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Given the success of recent summer blockbusters like The Dark Knight and Public Enemies that were filmed in the city, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger wants to ensure studios keep coming back even with the current recession. Stroger has proposed a Cook County Film and Entertainment Commission and Office to work with the current Chicago and Illinois Film Offices to that end.
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Thoroughly unnecessary!
A total waste of money by Toddler who will stick more of his idiot relatives at the public trough in yet another attempt to justify his 1% sales tax.
Vote this creep out in February!
There have been some good stories in recent months in various outlets--notably, from Iowa--about abuses of giving away too much to movie makers.
But this is Cook County--what could go wrong? (For once, the idea of offices that likely would overlap leads to a fiefdom and power-struggle situation.)
I would love to see more help for TV and movie artists here--especially those toiling away on indie and other small projects. Chicago and, indeed, the entire state need to do even better jobs of supporting the arts community, which is strong but could always be stronger. We need to get as much out of our local artists before they leave for LA or NYC or (in some cases) New Mexico or wherever. But let's not trust Stroger (or Daley, for that matter).
As someone who has worked in the film & television industries, I wholeheartedly agree... I would love to see more incentives for filmmakers, especialy independant producers who use local talent and resources and create exposure for our awesome city. The back edge of that sword, tho, is that I've lived here all my life and I wouldn't trust The Toddler to set up a lemonaide stand office, let alone an overlaping, cooperative county entity with the potential for millions of dollars of graft. I shudder to think of the back-room deals production companies would have to arrange to get even the simplest projects shot. The Illinois Film Board and the Chicago Film Office are both staffed with dedicated, hard-working professionals. I say let them do their jobs without adding a layer of BS at the county level. The County should stick to trying to keep they're hospitals staffed and roads paved - And get rid of a Board President who's only qualification is his daddy's now-tarnished name.
What kinds of additional incentives would help you without opening the door wide open to corruption? May as well play "if I were king" on the blog, right?
Well, the ones that are in place are already pretty good. Illinois has a good tax break for films and the city is actually very cooperative. The Chicago Film office is woefully understaffed (I think there were 3 people there last time I checked) but the Illinois Film Board seems to be doing fine. I dunno, to be honest. I've been out of the "biz" for a while now and so I don't really know what hurdles front-line producers are facing other than the always daunting tasks of fundraising. At least with the shrinking dollar productions aren't treking to Canada as much as in the late 90's. I'd say I'm more in the "Don't do this" camp than the "I've got a better idea" camp. I just know that giving Toddler any influence over a multi-million dollar industry would be like giving an addict the keys to the pharmacy...
Fair enough.
This proposed office is worse than just "unnecessary." It will be an annoyance.
And somewhere, there will cronies and relatives trying to make a buck.