Four years after filming wrapped, a movie shot partly in Manitowoc is finally being released.
Through Eyes of Grace, which was adapted from a novel of the same name penned by Sheboygan native Dave Payton, will begin streaming starting tomorrow.
The film tells the story of a pastor whose daughter goes missing, rocking the small-town community where it happened.
The production team used the former McKinley Building on the northeast corner of North 11th and Huron Streets to shoot several scenes, including the scenes that took place inside the police station.
Sheriff Ellis Kirkbride is played by Sturgeon Bay native and UW Manitowoc graduate Kurt Krauss, who is very excited the film will finally see the light of day.
“I honestly thought we were a half year out or more,” he admitted. “So to find out this week that we’re going to be on a streaming service is already just amazing, amazing news.”
We also reached out to Director Mike Determan to talk about what took so long to get the film out for public consumption.
“With every production, you always run into potholes, and things like that. Unforeseen circumstances that help push it back a little bit,” he explained. “The upside is that it’s completed now, and we’re out to present it to the world.”
Kurt Krauss
The fact that a film about a missing person was filmed in Manitowoc was a bit on the nose, as our area is known for two major missing persons cases, Elijah Vue and Teresa Halbach.
Krauss says that playing the sheriff in Through Eyes of Grace was rather emotional for him due to his connection to one of those cases.
“When I was a student at UW Manitowoc, a graduate from years previous, she went missing. That turned out to be Teresa Halbach,” Krauss recalled. “I remember that one vividly as well, because they were asking university students to help in the search.”
Krauss loved shooting in Manitowoc, especially because of the welcoming nature of the people here.
“We had host families in Manitowoc who, through that production that summer, just took really good care of us,” he said with gratitude. “They opened up their homes to us. And we started out in June, you know, as complete strangers. And by end of July, early August, we were just very close friends.”
As far as shooting in the former McKinnley building, Krauss called it “a dream come true in a lot of ways because of the versatility of that space. We were able to recreate a police station within the walls of that building.”
Through Eyes of Grace will stream on ReDiscover TV, which has a subscription price of $6.99, and is available for download on Roku TV, Apple TV, Android, Samsung, FireTV, or via web browser at ReDiscoverFamily.tv.
