Originally Posted by KWillChicago (Post 8031699)

Not to stay off topic but i'm pretty sure Chicago has one of the highest filming taxes of all major cities on the planet. I know the Matrix was originally supposed to be filmed in chicago but withe their low budget spending most of it on computer technology they ended up filming in canada for much less. If you watch the film you can actually see signs throughout the picture and the script. Such as "the intersection of state and lake" or the poster of chicago skline in his bosses office. But it is sad when movies turn out to be mega-blockbuster franchises but we lose them because we ask them for way too much money.

Originally Posted by HomrQT (Post 8031718)

Not that it's important, just wanted to say The Matrix was mostly shot in Australia, not Canada.

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 8031337)

Shameless does a good job of filming Chicago neighborhoods, although (I guess for budget reasons) they mix in some LA street scenes and a faux-Chicago backlot. They're pretty careful about mixing the two, most of the LA scenes are shot in close-up, no palm trees visible, etc. Usually I can only tell because of the telltale LA sunlight. All of Dick Wolf's Chicago shows include neighborhood scenes also, and Joe Swanberg's films/shows.

I'd say Chicago neighborhoods are getting more screen time than ever before.

A lot of the reluctance for directors is due to cost, on-location filming is very expensive. However, Cinespace is supposed to build a backlot with some Chicago-authentic facades, so hopefully that will help a little bit too (within the constraints of backlot filming).

Originally Posted by Halsted & Villagio (Post 8031463)

l......What I don't get is why I see so many scenes of front lawns (in various films) with the little 3 foot grass embankment when that is not a feature of any neighborhood in Chicago that I am aware of -- most likely filmed in Atlanta or someplace in the south. So my question is, why is Atlanta (or a city in the south) doing double duty for Chicago neighborhoods? Especially when Chicago is nothing like Atlanta. I assume it is most likely due to cost. And, if so, we need to somehow figure out a way to keep that business here by making it more affordable to film in Chicago.

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Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright (Post 8031781)

I mentioned it somewhere else but Chicago PD recently paid me $7500 to stop work for a day at one of my construction sites so they could fill a scene they needed a construction site for. They literally filmed for three hours and left. The amount of money activity like this must inject in the local economy is absurd given how much they threw at me for basically nothing.

Originally Posted by the urban politician (Post 8032009)

Holy shit I need to get in on this action!

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown (Post 8032066)

Georgia has extremely generous (30 percent) tax credits for film productions (it's not that Illinois taxes film production more; we just don't bribe the producers as heavily). I found it really distracting when watching AMC's Halt and Catch Fire. I could sort of believe the Atlanta suburbs standing in for Dallas—but not for Silicon Valley.

Originally Posted by HomrQT (Post 8032020)

An interesting investment plan. Get a really sweet condo downtown with excellent views. Book it as a filming location. Profit.

I have doubts a location would be used often though.

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright (Post 8031999)

Wow and I thought I had a sweet deal. Where do you live that they were so into it?

Originally Posted by HomrQT (Post 8032020)

An interesting investment plan. Get a really sweet condo downtown with excellent views. Book it as a filming location. Profit.

I have doubts a location would be used often though.

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown (Post 8032066)

Georgia has extremely generous (30 percent) tax credits for film productions (it's not that Illinois taxes film production more; we just don't bribe the producers as heavily). I found it really distracting when watching AMC's Halt and Catch Fire. I could sort of believe the Atlanta suburbs standing in for Dallas—but not for Silicon Valley.

Originally Posted by bcp (Post 8035082)

seriously...how does that get approved without requiring a setback?

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago (Post 8036118)

Actually Chicago matches Georgia's 30% tax credit, although it caps the amounts at a lower amount per person than Georgia. For instance the cap goes up to the first $100,000 salary per person as opposed to Georgia that credits the salary tax up to $500,000 per person.

Not sure where people got the idea that Illinois is one of the highest film taxing cities. I haven't heard about high taxes, but I know they have very generous tax credits.