer much expertise when it comes to making a movie, but she\u2019s been assisting her sister in other ways \u2014 making props and handling scheduling.<\/p>\n
In return, she\u2019ll be credited as a first assistant director on \u201cChildren of the Cornfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s very good at bossing people,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n
Other family members are also excited to be actors in the film, including their parents (Fay and Leroy Hughes), aunt and uncle (Kay and Dave Barnette) and a cousin and her son.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun and inspiring for the community,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
Jones said local leaders \u2014 including Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr., Fischer Theatre Interim Director Ashton Greer and Vermilion Advantage President\/CEO Mike Marron \u2014 continue to try to bring things to the community that are inspiring progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is just adding to it,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be good for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hughes agreed, saying that support is key.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re using the historic Fischer Theatre in one of the scenes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s all local and really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said her little cousin has been helping with casting, using friends at Westville High School. A couple of Parkland College theater actors could also be cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s been really fun. We\u2019re just getting the community involved and have it really be a fun time,\u201d said Hughes, who is scheduled to fly into Chicago today and take the train down to begin shooting Saturday at the Fischer Theatre.<\/p>\n
\u2018Super excited\u2019<\/h3>\n
Hughes moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to begin her acting career. She started making films four years later \u2014 first the web series \u201cUri the Alien\u201d and, in 2022, the short \u201cMansplain,\u201d for which she won best actress and director in a dark comedy at the LA Live Film Festival.<\/p>\n
Hughes said Los Angeles is expensive, so she also has a day job in pharmaceutical sales.<\/p>\n
But \u201cfilmmaking is my passion and I love it,\u201d she said, and hopes to make it a sustainable career soon.<\/p>\n
The short for this movie will be about 15 minutes long. She plans for the feature film to be about 90 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really fun. I\u2019m super, super excited,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n