By Ronald Roenigk
Publisher
That just may be George Clooney you'll see sipping a beer in Wrigley Field this spring. They're back. Among other pending projects, Chicago has secured Clooney's "Oceans 12" which is filming here for three weeks starting April 15.
Hollywood is coming back to town in a big way thanks to timely legislation Gov. Rod Blagojevich recently signed making it less expensive for Hollywood producers to film on location here, a key reason producers of "The Weatherman" also chose to come film here in Chicago.
Between 1999 and 2003, film production spending in Illinois had dropped by 66 percent from $75 million to $25 million. In the first three months of this year the state has already booked over $60 million in commitments, a 140 percent increase that can be credited in large part to legislation dropping union wages on film work by nearly 25 percent.
"We deserve this business," said Brenda Sexton, director of the Illinois Film Office, on Saturday before an audience of 250 local screenwriters and film makers who were clearly more interested in what she had to say about her job than about her personal life, which has also made headlines lately.
Sexton was there to promote the upcoming Illinois Screenwriting Competition as well as the efforts of her office in securing work for local production professionals. The competition is held every two years and promotes local writers whose efforts are intended to bring more work and fame to Chicago as a film center (for more details on the competition see filmillinois.state.il.us or call 312-814-8711). Sexton reminded the crowd to "remember your home town when you want to make your movie."
"I'm heading back to L.A. tomorrow," she said. "We expect about $200 million more heading Illinois' way this year"—good news that was applauded by the 250 people in the Westin Hotel ballroom, 909 N. Michigan Ave. The group was there to hear how movies get made from Stephanie Palmer, director of creative affairs at MGM.
Palmer, who the Hollywood Reporter named as one of their "Top 35 Entertainment Executives Under 35 Poised to Lead the Industry," was the guest of Lake View's Screenwriter's Group (SWG) and the Discovery Center. Palmer was honest with the audience; she estimated that the odds for somebody in the room actually selling a script was in fact better than their chances to win $100,000 in the Illinois Lottery—but not much better.
"There were 45,000 scripts registered with the Screenwriter's Guild last year," said Palmer, whose recent projects include work on the upcoming "Sleepover and Be Cool" and who is now working on "The Brothers Grimm," due out next year. "But there were only 249 scripts that were sold last year. Our production ratio is, [for every] 10 screenplays MGM buys, one script gets produced."
Palmer said that Chicago now offers very competitive benefits as a location due to the reduced rates and a strong base of well-trained local talent. "I want to help writers get films into the system," said Palmer, whose staff reads over 3,500 scripts every year. She advised the attendees to "keep learning" and to become "students of the business."
Palmer said that while you don't have to go to school to be successful in Hollywood, she noted Northwestern for having a good program and said that others should take continuing education classes similar to those at SWG. "Write great scripts. We're always looking for original voices," said Palmer. |
