June 22, 2018

Mayor Emanuel And The Chicago Film Office Announce Record TV Filming

An unprecedented ten series will film in the next year, including four new shows

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago Film Office at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) today announced ten shows will film this summer and fall in Chicago. This includes filming for four new shows, as well as many returning long-running series including NBC’s Chicago franchise.

“Chicago continues to serve as the destination for film, television and media production not only for our iconic skyline and the rich diversity our neighborhoods, but for our talented residents, state-of-the-art facilities and affordable services,” said Mayor Emanuel. “The city’s local film industry shows no signs of slowing down as we continue creating home grown content for national distribution.”

Four new shows beginning production in Chicago this summer and fall include South Side on Comedy Central, Lovecraft Country on HBO, Red Line on CBS and Proven Innocent on FOX. The hit NBC series’, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med will all return this summer, and continue filming through April 2019. The Chi on Showtime, Easy on Netflix and Empire on FOX will begin filming this summer.

“Talent drives the industry, and we have it – in abundance,” said Rich Moskal, Director of the Chicago Film Office. “This growing professional community of crews, actors, technicians and filmmakers not only work here, they live here. They’re Chicagoans. And they’re exceptionally good at what they do.”

Additionally, the long-running Showtime series Shameless will return for several weeks, and the Netflix movie Beats is currently filming.

2017 was a record level activity for local film and media production in Chicago. Last year, 580 individual film and media projects recorded an all-time high combined total of 2,404 production days, resulting in an estimated $423 million in job creation and expenditures. The Film Office issued a total of 2,127 permits in support of these projects, a 10 percent increase from 2016. Chicago has seen steady year over year increases in media production since 2011.

In addition to the many returning TV series, last year major motion production included Widows (New Regency) and Captive State (Amblin), and portions of the action blockbuster Rampage (Warner Bros). Independent features, many locally produced, included The Pages, Hala, What They Had, Soul Sessions and Book of Leah.

The Illinois Film Office awards a 30 percent tax credit to film, television and advertising productions for qualified expenditures of crew, goods and services. The statute requires productions to hire women and minorities as part of the technical crew and office staff. Illinois is the only state in the country to have this requirement, and last year protected classes accounted for 47 percent of film crews.

The rise in Chicago filming and commercial production has boosted local spending and job creation, while increasing traffic for a wide range of local businesses, hotel rooms, office and warehouse leasing, vehicle and equipment leasing, construction supplies, and local tax revenues.

###