Rockford storytelling series once hailed for ‘heartfelt, viral videos’ makes its comeback

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A video storytelling series that set out to change the narrative about Rockford is relaunching after a roughly yearlong hiatus.

Our City, Our Story, a film project from videographer and artist Pablo Korona, is restarting its series today. The deeply personal and sometimes inspiring series launched 12 years ago, but it had trickled to a crawl with three stories in the past two years.

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Now, it’s back with six features planned between now and June. The first, which published today, tells the story of Rockford native Brad Towell’s decision to return home after a successful but hectic career as a graphic designer in the film industry in Pittsburgh.

“I’ve been a fan of Our City, Our Story since its inception,” Towell said. “I’ve tried to watch every episode as I’ve seen them come out while I’ve been living in Pittsburgh.”

Towell spent years working on films such as “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” with Tom Hanks and “American Pastoral” with Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly and Dakota Fanning. About a year and a half ago he moved back to Rockford, where he and his wife, Stephanie, run the home decor business Nostalgic Dwelling. He said he was initially hesitant to be featured in the video series, but put his trust in Korona to tell the story.

“The way he shoots is absolutely gorgeous and the stories are so compelling,” Towell said. “It seems like he’s really getting to the essence of people’s lives and the struggle and the passion.”

https://fb.watch/wyFxvH7SRf/

Korona said the series started as a means to change the way residents and outsiders talked about the city. Too often Rockford was described as a Rust Belt casualty facing an economic and public safety crisis.

“The conversation I kept having over and over was that people didn’t like how we were down on ourselves, that we had a self-esteem issue,” Korona said. “I thought: This isn’t about saving the city. It’s about changing the way we talk about it. Changing the story, because stories have power.”

The project worked, Korona said. It even landed an article in Fast Company in 2012 that referred to Korona as a “branding vigilante” who “helped beleaguered Rockford, Illinois, fight back with a winning online play — and heartfelt, viral videos.”

The stories are being revived now with sponsorship from Made for Rockford, a GoRockford initiative led by former television anchor Whitney Martin to draw people to the city.

“Sponsoring Our City, Our Story is a natural fit for Made for Rockford,” Martin said. “This series embodies our mission to highlight the people and stories that make Rockford unique, fostering pride in our community and inspiring others to see the possibilities here.”

Korona said the stories have shifted since the series debuted a dozen years ago.

“They’re no longer about survival — they’re about progress,” he said. “Fertile ground, growth, people changing because of the opportunities here.”

Korona said this season of the series is dedicated to Rockford musician Dan McMahon, who died from cancer in September at age 41. McMahon, Korona said, was crucial to the series by providing a musical backbone as its composer when it launched.

“He was a stabilizing force in my life. As it’s relaunching, it makes sense to acknowledge how significant he was in the process, but also how much I miss him,” Korona said. “You have to appreciate those around you who are significant. Dan’s probably one of the most talented people I’ve met in my life, and this is a way to acknowledge him and keep his legacy alive in our city.”

Suggest a story

Korona is looking for suggestions for features for the series.

“Who is a unique person that you know? Who is your hero?” Korona asks. “What is someone doing now that more people should know about? What little victories has a person had that shaped who they were, and if told could inspire others?”

Suggestions can be emailed to pablokorona@ourcityourstory.com.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas