This 15 minute documentary, Piper City: Where Are We?, was produced in Piper City, IL in 2006. The film is a series of interviews with residents about the history of Piper City as well as a conversation about current events. Piper City at one time was populous, home of one of the first concrete elevators in Illinois as well as home to an industrious drainage company. Today, Piper City is a quiet little town just enough off the beaten path it doesn’t even appear on IDOT road signs on Route 24.
The work being produced at Center Street Productions during this time was primarily wedding videos, and the business was essentially a side hustle still for Phil Gioja at this point. This documentary was a passion project that Phil took on after moving to Piper City in 2005, and after building some relationships with the local historical society. It was shot on a Canon GL2, and edited on Final Cut Pro on a Mac G4 in Phil’s home office in Piper City.