Sisters Sara and Charity Harmon have turned their shared passion for film and Wichita history into an award-winning pursuit with Let’s Talk Shop. The Wichita-based filmmakers, known for making local history engaging and fun, are fresh off a big win at this year’s Tallgrass Film Festival, where their 45-minute documentary tied for Audience Favorite Kansas Feature. The film was so popular that it’s returning for an encore screening Saturday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. at the Tallgrass Film Center (tickets $12 + $1.64 fee).
For two women who still balance filmmaking with full-time day jobs, that kind of recognition feels like validation that their years of persistence are finally paying off. “We’ve been creating content for about 10 years,” said Charity. “A lot of those early days, no one was really watching—but we kept producing anyway. Now that more people are seeing our work, it’s exciting to be ready for that moment.”
From Church Media Camp to Kansas Storytellers
Daughters of a pastor and marriage counselor, they spent their childhood moving between church pews and media booths. As preteenagers, both attended a church-run media camp in Indiana—a program that introduced them to camera operation, editing, and even 3-D design.
“We got to visit TV and newspaper studios,” Sara recalled. “That’s where I fell in love with production. I learned to use cameras, design graphics, and tell stories visually.”
Those early experiences launched their career paths. Sara earned a Bachelor of Science in Media Communications, focusing on graphic arts, production, and visual storytelling, from Oral Roberts University, while Charity graduated from College of the Ozarks with a degree in Communication Arts specializing in video, audio, and radio production.
Balancing Creativity and Careers
After college, both sisters returned to Wichita and quickly discovered the challenge of turning creative skills into a sustainable living.
“There weren’t a lot of full-time media jobs here,” Charity said. “At one point, I was juggling up to five part-time jobs just to stay afloat.”
Instead of waiting for opportunities, they made their own. Working under the informal banner The Harmon Sisters, they began producing local documentaries, podcasts, and short features on Wichita’s overlooked stories. Before that, their first film, the short For Your Amusement: The Wonderland Park on Ackerman Island (2019), tells the story of Wonderland—Wichita’s first amusement park (1906–1918)—built on Ackerman Island in the middle of the Arkansas River.
The project helped them refine their creative voice and build local momentum. Their breakout came in 2021 with Who Scammed Rajah Rabbit?, a witty retelling of a 1920s investment hoax that left Wichita residents with 55,000 white rabbits—and one vanished con man.
“That project set our tone,” Sara said. “We love digging into weird, forgotten Kansas stories and bringing them to life in a way people enjoy.”
Building a Modern Lens on Local History
Their latest project, Let’s Talk Shop, expands on that formula with a nostalgic dive into Wichita’s golden age of department stores—Henry’s and Innes—once fixtures of downtown’s retail glory. What began as an idea sparked by a Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum fashion program became a vibrant portrait of mid-century shopping culture.
The film mixes archival footage, interviews with longtime Wichitans like Sierra Scott, Bonnie Bing Honeyman, and Rick Bumgardner, and cameos from models such as Christa Rude Vazeos, who once walked for both Henry’s and Yves Saint Laurent. Each of these participants brings a special connection to Wichita’s retail story—Scott as a longtime journalist and television personality recalling her college-age memories at Henry’s; Bing Honeyman as a former Wichita Eagle fashion editor who contextualizes the city’s fashion scene; and Bumgardner as a local actor whose personal shopper story captures the era’s warmth and customer care.
“The nostalgia really resonated,” Sara said. “People remember Christmas windows, tea rooms, and elevators with attendants. We missed that era, but we can feel it through their stories.”
Charity added, “Growing up watching classic films, we always loved those glamorous shopping scenes—people in suits and hats, being treated personally. That’s something we haven’t experienced, but it’s part of what we wanted to recreate.”
A Film That Feels Like a Celebration
More than a history lesson, Let’s Talk Shop embodies the sisters’ philosophy: to make history joyful and accessible. Their editing style, playful narration, and genuine enthusiasm have helped them attract new audiences—including families with children.
“In our screenings, we’ve had parents bring their kids or grandkids,” Charity said. “That’s huge to us because I remember being bored by documentaries in school. We want ours to be different—something that keeps everyone engaged.”
It’s that approach—fun, sincere, and rooted in Kansas—that has earned the Harmon sisters a reputation for revitalizing the documentary form locally. “When you think about documentaries, they can be heavy or depressing,” Sara said. “We want to be the opposite. We want people to leave smiling.”
Still a Side Hustle—For Now
Despite their rising recognition, filmmaking isn’t yet their full-time job. The sisters continue to fund projects largely out-of-pocket, with help from local institutions like the Historical Museum and occasional borrowed equipment.
“We’d love to get to the point where we can pay everyone involved,” Charity said. “Artists deserve to be compensated for their work—exposure doesn’t pay the bills.”
Looking ahead, they hope to expand both scope and scale.
“Our dream is to create longer features—maybe 90 minutes—and eventually move into scripted stories or reenactments,” Sara said. “But that means fundraising, applying for grants, and building a crew.”
What’s Next: Nostalgia, Wichita, and Beyond
In the meantime, they continue building their audience through The Harmon Sisters YouTube channel, Color Me Wichita mini-films on local artists, and a monthly classic film series at the Tallgrass Film Center called Harmons and Hollywood. Each month, they present a vintage movie—from It’s a Wonderful Life to The Parent Trap—along with behind-the-scenes trivia and cultural context.
“We like to give people an escape,” Charity said. “It’s uplifting, nostalgic, and reminds you that storytelling doesn’t have to be flashy to be good.”
That joy-forward approach may explain why Wichita audiences have connected so deeply with their work. “People here love seeing their own history treated with care,” Sara said. “We want to keep giving them that.”
Encore Screening
If you missed the festival premiere, Let’s Talk Shop returns for an encore showing Saturday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. at Tallgrass Film Center.
Tickets: $12 + $1.64 service fee.
Sara and Charity Harmon will attend the screening for a post-show Q&A.
