A few weeks ago I posted an alert to all my fellow Stage 32'ers to be hyper-aware when using Chicago as a location. It's getting worse by the week. Be careful.
Here's the latest on a TV crew being robbed at gun point while doing a story about an armed robbery :
https://cwbchicago.com/2023/08/tv-news-crew-robbed-reporting-armed-robbe...
You can do a search on "Hire off-duty Chicago cops for security" and find several companies that can give you some peace of mind and assure your cast & crew's safety.
Keep in mind, the Chicago police force is down over 2000 officers. Calling 911 for an incident where shots are not fired will result in about a 20-30 minute wait for police to arrive.
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Stark reality. It's such a great location and city but in such a crisis right now. Thank you for sharing, Joe Orlandino!
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Does it have to be Chicago? Or even U.S. for that matter? Latest in the TCM franchise was shot start to finish on location in Bulgaria dubbing Texas all the way...Not only it's safer for the crew, it's like 2-3 times cheaper than any location in the states...
What's happening in America these days is sad...we had a fair share of gun blazing back in the 90's and I know it sucks...
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Kiril Maksimoski We had one too many close calls in Chicago and moved all of our production to Italy.
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Joe Orlandino and @Kiril I'm thinking of moving the entire production to India -- not a huge decision as 90% was to be shot there anyway. My question is: Can an American home feel be replicated? Or would I need a studio? What would be required?
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Never been to India, so dunno. But here in North Macedonia you can find locations matching Hollywood mansions down to Skid Row. Labor is cheap and we've got talent, not only in acting, but writing, editing, etc...
Good thing coming is that John Malkovich expressed a wish to invest into building film studios in Skopje...we'll see what happens...He was one of the performers on this year's Ohrid summer festival.
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Sasha Tomas you may want to look around Gurgaon, Haryana, India. There are quite a few American-looking dwellings there.
Joe Orlandino Thanks! Will ask the Line Producer to look into Gurgaon, Haryana, India.
Kiril Maksimoski That is cool. At AFM last year they talked about Lodz, Poland. Been there a few times and was surprised to see how the city changed. They shot a British film completely there and mimicked London.
Maybe in Romania too...
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Or just in Uk altogether - people use Liverpool to look like Early New York and we have plenty of colonial and other style mansions. From Jan 2924 film tax credit rising to 34%, Ireland is 40%.
2024!
Chicago just keeps getting more and more dangerous
https://cwbchicago.com/2023/09/chicago-univision-tv-news-reporter-assaul...