New productions put Chicago film scene back in action
by Robert Heidrick
Nov 01, 2007

Production for a slate of major film and television projects is underway this fall in the Chicago area, with several scenes planned for downtown, North Side and north suburban communities.

Despite its long cinematic history, Chicago has recently experienced a lull in its ability to draw large-scale film productions. This fall the trend appears to have been reversed with the arrival of film crews for the DreamWorks feature film “Eagle Eye” and a TNT television pilot entitled “Leverage,” both of which will be filmed on location throughout the city in November.

“It’s been a very good year for TV and filmmaking [in Chicago],” said Kit Woods, assistant executive director of the Chicago office of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. “We hope that it remains so.”

A portion of “Eagle Eye,” a thriller featuring “Transformers” star Shia LaBeouf as a Chicago teen caught up in a terrorist assassination plot, will be shot for two weeks starting Nov. 6, according to DreamWorks spokeswoman Deborah Wuliger. While Wuliger could not provide information on specific filming locations, her office reported that scenes were scheduled to be filmed in the city’s northern half and the adjacent suburbs.

The film is scheduled for release in late 2008.

Meanwhile “Leverage,” a new show helmed by “Independence Day” director-producer Dean Devlin, has been filming since mid-October around the Loop and in North Side neighborhoods along North Elston Avenue. The series centers on a gang of technologically savvy thieves led by Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton.

Part of Chicago’s appeal to studios is the Illinois Film Production Tax Credit, originally signed by Governor Rod Blagojevich in 2003 and amended in May 2006 to increase incentives for hiring crew members from high poverty areas.

The program offers a tax incentive of 20 percent on Illinois production spending each year as well as a 20 percent credit on Illinois crew member salaries up to $100,000.

According to Tax Credit Manager Joyce Davis of the Illinois Film Office, about 75 to 100 film productions apply for the incentives annually, and most of the applications qualify for the program and are approved.

Through her role in representing Chicago-area performers, Woods said she has observed a definite rise in the number of productions and associated jobs for actors and crews in the community.

“The tax credit is a phenomenal help, and it increased opportunities greatly here,” Woods said.

While the tax program tends to benefit mostly large-scale film productions, independent productions have also seen a resurgence.

Roger Marsh, a filmmaker and playwright who runs Tremont Avenue Productions in West Ridge, said his creative inspiration comes from some of the more bizarre elements in the city’s history that readily lend themselves to interpretation.

“You probably can’t stand on a street corner in Chicago without being someplace where something terrible happened in the past,” he said.

Marsh will soon begin work on his film “Tragic Lincoln,” in which the filmmaker artistically recreates, block by block, a century’s worth of actual violent crimes that took place on North Lincoln Avenue.

Whether the productions are mainstream or independent, Kit Woods said Chicago is an attractive venue to studios because it offers a broad range of industry professionals who are eager to get to work.

“We have a world-renowned talent pool because of all the comedy and improv that goes on here,” Woods said. “The talent is very well-trained, the city is beautiful and it’s really a collaborative effort to bring films in and make sure filmmakers are happy and come back.”