Drinking Buddies

While watching “Drinking Buddies” with a friend last night, we were discussing the scenes where the Chicago skyline is shown in the film. My friend wasn’t sure it was indeed shot there, but thought it could possibly be a backdrop or some editing genius. Of course, we pulled out our phones and looked it up. It was really Chicago.

The conversation then diverged onto how many movies and TV shows are shot in Chicago. There are those that obviously have the city established in the script, such as “Superman: Man of Steel” or the Batman Trilogy, or those that open with a shot of the city to convey the setting, but when we researched it, some surprised me. Together Movies Filmed in Chicago and TV Shows by Year have a very complete listing. Seeing the full list made me wonder – “Why Chicago?”

Turns out Chicago is a popular place to film partly due to the Chicago Film Office, a branch of the city’s cultural department, which acts as a middleman facilitating the process for filmmakers  needing permits and other services from the city for their projects and of course partly due to the legacy of the city itself. Chicago has a special interest in attracting filmmakers to its city as this generates a substantial income through tourism from those who have seen the city glamorized in films and come to experience it for themselves. Having been there, I have to say it lives up to the hype.

Filming of Transformers in Millennium Park.