Lights, Camera–but No Action
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Chicago’s reputation for subzero winters has always discouraged location shooting during the first quarter, but more troubling is the dearth of new projects lined up for the summer and fall. Ron Ver Kuilen, director of the film office, reports that only one theatrical feature is slated for production here in the months ahead: Message in a Bottle, a romance starring Kevin Costner, will include some scenes shot in Chicago. But the city might also land as many as four TV series waiting to be green lighted by the networks for this fall. CBS’s Early Edition has just been renewed for a third season, and three pilots for new series have been shot here: Cupid, featuring Jeremy Piven, will premiere this fall; Turks, starring William Devane, could debut at midseason; and Reel Life, starring Nia Peeples, is still in limbo. But the actual amount of location shooting each might require isn’t known.
“It’s been a real challenge for us,” he says, noting that the Canadian government is funding continued improvements in the country’s film-production infrastructure. “Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal are all now very attractive cities to shoot in, and Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and just about every other Canadian province are also working aggressively to attract more film business from the United States.” Unless a script specifically requires Chicago locations, says Ver Kuilen, producers will pursue any deal that generates savings. “If producers feel they’re getting value, they’ll come here.”
Yet other Bucktown gallery owners report that business has never been better. Kara Hughes’s Idao Gallery is located on the third floor of 1616 N. Damen, less than a block from the Portia Gallery; her recent Burleigh Kronquist show netted 23 sales, “more than I sold during all of 1995.” Hughes concedes that many artists who made the area hip have been forced into slightly less expensive neighborhoods like Logan Square, but she believes that gentrification has helped dealers: “People aren’t afraid to park around here anymore.”
